Reports of scam online rice shops surging in Japan
Consumer consultations in Japan over fraudulent shopping websites for rice have been surging in recent months, the Consumer Affairs Agency said, warning that the number of such sites may increase further amid rising rice prices.
Reports about fraudulent online rice shops to consumer affairs centres around the country spiked to 335 cases in April and May alone, on par with the number of cases logged in the entire fiscal year 2024, at 337.
In one case, a consumer reported being unable to cancel an order on a rice shopping website after not receiving a confirmation email for a purchase using a credit card payment. In another case, a consumer received a receipt for a purchase of sunglasses instead of rice.
It is important to carefully check whether prices are not suspiciously low and if company contact information is correctly displayed, to identify scam websites, according to the National Consumer Affairs Centre of Japan.
Saving screenshots of final confirmation pages for purchases is effective to prepare for possible issues, it added.
The Consumer Affairs Agency said that malicious sites may increase after the government started selling stockpiled rice to the public.
Yutaka Arai, commissioner of the agency, told a press conference last week that he hopes consumers will carefully check whether websites are reliable.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Photo By Reuters
