オフライン決済けっさい悪用あくよう事件じけん 機内きないモード使づかい 不正ふせい繰り返くりかえしたか

A group of Vietnamese individuals, among others, was arrested for registering other people’s credit card information on their smartphones and abusing a system called “offline payment” to purchase large quantities of goods. It has been revealed that members would put their smartphones in “airplane mode” to cut off communication and repeatedly make unauthorized transactions.

The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating on the suspicion that the aim was to delay the response by preventing the payment company and cardholders from being notified.

All four suspects, including 26-year-old Vietnamese national Pham Thi Thanh Han, and Mitsuyoshi Ugajin, a 50-year-old resident of Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, are suspected of computer fraud. In November 2024, at a convenience store in Shinjuku Ward managed by Ugajin, they allegedly used multiple smartphones registered with other peoples credit card information to illegally purchase more than 2,800 boxes of electronic cigarettes, worth approximately 1.6 million yen.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the payments were made using information from Aeon Cards that was believed to have been stolen from the owners through methods such as phishing, and processed using a system called offline payment.

They repeatedly purchased products after setting their smartphones to airplane mode to block communication.

The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating on the suspicion that the perpetrators intended to delay the response by making offline payments, which do not immediately notify the payment company or the cardholder.

Also, regarding the Aeon Card, since there have been a series of incidents where fraudulent use through offline payments continued even after people whose information was stolen stopped using the card, the authorities are also investigating any connections.