TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Wednesday announced the bust of a fraud ring whose members posed as Google representatives to fraudulently obtain the credit card information of 200 persons, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Dec. 6).
According to the Arakawa Police Station, Fukutaro Yamanoi, 34, and one other person, 35, who has also been arrested, sent emails purportedly from Google to 500,000 persons in which the content indicated that payment was necessary to implement anti-virus measures.
The receivers of the emails were directed to a fake site for the digital distribution service Google Play. The victims were then requested to lodge their credit card details on the fake site.
During the investigation, police seized 17 smartphones and two personal computers. The items contained information for about 200 credit cards. “I used about half of the [cards],” Yamanoi told police in admitting to the allegations.
Police believe the ring, which included four persons, swindled more than 1,000 persons out of 20 million yen.
