NHK


 

Tokyo police have arrested two Vietnamese men on suspicion of illegally purchasing popular Pokemon cards by creating fake accounts on a sales website. Police suspect the two resold the cards for profit.

The police say one of the suspects, 39-year-old Do Van Cuong, runs a communications service firm in Tokyo.

They say the two men accessed the official sales website for Pokemon goods from June to September 2025 and created 30 fictitious accounts using fraudulently obtained SIM cards.

The website held lotteries that allowed the winners to buy one box of Pokemon cards each.

Police say the two are suspected of illegally buying 4,500 cards in 30 boxes using the fake accounts.

In October 2025, Do Van Cuong was arrested and indicted on fraud charges for giving false information when he bought SIM cards from a communications business company.

Police say the suspects may have used some of the SIM cards obtained at that time to create the fake accounts.

Police searched related facilities and seized more than 15,000 Pokemon cards. They say the two are suspected of making at least 4 million yen, or about 25,500 dollars, by reselling some of the cards.

They have not revealed whether the two suspects have admitted to the allegations.