M’sians are Posing as Tourists in Japan to ‘Shop’ for Luxury Goods Using Fake Credit Cards

Luxury branded goods are expensive and is often seen as a symbol of your status if you are able to afford them. While it is popular belief that it may be cheaper to buy them overseas, this has lead to many international scams and fraud cases to happen over the years.  

Source: sino us

Some of these people involved are none other than our fellow Malaysians and they have been targeting Japan mainly because of their welcoming approach to tourists and their leniency towards forgery. This has caused criminals to enter the country under the guise of being a tourist and buying expensive items inside the airports with fake credit cards and then making a hasty exit, according to Mainichi.

Recently in June, a 20-year-old Malaysian and her 19-year-old male accomplice were caught at the Kansai International Airport because they had brought fake credit cards into Japan. It appears that the duo had been given a soft toy stuffed with 16 fake credit cards with their names on them by another male accomplice in Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Whoa, that’s a lot!

Source: mainichi

To avoid detection, they had purposely chosen to fly through South Korea before landing in Japan as there are strict baggage checks for people flying directly into Japan from Malaysia. When the pair landed in Japan, they started their shopping spree in the airport by buying duty-free branded goods like Gucci watches and Louis Vuitton bags.

They planned to take them back to Malaysia after just spending 25 hours in the country as their crime organisation had told them to do so. A Japan police source said, “These ‘hit and run’ style cases, in which suspects escape from the country after quick illegal purchases are becoming more common.”

Source: business insider

These crime groups are very clever in enticing people to participate with their criminal activities as they often post adverts online with eye-catching headlines such as “Japan! Tour and accommodation free”. Often, debt-ridden, naive and gullible youngsters will fall prey to these adverts as it seems like an easy job where they will receive an average of 10 per cent from the money paid for the luxury goods. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!

This problem is getting more common as crime groups are taking advantage of the increased tourism into Japan. Police said that since 2016, about 70 Malaysians have been arrested for bringing over and using fake credit cards in Japan. Their instructions from these organisations were to “use up to five cards per shop, spend 2 million yen each time, and go up to the limit of each card”.

Source: conspiracy oz

These crimes have caused them to lose about 73 million yen (RM2.85 million) as more crime groups have gotten smarter and changed bases from China to Malaysia to avoid being investigated by the Chinese police.

It is said that part of this problem arises from Japan’s reluctance to change their credit card terminals to IC chip terminals, based on reports by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Japan Credit Card Association. IC chip payments are harder to use illegally. Between December 2016 and February 2017, IC chip payments were only used for 17 per cent of transactions, which is remarkably low among developed countries.

Source: the inquisitr

A senior investigator added, “It is essential that stores change their way of thinking. They need to open their eyes to the fact that illegal purchasers are targeting Japan under the cover of the inbound tourism boom.”

It’s a crime, people. Please don’t be fooled into being an accomplice!

Also read: Man Exposes Malaysians Doing More Inconsiderate Acts While Travelling in Japan