July 8, 2019
7-Eleven Japan Co. temporarily shut down its mobile payment app last week after it was hit by a data breach that impacted about 900 customers resulting in about $506,000 in fraudulent transactions, according to a company release issued in Japan.
The company said it received a customer inquiry on July 2 regarding unauthorized charges. After investigating the incident, the company discovered that hackers breached certain accounts that use the 7pay app, which uses a barcode scanner.
The hackers apparently accessed the user account, impersonated the authorized user and made fraudulent purchases on the card that was stored on the app, according to the release. Officials apologized for the breach.
Officials said customers will be compensated for the charges and the breach will be thoroughly investigated. A customer support emergency number has been set up to help customers impacted by the breach.
Two Chinese men were reportedly arrested in connection with the breach and government regulators told the 7-Eleven operator in Japan that they failed to take the necessary steps to secure the app.
Photo courtesy of iStock.
Topics: Mobile Apps, Mobile Payments, Security
Companies: 7-Eleven
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