"Police Warns Public About "Dark" Part-Time Jobs"

"Police Warns Public About "Dark" Part-Time Jobs"

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Welcome to "Learn Japanese from the News."
　
Join us as we learn Japanese and about the country through Japanese news stories. Today's headline is…
　
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「闇（やみ）バイト」に応募（おうぼ）しないで　犯罪（はんざい）をした人（ひと）の話（はなし）を紹介（しょうかい）
　
"Police Warns Public About "Dark" Part-Time Jobs"
This news story was published on NEWS WEB EASY's website on August 22nd.

Now let's go over some vocab words that will help us understand what's going on.
　
闇（やみ）バイト
The word「闇（やみ）」means "darkness," but in the context of today's story, it refers to "shady" or illegal activities. 「バイト」means "part-time job. " 闇（やみ）バイト are shady part-time jobs that recruit people through social networking sites, promising easy money, when in reality applicants are coerced into being complicit in crimes.
　
詐欺（さぎ）
fraud
　
強盗（ごうとう）
robbery
　
Now let's keep these words in mind as we listen.
　
「アルバイトだと言（い）って、詐欺（さぎ）や強盗（ごうとう）などの犯罪（はんざい）をする人（ひと）を集（あつ）める「闇（やみ）バイト」が問題（もんだい）になっています。
警察庁（けいさつちょう）は、「闇（やみ）バイト」に応募（おうぼ）して、犯罪（はんざい）をした若（わか）い人（ひと）に聞（き）いた話（はなし）をウェブサイトに出（だ）しました。
SNSで「お金（かね）に困（こま）っている」と書（か）いたら、犯罪（はんざい）グループから「お金（かね）をたくさんもらえる仕事（しごと）がある」などのメッセージが届（とど）くことが多（おお）くなっていました。そのあと、自分（じぶん）や家族（かぞく）の情報（じょうほう）が必要（ひつよう）だと言（い）われます。
途中（とちゅう）でやめようとしても、「家族（かぞく）をみんな殺（ころ）す」などと言（い）われて、やめることができなくなります。
警察庁（けいさつちょう）は「闇（やみ）バイトはアルバイトではなくて、犯罪（はんざい）です。」と言（い）っています。」
　
There's been a spate of robberies and cases of fraud across Japan, and the police have found that many of the perpetrators were recruited through yami-baito（闇（やみ）バイト）job listings on social media and other online channels.
　
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Now we'll break down a few sentences from the story that contain helpful expressions and keywords.
Let's start with the following sentence:
　
アルバイトだと言（い）って、詐欺（さぎ）や強盗（ごうとう）などの犯罪（はんざい）をする人（ひと）を集（あつ）める「闇（やみ）バイト」が問題（もんだい）になっています。
　
"Yami-baito," which involve recruiting people to commit crimes such as fraud and robbery under the guise of part-time work, have become a problem.
　
Now let's look at the phrase 問題（もんだい）になっています.
　
The word 問題（もんだい）has multiple meanings. For example, it can refer to the questions on a test.
In today's story it refers to an issue that concerns society at large. So 闇（やみ）バイトが問題（もんだい）になっています means "Yami-baito have become a matter of public concern."
　
OK, let's move on to the following sentence.
　
途中（とちゅう）でやめようとしても、やめることができなくなります。
　
"Even if you try to back out partway through, you won't be able to quit."
　
So this is actually an expression taken from the second to last sentence of the story.
　
The phrase やめようとしても contains a verb in the volitional form, which is used to express an intention to do something.
　
When we want to say that we're unable to do something even though we want to, we can express that by using a verb in the volitional form, followed by that same verb in the potential form.
　
In the sentence we just heard, the verb is やめる, which means "to quit" or "back out." やめよう is the volitional form. やめることができない is the negative potential form.
　
They're connected by the expression としても, which means "even if..." It describes a hypothetical situation.
　
And that's all we have for today.
A final word of caution: typical postings for yami-baito are vague, emphasizing a big payout while offering few details about the actual job. But applicants are intimidated into committing robbery, fraud, and in some cases, murder.
　
Remember, if something seems even slightly suspicious, trust your instincts and walk away.
　
All right, tune in next time for more.
　
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