Shueisha online shop fraud arrests

In August 2026 Japanese police announced the arrests of two individuals for large‑scale order‑cancellation fraud targeting Shueisha’s online manga shop. The first suspect, 32‑year‑old Miyasu Yoshida, placed thousands of orders between 2024 and 2025 using over 200 email accounts and prepaid convenience‑store payments, then repeatedly cancelled them, causing estimated losses of about ¥43 billion.

The second suspect, 32‑year‑old Mayu Yoshida, an Osaka restaurant employee, was formally detained on 6 August 2026. Between July 2024 and May 2025 she placed more than 2,000 orders for anime merchandise—including titles such as One Piece, Naruto, Demon Slayer and My Hero Academia—through 238 separate accounts on Shueisha’s Jump Characters Store. The cancelled orders were valued at roughly ¥4.3 billion (US$27 million), and Shueisha incurred about ¥7.5 million in shipping and handling costs while genuine customers were blocked. In police questioning Yoshida said the repeated ordering gave her a sense of satisfaction and helped relieve daily stress. Shueisha described the conduct as a serious obstruction of fair purchase opportunities and requested strict legal action. Both suspects face charges of obstructing commercial business by fraud, highlighting a significant e‑commerce fraud problem for the major Japanese publisher.