Chinese man arrested in Japan over 7-Eleven e-pay fraud
- The convenience store chain’s cashless payment service was hacked soon after its launch last month with millions of yen stolen
- Japanese police suspect an organised crime group based in China was behind the hack and subsequent fraud
Japanese police said on Wednesday that they had arrested a 25-year-old Chinese man in connection with a fraud using the new cashless payment service offered by 7-Eleven convenience stores.
Wu Yun Si Qin is suspected of purchasing 10 cartons of e-cigarette cartridges worth 50,000 yen (US$470) at a 7-Eleven outlet in Tokyo’s Nakano Ward on the afternoon of July 3 by using what is believed to be a 7pay ID and password stolen from a 45-year-old man in Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture, central Japan.
Chinese student arrested in Japan for 7-Eleven cashless payment theft
The suspect, a resident of Nakano, admitted using the stolen account, saying he was asked by an acquaintance to make the purchase. Police suspect that an organised crime group based in China is involved.
The payment service by Seven & I Holdings Company was hacked soon after its launch on July 1, and 808 people have lost a total of 38.61 million yen (US$363,000), as of the end of last month, after their IDs and passwords were stolen.
The police have already arrested several people, including Chinese nationals, in connection with multiple purchases of e-cigarette cartridges and other items using 7pay, suspecting links with Chinese organised crime.
The company announced on Thursday that it has decided to discontinue the service at the end of September, admitting faults with the 7pay-related security system.
The police launched an investigation into the latest case when the man in Nakatsugawa consulted them after receiving a notice from a credit card company that his 7pay account had been charged, which he had not done himself.
