Photo/Illutration The marker outside the headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

A group of thieves is suspected of using stolen credit card data to buy bullet train tickets for the purpose of reselling them to Chinese tourists, according to investigative sources. 

The group, which includes a Vietnamese woman arrested by Tokyo police, reportedly used the social media app WeChat to attract customers and offered tickets at a set discount.

“While planning my trip, I came across a post on WeChat advertising Shinkansen tickets at a 30-percent discount,” a Chinese man told police after purchasing a resold ticket.

He said he contacted the poster and provided the travel dates and number of tickets he needed. “I thought I was lucky to get tickets at such a cheap price,” he said.

Police suspect the group has repeatedly made these illegal sales. 

ONE WOMAN, THREE ARRESTS

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department will rearrest Vu Thi Chinh, a 28-year-old Vietnamese residing in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, as early as Dec. 4.

She is suspected of conspiring with an accomplice in July to use stolen credit card information to purchase 28 reserved Shinkansen tickets worth around 400,000 yen ($2,700). 

Ticket routes included Tokyo to Kyoto via the “EX Reservation” site operated by Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) and other railway companies.

Authorities are expected to seek charges including theft and unauthorized creation and use of electromagnetic records.

The group is believed to have also used the illegally obtained credit card information to acquire QR codes required for ticket issuance at stations.

Vu was allegedly responsible for sending the fraudulently obtained tickets to customers.

She was previously arrested on the same suspicions in October and November, making this her third arrest. Vu is thought to have been involved in the fraudulent purchase of at least 130 tickets, with total damages estimated at around 1.75 million yen.

According to sources, Vu started working on scams around December 2022 after being approached by someone claiming to be a Chinese man on WeChat. 

He offered her a “part-time job” that involved collecting reserved seat tickets at train stations using a QR code sent via WeChat. This occurred two or three times a month. The individual who provided the QR code also issued instructions. 

Vu mailed tickets to specified locations after obtaining them, the sources said. She reportedly said the delivery addresses were often hotels frequented by tourists.

For each “job,” Vu said she was paid 10,000 yen through a mobile payment app. “It was easy work and a good way to make extra money, so I kept doing it,” police quoted her as saying.

According to police, fraudulent purchases exploiting Shinkansen ticket reservation sites are rampant, with damages already exceeding 800 million yen this year.

(This article was written by Arata Mitsui and Tabito Fukutomi.)

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