Computer Crime Research Center

Yahoo! guy suspected of phishing scam

Police on Monday made their first arrest in connection with an Internet phishing scam by nabbing a man who created a Web site almost identical to the popular Yahoo auction site.

The Osaka man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of violating the Copyright Law. Tokyo police also suspect that the man gained personal information on between 20 and 30 people who entered his site during the one week or so when it was operating.

Police said they are trying to determine if the suspect defrauded these Internet users or illegally entered the real Yahoo site by pretending to be one of his victims.

According to sources close to the investigation, the man designed the Web site to look like Yahoo's in February using computers at home and work. His Web site used a logo owned by Yahoo Japan Corp., but the man wrote "Yafoo!" on the logo as opposed to the real "Yahoo!"

Registered members of the real Yahoo site logged on to the fake auction site with their Yahoo ID numbers and passwords. The information was transmitted via mobile phone to the man's computer as an e-mail message, the sources said.

The fake site came up on a list of search results for "Yahoo," and the individuals mistakenly believed they had found the real site, the sources said.With an authentic ID and password, the man could have entered the Yahoo site, offered an item up for auction and defrauded the "winning" bidder out of a payment.

The suspect is in charge of data input and software operations at a company, the sources said.

The number of phishing scams in Japan began to increase from last year. However, the technical characteristics of the Internet have made it difficult for police to track down the perpetrators.

For example, some ingenious individuals have set up fake Internet sites by using the wireless local area networks (LAN) of others. In such cases, the individual can transmit electronic information from a parked car near where the wireless LAN has been set up.

Investigators would trace the crime to individuals or companies operating the LAN who were unaware that the network had been used for questionable purposes.

Others have become more proficient at setting up fake URLs that mask their fake Web sites.

Yahoo Japan, a major Internet service provider that runs one of the nation's largest Web auction sites, has often been the target of scam artists.

In other phishing scams, credit card numbers obtained through fake Internet sites or dubious e-mail messages are used for unauthorized purchases.

Last year, eight customers of UFJ Card Co. lost a total of 1.5 million yen to swindlers using forged cards to make illegal withdrawals. The credit card information was obtained through a bogus Web site.