Six Chinese nationals arrested for fraudulent barcode payments used to buy and resell game consoles—Over 10 million yen in damages

The six individuals showed store clerks barcode payment screens from electronic payment services such as Merpay and PayPay, which they had fraudulently obtained, at major toy stores in Fukuoka City and electronics retailers in Kasuga City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Using this method, they deceived the stores into handing over a total of 94 items, including game consoles and accessories.

The group primarily targeted the Nintendo Switch, which was believed to be chosen due to its high resale value. The proceeds from the sales were allegedly transferred to the mastermind behind the scheme.