Tokyo Police Arrest a 31-Year-Old Chinese National Suspected of Running a Car-Mounted Fake Base Station Across Ginza, Shinjuku and Shibuya, Forcing Over 10,000 Phones onto 2G and Sending Phishing Texts
TOKYO — Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department has arrested Yu Hai, a 31-year-old unemployed Chinese national, on suspicion of violating Japan's Radio Act by operating a radio station without a license from equipment mounted in his car, and of interfering with important radio communications. Japanese media reported on November 9 that it was the first arrest in Japan involving a vehicle-mounted "fake base station."
Police say Yu allegedly transmitted powerful signals from his car that knocked out 4G and 5G service nearby, then ran a so-called fake base station that forced smartphones within a radius of about 500 meters to connect to a 2G network, after which phishing text messages were sent to those devices. The messages, written in Chinese, claimed there was a problem with the recipient's app account and that it would be suspended, directing them to phishing sites designed to harvest credit card details.
Yu drove around the Ginza, Shinjuku and Shibuya districts and affected more than 10,000 smartphones in under two hours, police said. Over the past two years the department has received reports from 18 people, including Chinese tourists, who said they received such a message while shopping, entered their card numbers and were then charged for purchases they did not make; known losses total about 4 million yen. Police believe that is only the tip of the iceberg, suspect organised crime behind the operation, and are investigating its full extent.
Yu, who was arrested on the spot near an intersection in Ginza 4-chome, has denied the allegations in questioning.
(Source: Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department)
Source: Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：东京银座和光大楼一带街景（资料图）。Morio 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Ginza district of Tokyo around the Wako building (file photo), by Morio, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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