Fraud is becoming an issue with Switch in Japan
Switch is a hit thus far, and the system is selling extremely well. Sadly, that success and the lack of stock is leading to some unfortunate situations in Japan. One issue concerns fraud, which is even being reported by major TV outlets.
One Twitter account recently sent out a message stating that it could sell consumers a Switch cheaper than the standard price. Once a reply was received, communication shifted to direct messages (DM). The person involved with fraud then asked the victim who responded to prepare 30,000 yen (roughly $270) of Amazon credit.
Victims were next asked to send the Amazon code. Once sent, a reply stated that the code has already been used, asking if the right one was sent and that a Switch unit can’t be delivered without a legitimate code. The fraudulent Twitter account then disappears.
Many people in their mid-teens are being swindled and are losing savings from their part time jobs and allowances. One boy in junior high school tweeted about the loss because of fraud and asked for help, and even said in a message that he really wanted to die. However, a lot of people instead claimed that the fraud was his own fault.
The victim had already deleted his Twitter account, but cgc_game_create randomly tweeted at the teen and said his company had one Switch left. If the boy was fine with it being used, he would give it to him for free.
The victim did return and replied back stating that he wanted the Switch. Here’s a portion of the DM that cgc_game_create sent to the boy:
“… I also had been swindled by Wii U fraud before, but one of my friends gave me one for free while I was crying myself to sleep. … I bought Splatoon for Wii U and I love Splatoon as much as I still kept playing it. So when I saw you… I thought about what I could do. I can help more children play video games and they are going to support future of the games industry. So this is just a small token of my appreciation. I will send you a Switch for free. There are a lot of adults tricking you, but you already learnt from this, so I hope you will be careful from now on. And please keep playing video games a lot from now on!”
Not believing that cgc_game_create’s intentions were pure, many people paying attention to the situation tweeted at the boy and said he would be trapped with fraud once again. Some major online blogs also reported on how naive he was being.
Ultimately, cgc_game_create gave the teen a Switch for free and it wasn’t even used. His company didn’t actually have a Switch, but he felt badly that so many people were so suspicious about his behavior, and he was also sympathetic. So cgc_game_create bought a new one from Yahoo Auctions (basically Japanese eBay) at an expensive price and gave it to him. The man is working as a vice president for a game developer, but he hasn’t clarified the company or his real name yet.
This particular situation mainly concerns one person’s fraud, though major TV news and news outlets are not reporting on this “savior” story. They are reporting about multiple victims of fraud involving Switch as a warning.
