Japan’s 7-Eleven Store Customers lose ¥55 million
The operator of Seven-Eleven store operators in Japan said Thursday that some 900 customers using their mobile payment services could lose 55 million yen (the US $ 510,000) due to unauthorized access to their accounts.
The problem was soon noted after the operators, Seven & i Holdings Co., launched the “7pay” smartphone payment service on Monday in more than 20,000 stores across the country, possibly forcing them to review their online banking strategy, and digital marketing, including cashless payment services.
According to the investigative source, Police arrested two Chinese men on Thursday in connection with the case. They allegedly used their customer number and password illegally on Wednesday to buy 200,000 yen of electric cigarettes from the Seven Eleven store in Tokyo.
“The company will compensate users for the losses caused by fraudulent access, and that it has already suspended accepting new users or allowing users of the service, to add money to its smartphone application,” said Tsuyoshi Kobayashi, president of Seven Pay Co., in a press conference in Tokyo.
Seven Pay has set up an emergency center to answer questions from customers. The company announced the estimated loss on Thursday, and it looks like the damage could expand.
According to Seven & i Holdings, some customers have reported their losses on Tuesday and unauthorized traffic from China and other countries outside Japan has been confirmed.
The parent company indicates that someone who has accessed their account and used the registered mobile number from their credit or debit card to purchase items from their stores. These include packets of cigarettes that can easily be converted into cash. Adding there was a case in which a huge quantity worth 100,000 yen was purchased all at once at one of its outlets.
More than 1 million users have registered for the payment app. Your personal information, including your email address and date of birth, may have been verified. Seven Pay said it would try to resume payment services as soon as possible after checking if the system was faulty.
However, the country’s retail sector has been affected by similar problems. The online retailer Fast Retailing Co., the operator of the Uniqlo leisure, fashion, network, was hacked between April and May and possibly about 450,000 personal data of its customers might have compromised. In the department store in Japan, FamilyMart Co., has also launched the smartphone payment service “FamiPay” to attract more customers in an increasingly competitive environment, but they have not reported any breach so far.
About 700 customer accounts using Aeon Co.’s Bank cards have reported about unauthorized access from late May to early June and reported a loss to the tune of 22 million yen.
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