Japan Police Ink Pact with E-Commerce Firms to Share Info

Tokyo, July 9 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s National Police Agency signed an agreement with three major e-commerce site operators Thursday to share information and prevent fraudulent transactions. Under the pact signed with Mercari Inc., LY Corp. and Rakuten Group Inc., the police will receive and analyze information on credit cards used fraudulently and on accounts of malicious merchants. The results of the analysis will be shared with the companies to prevent further damage, while the findings will also be used for police investigations. The agreement covers all e-commerce services offered by the three firms, including online shopping and auction sites. Specifically, the operators will provide information on accounts, credit cards and shipping addresses when they identify fraudulent transactions through reports from merchants or customer complaints about purchased items not being delivered. The NPA will cross-check such data against information it already holds and analyze fraudulent activity across services. The agency will provide all three firms with information needed to prevent further damage when it determines that there is a high risk of the damage spreading. Such cases include incidents in which organized fraud is suspected because multiple problematic buyers share the same shipping address, and cases involving large-scale purchases by a single buyer. The operators will be able to use this information to alert users of their services, suspend related accounts and block deliveries of products. The NPA also plans to provide information that can be utilized for prevention measures, such as trends in products likely to be targeted by fraud due to their high liquidity, as well as commonly used scam methods. Information will also be shared with prefectural police departments across Japan to assist their investigations. “Credit card fraud, including cases involving stolen numbers, results in annual losses of over 50 billion yen,” an NPA official said. “We want to curb damage by using the pact to share information swiftly and develop countermeasures.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]