1,454 Stock Transactions via Hacked Accounts Found in Japan

   Tokyo, April 18 (Jiji Press)--The Financial Services Agency said Friday that it found 1,454 transactions made through hacked online accounts at six securities companies in Japan between Feb. 1 and April 16.
   During the period, the total amount of stocks and other financial products sold by someone other than the real account holders came to 50.6 billion yen and the purchase amount to 44.8 billion yen at the brokerage firms including Nomura Securities Co. and Rakuten Securities Inc., the FSA said.
   Scam groups are believed to have obtained identities and passwords for accounts by phishing, with customers urged to use their IDs and passwords after being led to fabricated websites similar to those of the firms.
   In many cases, such groups sold stocks and other financial products from hacked accounts and bought shares in Chinese companies with the sales proceeds. They are believed have artificially raised the prices of stocks they were holding to gain larger profits.
   The agency said fraudulent money withdrawals from those accounts have not been confirmed. It asks customers to adopt powerful protection measures provided by securities firms, such as multi-factor authentications.

(2025/04/18-19:06)

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