A 53-year-old company employee in Aichi Prefecture has been arrested for allegedly opening a bank account for a Chinese acquaintance that was used to fraudulently receive 2 million yen in a Net-banking scam, according to investigation sources.
The account is believed to be connected with a new type of phishing scam, in which fraudsters use fake Net-banking portals to steal personal information from victims after they access a regular banking website.
The Aichi prefectural police arrested the man on Wednesday on suspicion of violating a law that prohibits the transfer of proceeds from criminal activity.
Police suspect the man sent the ID and password for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.’s Net-banking service by e-mail to the Chinese man. He told police that man is now in China.
Police also suspect computers overseas may have been used to steal personal information and transfer victims’ money.
Police believe the man knew the account might be used for receiving fraudulent wire transfers, and that he received a reward for giving the account’s ID and password to the Chinese man.
Investigative authorities have received a series of reports of a new type of phishing scam in which victims were lured to a fake portal that prompts them to enter their Net-banking ID and password.
Police confirmed 2 million yen was stolen from the account of a man in the Kansai region who typed in his password and other information on a portal disguised as that of Sumitomo Mitsui on Monday.
The Metropolitan Police Department and others investigating the case found the man’s account had been accessed by an unidentified person who wired the money to the Aichi man’s account.
The money was then transferred to three other accounts in three different Chinese names, none of which were the first Chinese man’s, according to the sources.
The three accounts were opened at branches of three major banks in Kawasaki, Osaka and Nagoya, the sources said.
The Aichi man reportedly told police: “The Chinese man is my acquaintance and lives in China. He asked me to send him [the ID and password] by e-mail.”
The man also said the Chinese man used to live in Osaka Prefecture and that they met while the Chinese man was in Japan.
They are also searching for the Chinese man on suspicion of involvement in a phishing scam using false portals.
The police are questioning one of the three Chinese men whose accounts were involved in the Net-banking scam, and plan to question the two other men.
The police suspect personal computers that displayed the false banking portals may have been infected with viruses and are investigating the route the viruses took.
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7 firms affected by similar scams
A total of seven companies have been hit by phishing scams using false Net-banking portals, according to investigation sources.
In addition to Mizuho Bank, Japan Post Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui, and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, the police discovered new cases of false portals in connection with two other banks–Rakuten Bank and SBI Sumishin Net Bank–and major credit card company Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS.
A Rakuten Bank costumer reportedly was directed to a false web page on Tuesday and typed in password and other information, resulting money being wired out of the customer’s account.
Two customers with SBI Sumishin Net Bank and several clients of Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS reported they were directed to false Net-banking portals but that no damage was suffered.