hi-ho: competing sales agency logs in to customer pages

On October 8 the Tokyo Metropolitan Police said they had arrested two employees of Official, a fiber internet sales agency in Tokorozawa, Saitama, on suspicion of violating the Unauthorized Computer Access Act and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. Using a customer list of the hi-ho internet provider bought from a list broker, the two called customers posing as hi-ho staff and obtained their birth dates and postal codes. They then logged in to customer pages through the sign-in path for users who forgot their ID, checked plans and fees, and urged the customers to switch. According to the affected provider, about 3,700 customer pages were accessed since March 2023, about 2,500 customers switched, and its losses reach about 180 million yen a year.