Suspect made dozens of one-yen transfers in two weeks.

The crime of stalking continues to be a horribly widespread and terrifying ordeal for many people, and modern technology only seems to be making it worse. In recent years even a reflection in an eyeball can be used to further the invasion of people’s privacy and security.

And now an even more bizarre tool of stalking has surfaced in Hyogo Prefecture on 4 November, when a 55-year-old man was arrested after contacting his victim incessantly through her bank account.

According to the Hyogo Prefectural Police, the man first encountered his 39-year-old victim at a restaurant where she worked. Somehow he managed to discover her online bank account and repeatedly sent transfers of mostly one-yen (US$0.009) amounts between 11 and 29 October.

▼ Some transfers were said to be more, but the total likely didn’t amount to much more than 100 yen (US$0.88)

Each time a transfer was made the suspect left a message in the limited space and limited characters of the description field such as “HANASHISHIYOU” (ハナシシヨウ) basically equivalent to “LETSCHAT” in English.

There were a few dozen transfers in total and other description comments included “KANEKAESE” (カネカエセ) or “PAYMEBACK.”

After a couple weeks he began to engage in other behavior as well such as suddenly appearing at the victim’s home, so she reported the situation to the police. An arrest was quickly made and during the investigation the man admitted to stalking and that he did it because he “liked her.”

“How could he get at her bank account info but not her email or social media?”
“She probably already blocked him on other forms of communication. Can you block a bank account?”
“That’s gross.”
“I can’t tell if this is smart or stupid.”
“To his credit, I never would have thought of something like that.”
“And he was also asking for his handful of yen back? What didn’t she see in him?”
“At least he left plenty of evidence.”

With the evidence of his violation of the anti-stalking act certified by a financial institution, there’s little doubt to its validity. This is also believed to have been the first reported case of stalking through a person’s bank account in the country.

It goes to show that while advancements in technology can be used to aid stalkers in their twisted pursuit of love, it fortunately can be quite effective at catching them in the act too.

Source: Kobe Shimbun NEXT, Itai News
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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