Chinese couple indicted after hiding laptop in Kobe hotel to launch massive phishing scam

HYOGO (TR) – Hyogo Prefectural Police have arrested and indicted a Chinese couple in their 30s for allegedly hiding a laptop in a hotel room to hijack the building’s Wi-Fi network and send hundreds of thousands of phishing emails, reports NHK ().

According to investigative sources, the couple checked into a hotel in Kobe in August of last year. Before checking out, they connected a laptop to the in-room Wi-Fi and concealed it in the corner of the room, leaving the device powered on and connected to the internet.

Once the couple left, an unidentified accomplice operating remotely used the hidden laptop to blast out at least several hundred thousand phishing emails. The messages directed victims to fake websites in an attempt to steal their credit card information.

The elaborate scheme was uncovered when the hotel, noticing irregularities, consulted local police. A search of the premises led investigators to the hidden device.

The couple has been indicted on charges including fraudulent obstruction of business and trespassing.

Police believe the couple was acting as “mules” for a larger, organized cybercrime ring that exploits public and hotel Wi-Fi networks to mask their IP addresses and illegally harvest credit card data. Authorities are continuing to investigate the broader syndicate.

Cybersecurity experts warn that this type of crime is on the rise and notoriously difficult to spot.

“The reality is that this kind of problem is not well known, primarily because it’s hard to notice you’ve been victimized,” said Yoshiaki Shiraishi, a professor of cybersecurity at Kobe University’s Graduate School of Engineering. “Even if a third party is hijacking the Wi-Fi, it often goes undetected, perhaps just causing the connection to slow down slightly.”

Shiraishi warned that as public access points and home routers multiply, so do the opportunities for criminals to conceal their identities.

Regarding precautions for Wi-Fi service providers, he noted, “It is crucial to ensure that Wi-Fi networks are not left unmonitored, especially when there is no way to identify who is using them. Since records of who has accessed the network should exist, providers should regularly check for connections made at suspicious times. Additionally, it is important to implement management measures — such as restricting network access to specific time windows or disabling access entirely during nighttime hours—to help mitigate these risks.”

Published in Crime , Kobe and News

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兵库县（TR）——据NHK报道，兵库县警方逮捕并起诉了一对30多岁的中国夫妇，他们涉嫌在酒店房间内藏匿一台笔记本电脑，劫持了该楼的Wi-Fi网络，并发送了数十万封钓鱼邮件。

据调查人员透露，这对夫妇去年8月入住神户一家酒店。退房前，他们将一台笔记本电脑连接到房间内的Wi-Fi，并将其藏在房间角落里，保持设备开机并连接互联网。

这对夫妇离开后，一名身份不明的同伙远程操控着隐藏的笔记本电脑，发送了至少数十万封钓鱼邮件。这些邮件将受害者引导至虚假网站，企图窃取他们的信用卡信息。

这起精心策划的骗局是在酒店发现异常情况并咨询当地警方后才被揭穿的。警方对酒店进行搜查后，发现了隐藏的装置。

这对夫妇被控犯有欺诈性妨碍商业活动和非法侵入等罪行。

警方认为这对夫妇充当了一个规模更大的有组织网络犯罪团伙的“骡子”，该团伙利用公共场所和酒店的Wi-Fi网络掩盖其IP地址，非法窃取信用卡数据。当局正在继续调查这个更大的犯罪团伙。

网络安全专家警告说，这类犯罪活动正在增加，而且极难发现。

“事实上，这类问题并不为人所熟知，主要是因为很难察觉自己已经成为受害者，”神户大学工学研究生院网络安全教授白石义明表示。“即使第三方劫持了Wi-Fi，也往往难以察觉，可能只会导致连接速度略微变慢。”

白石警告说，随着公共接入点和家用路由器的增多，犯罪分子隐藏身份的机会也随之增加。

关于Wi-Fi服务提供商应采取的预防措施，他指出：“确保Wi-Fi网络受到监控至关重要，尤其是在无法识别网络使用者身份的情况下。由于网络访问记录应该存在，服务提供商应定期检查可疑时间段内的连接。此外，实施管理措施也十分重要，例如将网络访问限制在特定时间段内，或在夜间完全禁用网络访问，以帮助降低这些风险。”

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