7-ELEVEN IN JAPAN HAS BEEN HACKED!

7-Eleven is a Japanese-owned international change of stores, with headquarters in Dallas, Texas with about 67,400 stores in 17 countries.

Last week, Japan 7-Eleven launched a payment system called 7Pay as an easy way for mobile customers to pay for items.  

7-Eleven in Japan was hacked

Within 48 hours, customers started complaining that they were charged for stuff using 7Pay that they didn't buy. 

While the company investigated, they suspended use of the 7Pay mobile payment service.

On July 6, 2019, 7-Eleven released a statement saying that hackers had accessed their 7Pay app and made transactions that affected 900 customers for a total of $506,000.  

7Pay does not have two-step verification of the owner's identity.
 

7-Eleven's 7Pay system scans the bar code which is what was hacked in Japan

The Japan Times reported the arrest of two Chinese men on Saturday, July 6, 2019 who were suspected of the hack because one was arrested for fraud after using stolen ID's to pay 730,000 yen (about $6,750) to buy 150 cartons of e-cigarette cartridges from a Tokyo 7-Eleven.


7Pay uses a bar code on a smartphone. After the cost of the purchase is scanned, it is deducted from the credit or debit card that is linked to that customer's 7Pay account.  

It is a poorly designed app that allows anyone who knows a customer's email address, date of birth, or phone number to take over anyone's account.

This is why we tell you NOT to put your personal information on your FACEBOOK account!!!  


The hackers easily got each victim's information because it was readily available on online social media sites. The hacker did this by using the data to reset an account’s password, so the reset link was able to be sent to the hacker’s email address instead of the account owner’s. The hacker could then take control of the 7Pay account.


This was too easy for hackers to exploit 7Pay customers. 

The Japanese government accused 7-Eleven of failing to properly adhere to guidelines that would prevent unauthorized access.  

7-Eleven has promised to fully reimburse the victims.

In the United States, 7-Eleven uses a Bill-Pay App for smartphones that the customer downloads from the MAC App Store or the Google App Store.  7-Eleven also has a 7Rewards which was launched in 2015 giving customer incentives for purchases of coffee. The app scans and tracks a customer's purchases so they can access exclusive offers.

 The 7Pay system in Japan has been suspended for now.   There is no word if they will return with improved security.  

So far nothing like this has happened in 7-Eleven's stores in the United States, but given Facebook users propensity for putting a lot of personal information on their Facebook accounts, it won't be long before we are reading about another 7-Eleven hack.

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