Fraudulent use of a payment service app called PayPay, which allows users to make payments via QR codes on their smartphones, has been reported one after another, with the Metropolitan Police Department receiving a series of complaints, it has been learned.
It is the first time that damage from misuse involving PayPay has been disclosed.
Credit card information leaked through past transactions with other companies has apparently been misused for payments through PayPay.
The app's operator said: "We acknowledge the damage. We'll quickly deal with the problem."
PayPay was launched in October with joint investment from SoftBank Corp. and Yahoo Japan Corp. Users can download the app on their smartphone and register their credit card information so they can make cashless payments using QR codes. The service can be used at major electronics retail stores, convenience stores and restaurants, among other places nationwide.
According to the app's operator, fraudulent use of the service began to be detected from around Dec. 11. In one case, it has been confirmed that a perpetrator used the credit card information of another person on the app and made a purchase at an electronic retail store. They likely gained a profit by reselling the items they bought.
There has been a case where credit card information of people who have not downloaded PayPay was misused. It appears that credit card information that was leaked from other companies through cyber-attacks in the past was used for the crime.
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