Hackers target Japan accounts in $920m stock trading spree

Criminals are hijacking online brokerage accounts in Japan and using them to drive up penny stocks around the world.

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TOKYO -

The wave of fraudulent trading has reached 100 billion yen (S$920 million) since it started in February, and shows no signs of cresting.

The scams typically use the hacked accounts to buy thinly traded stocks both domestically and overseas, allowing anyone who has built up a position earlier to cash out at inflated values.

In response, some Japanese securities firms have stopped processing buy orders for certain Chinese, US and Japanese stocks.

Eight of Japan's biggest brokers, including Rakuten Securities and SBI Securities, have reported unauthorized trading on their platforms.

The breaches have exposed Japan as a potential weak point in efforts to safeguard markets from hackers. They also threaten to undermine the government's push to get more people to invest for their retirement. This is particularly so since some victims say they are baffled as to how their accounts were broken into, and the securities companies have so far largely refrained from covering the losses.