Japan-based mobile carrier NTT Docomo has halted new registrations for its mobile payment service in response to a string of fraudulent bank withdrawals tied to the platform nationwide.
Docomo allows its users to shop online and transfer money through its payment system, which is connected to a bank account. However, the service has been used to take money illicitly from accounts at ten or more financial institutions, including 77 Bank and Chugoku Bank. Overall, the service is tied to accounts at 35 banks across Japan.
Experts believe some individuals signed up for the payment service using stolen bank account information, criticising Docomo's identity verification requirements as lax. Though the exact nature of the fraud has not been revealed, experts suspect a reverse brute force method is involved, in which hackers try to crack into a bank account by matching a personal identification number with various usernames.
According to Nikkei Asian Review, Docomo will reopen its payment service to new registrations after introducing stricter verification procedures.
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