Japanese police arrest man for hacking and selling Pokémon save data for the Nintendo 3DS 

Japanese police announced on December 6 that they have arrested a self-employed man (32) from Saitama, Japan for hacking and selling save data for Pokémon Sun. By doing so, the man is suspected of violating Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act.  

As reported by TBS NEWS, it all started when police investigators on “cyber patrol” discovered listings for Pokémon games on an e-commerce platform that included phrases like “Save data with over 800 Pokémon.” They found it suspicious that the save data included many limited-edition Pokémon that could only be obtained at movie theaters and other physical locations, which led to them tracking down the seller’s identity, getting Nintendo involved, and ultimately arresting him. 

The man reportedly sold Pokémon ROMs for 5,200 yen each, which is about $35 dollars. The police had Nintendo inspect the confiscated ROMs, through which it was confirmed that they had been tampered with. They went on to seize his computer and 37 games from his home. The suspect has since admitted to the charges, and is still under investigation for suspected related crimes. 

The act of hacking save files and distributing edited save data is illegal in Japan and constitutes for a violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. Violators of this act may face imprisonment of up to 5 years, penalty fees of over 5 million yen, or both (source: ACCS).  This is not the first such arrest in Japan either, as a person selling tampered save data for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet was arrested in April this year.