Arrests in Pokémon Card Resale Fraud: How Multi-Account Lottery Abuse Actually Worked
A new fraud case tied to Pokémon Card lottery sales is drawing attention in Japan.
According to reporting, two men were arrested on suspicion of abusing the Pokémon Center Online lottery system by creating multiple accounts illegally, purchasing Pokémon cards, and reselling them for profit.
The reported method was simple but scalable. They allegedly prepared large numbers of phone numbers tied to SIM cards, registered accounts under false identities, and repeatedly entered the lottery. Investigators believe they obtained a total of 30 boxes, worth roughly 160,000 yen at retail.
Those boxes were reportedly resold at more than double the retail price, and the total profit could exceed 4.24 million yen. The suspected charges include illegal creation and use of electromagnetic records and theft. Reports also say they were indicted on fraud charges related to obtaining SIM cards improperly.
This matters because it highlights a reality many fans have complained about for years: lottery sales are only as fair as the identity checks behind them. When account creation can be industrialized, fairness turns into a numbers game.
Similar Pokémon Card Fraud and Resale Crimes Have Happened Before
This case is unlikely to be a one-off. Looking back over the last few years, very similar incidents have repeatedly surfaced around Pokémon cards and high-value trading card products.
- Fake ID used to obtain purchase rights, Osaka in 2023
Reports described a group attempting to secure lottery purchase vouchers using forged health insurance cards and related documents. - Fraudulent purchases using someone else’s credit card details, Tochigi in 2025
Reports described the misuse of credit card information obtained via dating sites to buy high-value Pokémon cards in bulk for resale. - Resealed product scam, Metropolitan Police case in 2023
Reports described swapping the contents of sealed products and selling them as new, with total damage reportedly around 6.2 million yen. - Modified game data sold as a product, Ishikawa in 2024
Reports described arrests related to selling software containing altered Pokémon data, tied to violations of unfair competition laws. - Store theft and organized resale, Akihabara in 2022
Reports described a group stealing Pokémon cards worth roughly 13 million yen and reselling them through organized channels.
These cases look different on the surface, but they share one core trait: Pokémon cards function like a high-liquidity commodity. When an item can be converted into cash quickly, criminal methods naturally cluster around it.
Why Pokémon Card Resale So Easily Escalates Into Crime
There are three structural reasons that keep showing up across cases.
Weak Points in Lottery and Account Systems
If multiple accounts can be created with minimal friction, the lottery becomes a volume contest. When phone-number based registration can be scaled using SIM cards and false identities, social media criticism becomes predictable. Fans start to assume the lottery is not truly fair, even when the operator claims it is.
Chronic Shortages and Price Inflation
Demand consistently outpaces supply for hot sets and products. When the resale price routinely reaches multiples of retail, the incentive becomes obvious. The result is that fans who simply want to buy legitimately are pushed out by resellers and fraud networks.
A Chain Reaction That Spreads Social Damage
Resale pressure does not stay confined to the secondary market. It can trigger theft, fraud, identity misuse, and wider distrust. It can also produce ugly side effects, such as bias or scapegoating toward certain groups, which is exactly why it is important to focus on methods and systems rather than stereotypes. Separately, tax authorities have also been reported to strengthen scrutiny of unreported resale profits in recent years.
Analysis: What Is Actually the Core Problem
Reselling itself is not automatically illegal. The line is crossed when the process involves fraud and identity abuse, such as the following.
- Creating multiple accounts through deceptive registration
- Impersonation and false identities
- Abuse of SIM cards and personal identity information
In other words, this is not just a resale story. It is a story about demand exceeding supply for years, while enforcement and technical countermeasures fail to keep pace. That gap creates a predictable pathway where fraud becomes profitable.
There are practical countermeasures that exist in the real world: stronger identity verification such as eKYC, better multi-account detection, more aggressive purchase limits across identity signals, and expanding made-to-order or controlled pre-order production where feasible. The uncomfortable point is that the tools exist, but implementation tends to lag behind the speed of exploitation.
Summary
Pokémon cards are no longer treated as just a card game product. In many contexts they behave like an asset class, traded at high prices with fast cash conversion. That reality increases the responsibility on every side: sellers designing fair distribution, platforms preventing identity abuse, and buyers refusing to normalize fraud-driven markets.
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