Japan's Financial Services Agency has disclosed a significant rise in unauthorized online trading activity, reporting that nearly $2 billion in fraudulent stock transactions occurred in April 2025 alone, according to a report by The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Nine securities firms flagged 2,746 unauthorized trades executed via approximately 5,000 compromised accounts. Hackers used stolen login credentials to infiltrate accounts and conduct over $1 billion in stock sales and $902 million in purchases. This sharp increase follows earlier concerns about mounting unauthorized trading incidents during the first quarter of 2025, when 12 firms reported fraudulent sales and purchases totaling $665 million. The agency emphasized that attackers typically liquidate victims' holdings and reinvest the proceeds into small-cap domestic and international securities to manipulate market prices for profit. Although the agency initially linked many suspicious trades to Chinese stocks, it has since revised its advisory to remove specific geographic references. Cybersecurity experts attribute the growing volume of attacks to enhanced phishing techniques, including culturally tailored scams made more effective through generative tools like ChatGPT.
Nine securities firms flagged 2,746 unauthorized trades executed via approximately 5,000 compromised accounts. Hackers used stolen login credentials to infiltrate accounts and conduct over $1 billion in stock sales and $902 million in purchases. This sharp increase follows earlier concerns about mounting unauthorized trading incidents during the first quarter of 2025, when 12 firms reported fraudulent sales and purchases totaling $665 million. The agency emphasized that attackers typically liquidate victims' holdings and reinvest the proceeds into small-cap domestic and international securities to manipulate market prices for profit. Although the agency initially linked many suspicious trades to Chinese stocks, it has since revised its advisory to remove specific geographic references. Cybersecurity experts attribute the growing volume of attacks to enhanced phishing techniques, including culturally tailored scams made more effective through generative tools like ChatGPT.
