4.2 B. Yen Stolen in Online Fraud in Japan in 1st Half

Tokyo, Sept. 19 (Jiji Press)–The amount of funds illegally transferred from internet banking accounts in Japan in January-June rose about 70 pct from a year earlier to some 4,224 million yen, according to a National Police Agency report. The figure represents the fastest pace on record for the first half, the report on cyberspace threats released Thursday showed, suggesting that the total for the full year may exceed the 2023 record of some 8,730 million yen. Most of the reported cases were traced to phishing, in which attackers steal IDs and passwords by sending emails that appear to be from legitimate companies or financial institutions and directing recipients to fake websites. The number of reported phishing attacks reached 1,196,314 in the first half of this year, about twice the figure for the same period last year and on pace to surpass the annual record of 1,718,036 in 2024, according to the Council of Anti-Phishing Japan, whose members include financial institutions. The number of phishing emails sent by those pretending to be securities firms jumped between March and May, topping 70,000 in May, according to sources including the NPA. In the first half, the number of illicit access cases involving online securities accounts came to 13,121, with illicit transactions linked to methods such as account hacking totaling some 578 billion yen. In February-April, there was a surge in voice phishing cases, in which attackers posing as financial institution officials call people to obtain their bank account information and steal funds from those accounts. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]