Hacked Pokémon seller arrested by Japanese police 

Japanese police arrested a 36-year-old man on April 9 for modifying Pokémon Scarlet and Violet data and selling hacked rare Pokémon online, as reported by NHK News. Though it may sound surprising, the act of modifying save files and distributing edited save data is illegal in Japan and constitutes for a violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. 

Police have established that the suspect had been using a special tool to illegally modify the abilities of Pokémon from Pokémon Violet and sell them. The hacked Pokémon were sold between December 2022 and March 2023 for up to 13,000 yen (about $90) each via a website for buying and selling video game items and characters. 

According to the report, police cyber patrol caught the man taking custom orders for rare and difficult-to-train Pokémon from buyers and offering deals such as, “6 Pokémon for only $30.” The man has reportedly admitted to the charges, explaining that he did it to earn a living. The investigation is still ongoing, as police suspect that the total profit from illegal sales may amount to millions of yen. 

As previously mentioned, the act of editing save data and selling it is a violation of Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act, which was introduced back in 2019. Violators of this act may face imprisonment of up to 5 years, penalty fees of over 5 million yen, or both (source: ACCS). Meanwhile, while buying and selling hacked Pokémon isn’t exactly encouraged overseas either, it is relatively common on platforms such as eBay.