Yu Inamura, Representative Director, Japan Counter Intelligence Association
My Number Card Counterfeiting Case
On December 4, a 26-year-old Chinese national, Zhou Zhao Zhuangting, was arrested for forgery of my number cards and other documents.
According to previous reports, the suspect, who was introduced to the counterfeiting business by an acquaintance, received the data necessary for counterfeiting via WeChat and forged the cards using a PC and printer delivered from China. The suspect mailed the counterfeit cards to a designated location in Japan and received electronic money worth approximately 12,000 to 16,000 yen as a daily allowance.
The suspect may have been involved in the forgery of about 10,000 cards, of which about 750 were my number cards and the rest were residence cards.
The Metropolitan Police Department believes that a criminal group in China is behind the case.
Structure of the Card Forgery Case
In fact, a case very similar to this case was uncovered in October of this year.
A Chinese husband and wife in their 20s living in Tokyo were arrested for forging residence cards, driver’s licenses, and other cards for approximately 10,000 people in response to a request for forgery.
According to the Sankei Shimbun, “The suspects applied for jobs indicated as ‘easy work’ on a Chinese website, and based on data sent by an instructor in China, they manufactured the cards using printers and other equipment.
In addition, in 2020, a card counterfeiting base by a Chinese criminal group was arrested in Japan, and it is clear that a Chinese criminal group is involved in the background of card counterfeiting, including this case.
For those criminal groups, it is extremely easy to obtain personal information.
In fact, large amounts of personal information are being traded on the dark web on an ongoing basis.
In 2018, the security firm FireEye announced that more than 200 million Japanese personal information had been sold on a Chinese dark site, and it is believed that the personal information was sold by an individual living in China, and that the 200 million pieces of information may be a collection of personal information leaked in previous leaks and information similarly sold on dark sites The 200 million pieces of information may have been collected from personal information that was leaked in previous leaks and information that was similarly sold on black market websites. The public impact of this incident seems to have been significant because “My Number Card” was included in it.
As was the case with the recent leak of information at the Tokyo Passport Center, the careless handling of personal information by the government is extremely dangerous.
Danger of Counterfeit My Number Cards
This time, there is a growing concern among the public that the my number card has been counterfeited.
First of all, My number cards contain an IC chip.
In the case of this forgery, only the face of the card was duplicated or counterfeited, i.e., the information contained in the IC chip was not duplicated (it is extremely difficult to duplicate), and there is no concern that authentication or services using this IC chip will be misused.
What is more worrisome is that it is presented as official identification. Most ID verification is limited to checking the face of the card. If a counterfeit My Number Card can be presented to sign a cell phone contract or open a bank account, it can be misused as a tool for other crimes, including special fraud.
Most banks claim that only one My Number card is enough to verify the identity of the customer when opening such an account.
In fact, when we inquired at a major bank, they told us that they do not read the IC chip of the My Number Card when opening an account, and that it is possible as long as the card has a picture, address, name, etc. on it. The bank also responded that although the face of the My Number Card has anti-counterfeiting technology, if there is anything unnatural on the face of the card, they will ask the teller to check the face.
For example, the residence card uses a number of anti-counterfeiting technologies, including holograms. Some cards have even been counterfeited with holograms, and counterfeit cards made by criminal gangs are very elaborate in appearance.
If a counterfeit my number card can only be identified by the face of the card, it is up to the person in charge at the counter to detect the counterfeit card.
Furthermore, please be aware that this incident may also lead to cases of indirect money swindling.
The person pretending to be an employee of the city hall will send a card to the target saying, “We have found out that your personal information number has been forged and it may be used illegally. The target is then contacted falsely claiming that he or she has discovered the forgery and would like to exchange the card for one that may be used fraudulently, and in the course of the exchange, the cash card is exchanged as well. Similar methods to this case have been confirmed in the past.
Aims of Criminal Groups
Criminal groups use counterfeit identification cards such as the My Number Card as a tool to commit new crimes, and also use them as a pretext for special fraud.
Counterfeit residence cards are also a very useful tool for foreigners who remain in Japan illegally. According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of illegal residents in Japan as of January 1, 2023 was 74,991.
Resident cards with forged status and expiration dates are often “sold” to them.
Counterfeiting of my number card and residence cards is a breeding ground for a great number of crimes.
Written by Yu Inamura, President of the Japan Counter Intelligence Association
