Crackdown on Japanese mobile game cheat makers and buyers found successful

Written by. Ryuki Ishii based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-01-19 15:02 JST)

Japanese game developer PONOS has announced that charges were filed against 19 suspects who allegedly created or purchased tampered game data of The Battle Cats, a free-to-play tower defense game. Their actions are suspected of constituting the crime of the unauthorized creation of private electromagnetic records. It was a coordinated crackdown by the police forces in six prefectures.

According to Kyoto and Kanagawa’s Prefectural Police, as Kyoto Shimbun and The Sankei News reports, suspects were making or buying tampered accounts to obtain in-game currency without paying cash. Out of the 19 suspects, three were cheat makers/sellers, and sixteen were buyers. Some of the buyers were reportedly underaged students. Kyoto Shimbun reports that one of the cheat makers made around 300,000 yen (approx. $2,600) in about fifteen months, selling accounts for 1,000 ~ 3,000 yen each.

The Battle Cats is a mobile tower defense game that first launched in 2010 in Japan. Players control an army of cats to fend off against waves of enemies and protect the cat base. The premium in-game currency is used to buy items that give players advantages in battles.

PONOS also mentioned that the police investigation has brought to light the problem of RMT (real money trading), and that law enforcement has issued a request for improvement against websites that deal with RMT.

At the time of this writing, we were able to find The Battle Cats accounts being sold on RMT websites that appear to be modified. For example, we saw one user selling their account that claims to have 200,000 yen (approx. $1,800) worth of in-game currency for just 2,500 yen. Let’s hope that RMT like this will subside after the crackdown.

PONOS warns players that selling and buying illegally tampered game data is not only a violation of the terms of service but may also be considered a criminal act. Make sure not to engage in fraudulent transactions, even if just out of curiosity.