Japanese man exploits delivery platform refund policy, eats 1,000 free meals over 2 years
Unemployed man operates 124 accounts on delivery platform, routinely signs up and cancels memberships within days to elude detection
A 38-year-old man in Japan has been arrested on suspicion of fraud after exploiting loopholes in a major food delivery platform, resulting in losses exceeding 3.7 million yen (US$24,000).
Authorities in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, apprehended Takuya Higashimoto in early October for making 1,095 orders from a food delivery service, consuming all the food, yet managing to evade payment, according to reports from Japan Times.
His method involved selecting contactless delivery through the platform and falsely claiming via the app that the food had not arrived in order to secure refunds.
One of his latest schemes occurred on July 30 when Higashimoto created a new account on the delivery app Demae-can using a fictitious name and address. Although the ice cream, bentos, and chicken steaks he ordered were delivered, he employed the app’s chat feature to assert that they had not arrived, ultimately receiving a refund of 16,000 yen (US$105) the same day.
Authorities revealed that Higashimoto, who has been unemployed for several years, operated 124 accounts on the platform to facilitate his fraudulent activities since April 2023. He typically signed up and cancelled his membership a few days later.
His ability to remain undetected complicated efforts to trace and identify him, as he purchased numerous prepaid mobile phone cards, registered accounts with false names and addresses, and quickly cancelled them.
“At first, I just tried this trick. I couldn’t stop after reaping the rewards of my fraud,” Higashimoto admitted to the police.