Photo/Illutration The icon for the Docomo e-pay app (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

An investigative task force set up by Saitama prefectural police and other investigative organizations arrested three Chinese nationals on Jan. 19 on suspicion of swindling money through NTT Docomo’s e-pay service.

The three are in their 20s and live in Saitama Prefecture and elsewhere.

They admitted to the charges and told investigators that they were asked to commit the crime at the request of others, sources said.

To use the e-pay service called “Docomo account,” users are supposed to link it with their bank account and deposit money from the bank account into the Docomo account.

Then users can make electronic smartphone payments, called “d-barai,” at stores and for online shopping.

Police said the three logged into a d-barai app with someone else’s account information, using their own smartphones, during the period from August to September in 2020.

They used the service to purchase 66 cartons of heated tobacco products, worth about 343,200 yen ($3,300), at three convenience stores in Saitama Prefecture.

They also bought two tablet devices from a home electronics store in Tokyo's Toshima Ward for about 98,500 yen.

Police said the Docomo account they used for these purchases had been illegally opened online by an unidentified person and was connected to accounts opened at regional banks in Miyagi, Mie and Okayama prefectures.

The IP address for the Docomo account was falsified to make it difficult to determine the access location point.

Police believe the three repeated the method to commit more acts of fraud, spending about 6.7 million yen across some 40 convenience stores and other shops.

Police suspect organized crime was behind the scam and that it was being directed by a ringleader.

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