Scamming octogenarians is about as low as it gets. But one shameless romance scammer pretended to be flying high when he convinced an elderly Japanese woman he was an astronaut who couldn’t afford oxygen.

According to local authorities, the woman—who lives on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido—met a stranger online in July. She developed feelings for the man, then he hit her with a bizarre con. No, he wasn’t a Nigerian prince in need of a Western Union transfer. He wasn’t a long-lost family member needing bail. He told her he was “in space on a spaceship right now.”

Japan’s heartthrob astronauts are very real

That’s not even the most outlandish part of the story. In fact, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi assumed command of the ISS on March 16. He is the third Japanese astronaut to command the space station. In August, he was joined by Kimiya Yui, also from Japan.

Perhaps images of both men on the news inspired the scammer. Or perhaps he hoped their place in the national spotlight would help him pull off the con. But then his story got increasingly ridiculous.

Even though the ISS is an international project, and there’s no war in space, the scammer claimed he was “under attack.” As a result, he was “in need of oxygen.” And how do you get oxygen in space? Japanese yen, of course. The poor woman sent him 1 million yen (about $6,700 USD).

Scammers often target Japan because it has the second-oldest population in the world (after Monaco). Local officials warn, “If a person you met on social media ever demanded cash from you, please be suspicious of the possibility of scam, and report to police.”

And obviously, don’t wire astronauts cash so they can buy oxygen.