Chinese couple held over Japan hotel Wi-Fi scam
Thestandard · 3 SOURCES1 day ago5 MIN
Summary
Police in Hyogo prefecture have arrested a Chinese couple living in Kobe over allegations that they posed as hotel guests, hid a small computer in a room, and used the hotel's Wi-Fi as part of a phishing operation. Investigators said the device was later remotely controlled by another suspect and was used to send at least 480,000 scam emails impersonating credit card companies. Police also said the investigation uncovered a separate suspected credit card fraud case involving purchases worth about 470,000 yen at a commercial facility in Kobe on January 1. Authorities are now examining dozens of seized smartphones and whether the case is linked to a wider cross-border fraud syndicate.
Key Points
- The suspects were identified as 39-year-old Ye Jiafeng (葉加鋒) and his 39-year-old wife Shen Qi (申琪), a Chinese couple living in Kobe.
- Police said Ye entered a Kobe hotel with another person on May 15 last year, pretending to be guests before hiding a small computer behind a room refrigerator.
- Investigators found records showing about 480,000 phishing emails were sent, while the device stored roughly 2.4 million target email addresses.
- The emails allegedly impersonated credit card companies and linked recipients to fake websites designed to steal card numbers and personal information.
- Police seized as many as 74 smartphones from the couple's home and are tracing the devices' use, card-data sources and money flows.
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong travellers and online shoppers, the case is a reminder that phishing operations may route messages through legitimate public networks, making scam emails appear harder to trace at first glance. It also underlines the risk of cross-border fraud in which stolen payment data, remote device control and in-person purchases may be split among different actors.