Y12M STOLEN FROM JAPAN’S NTT DOCOMO E-MONEY SERVICE

About 12 million yen ($113,000) has been stolen from bank accounts linked to NTT Docomo Inc.'s e-money service, a senior government official said Thursday, prompting police to begin an investigation into a suspected scam.

As of Wednesday, 37 cases of improper withdrawals from accounts at 10 banks linked to the mobile carrier's e-money service had been confirmed, according to NTT Docomo and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Akihiro Nishimura, Kyodo news service reported late on September 10, 2020.

NTT Docomo, which has stopped allowing customers to newly link its e-money service to accounts at 35 partner banks, said it will try to compensate victims for the full amounts stolen through negotiations with the banks.

The company will hold a press conference later in the day to explain the matter. The 10 banks are Japan Post Bank, Aeon Bank and eight regional banks across Japan. In May last year, there were similar cases of improper withdrawals from Resona Bank accounts linked to NTT Docomo's e-money service, but the country's major mobile carrier said it failed to boost user identity checks to prevent a recurrence. Among the 35 partner banks, seven regional lenders have stopped all transactions with the e-money service, it added.

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