Seven-Eleven payment app hack sees customers lose thousands

Users of 7-Eleven’s mobile payment service lost a total of ¥55 million ($510,000) due to the unauthorized access to their accounts.

Some 900 customers of 7-Eleven convenience stores were hacked and saw their funds withdrawn. The problem occurred shortly after operator, Seven & I Holdings Co., launched the smartphone payment service, 7pay, at over 20,000 stores across in Japan.

Tsuyoshi Kobayashi, president of Seven Pay Co., told a news conference in Tokyo that the company will compensate users for the losses caused by fraudulent access.

Police arrested two Chinese men on Thursday in connection with the problem, investigative sources said.

About 1.5 million users have registered for the payment app. There is a possibility that their personal information, including email addresses and birthdates, might have been browsed.