Million-Dollar Fraud: Man Scams Delivery App and Receives Over 1,000 Free Meals

Investigators Reveal That the Japanese Man Used 124 Fake Accounts, Prepaid Cards, and the Contactless Delivery Option to Deceive the App and Obtain Free Meals for Over Two Years

A 38-year-old Japanese man was arrested after exploiting a flaw in a food delivery app’s system and managing to consume over 1,000 meals without paying.

The case occurred in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, and involved an operation that lasted more than two years, causing significant losses to the platform.

How the Scammer Operated

Takuya Higashimoto exploited the cancellation policy of the Demae-can app. He created accounts with fake names and addresses, used prepaid cards, and canceled his subscriptions a few days later. This strategy made it difficult to identify him and allowed him to repeat the scam over a long period.

The investigation revealed that Higashimoto utilized 124 different accounts, which prevented quick blocks and facilitated the continuation of the fraud. In total, the losses exceeded 3.7 million yen, equivalent to about $24,000.

Fake Refunds and Scheme Repetition

The scammer always selected the contactless delivery option. As soon as he received the food, he claimed that the order had not arrived and requested a refund. In a case registered on July 30, he created a new account and managed to get back 16,000 yen after claiming that ice creams, bento boxes, and chicken steaks had not been delivered.

Higashimoto admitted to the police that he started out of curiosity and continued after realizing that the scheme was working. The practice extended for years while he remained unemployed.

Arrest and Changes to the Platform

Police finally apprehended the man earlier this month. He is now facing formal charges of fraud. The case led the Demae-can app to implement a new alert system to identify suspicious activities and prevent similar scams from happening in the future.

Sign up

Connect with

Access

I allow you to create an account.

When you first accessed our site using a Social Access button, we collected your public profile information shared by the Social Access provider, based on your privacy settings. We also obtained your email address to automatically create an account for you on our website. Once your account is created, you will be logged into that account.

I disagreeI agree

Notify of

new follow-up comments new responses to my comments

Label

Name*

E-mail*

Save my data for the next time I comment.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser's cookies for the next time I comment.

ONESIGNAL ID

ONESIGNAL ID

I allow you to create an account.

When you first accessed our site using a Social Access button, we collected your public profile information shared by the Social Access provider, based on your privacy settings. We also obtained your email address to automatically create an account for you on our website. Once your account is created, you will be logged into that account.

I disagreeI agree

Label

Name*

E-mail*

Save my data for the next time I comment.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser's cookies for the next time I comment.

ONESIGNAL ID

ONESIGNAL ID

0 Comments

most recent

older Most voted