Including what is called remittance fraud, there seems to be no end to financial crimes in which deposit accounts, deposit passbooks, cash cards, and other items from financial institutions are used fraudulently. Under such circumstances, as responsibilities of the megabank with the largest office network in Japan, in order to protect valuable property received in trust from customers and customers' safe and secure living, Mizuho is taking measures from various perspectives and working hand in hand with the police authorities, the financial industry, and local communities to promote efforts for crime prevention and the relief of victims.
A1 The crimes include remittance fraud, cash card counterfeiting and theft, as well as illegal use of Internet banking.
Although lumped together as "financial crimes," there are various crimes ranging from those targeting individuals to large-scale money Laundering that crosses national borders.
Of all the crimes, the ones with a high probability that individual customers who are depositors will fall victim are remittance fraud, theft of passbooks and personal seals, counterfeiting and theft of cash cards, the scam of stealing an Internet banking customer ID and password and accessing the account fraudulently, as well as phishing fraud in which e-mail from financial institutions or other organizations and their Web sites are simulated and personal identification numbers and credit card numbers are stolen.
Of the various remittance fraud scams mentioned below, in recent years there has been an increase in the "repayment swindle."
Please refer to National Police Agency Website for details of the remittance fraud scam (Japanese Only).
A2 We are taking anti-financial crime measures through preemptive prevention of damage from illegal use, early detection and minimization of damage, and efforts to prevent recurrences.
Japanese financial institutions have established advanced settlement service functions that are unprecedented in the world, and they are using them to support customers' economic activity and daily living.
Nonetheless, unfortunately, there have been many instances where, in crimes such as remittance fraud, a deposit account in the name of a third person was obtained illegally and used fraudulently in a crime.
In order to prevent financial crimes in which bank deposit accounts and settlement service functions are used fraudulently and to protect customers' valuable property, Mizuho has standardized on implementing measures in conformity with a cycle of anti-crime measures that begins with preemptive prevention, moves to early detection and minimization, shifts to damage recovery, and ends with efforts to prevent recurrences. Of these measures, we are focusing especially on "preemptive prevention" as the first step toward preventing financial crimes, and we are working to prevent establishment of accounts used fraudulently in crimes such as remittance fraud.
When someone opens an account, Mizuho verifies the person in accordance with the provisions of the laws (note 1) and asks for the purpose of using the account. In addition, by distributing a leaflet to inform people that the buying or selling of accounts is a crime, we are striving to prevent the opening of accounts used fraudulently in crimes such as remittance fraud.
On the other hand, with regard to existing transaction accounts, we are working to strengthen our structure for detecting transactions in which accounts are used illegally, such as remittance fraud, by taking measures including establishment of a special department that conducts monitoring by using computer systems. (For details, please see "Money Laundering Prevention" in "Working to Maintain Society's Confidence.")
Through such measures we are able to protect customers from financial crimes and prevent the spread of damage as much as possible with communication between headquarters and offices.
A3 We are striving to call customers' attention to remittance fraud by actively making verbal notifications and by setting up signboards.
The most important thing for preventing damage from remittance fraud is that customers themselves deal with situations calmly in order to avoid being tricked into scams.
Accordingly, by means of verbal notifications at customer service counters and ATM Corners, posters, fliers, and Web pages, Mizuho is working hard to call customers' attention to remittance fraud. In ATM Corners, we have set up signboards with "Be careful of remittance fraud!" written in large letters to give customers an eye-catching reminder.
In addition, we are taking measures to prevent damage from the repayment swindle, the scam in which swindlers bilk depositors by luring them to ATM Corners, talking on cell phones to give them instructions for operations, and having them transfer cash to designated deposit accounts. These measures include displaying a message on the front of ATMs that asks customers to refrain from talking on cell phones, and installing – on a trial basis in some branches – systems for playing a message when radio waves from cell phones are detected. In this way, we are continuing to enhance our efforts for calling customers' attention to the repayment swindle.
Through these efforts, favorable results have been achieved steadily as a good deal of damage has been preemptively prevented at Mizuho business promotion offices, and the number of cases in which Mizuho has been commended by the National Police Agency and by local police stations has increased.
A4 Besides preparing and distributing the Cash Card Security Guide, we also are recommending that customers use biometrically authenticated IC cards.
A security guide that explains intelligibly the methods employed in crime
In order to prevent damage from fraudulent withdrawals perpetrated by counterfeiting or stealing cash cards, Mizuho is promoting conversion of cash cards into IC cards. In addition, by preparing the Cash Card Security Guide – which gives detailed explanations of measures against scams used for extracting personal identification numbers and for peeping at ATM information – and distributing it at business promotion offices, we are appealing to customers to be careful.
Of all these measures, the especially effective one is active use of biometric authentication using a finger vein authentication system which confirms a person's identity by means of the patterns of veins in the person's fingers. Mizuho's IC cash cards equipped with biometric authentication functions enable customers to set three different usage limits – one for biometrically authenticated transactions, one for IC transactions, and one for magnetic strip transactions – which means that customers can enjoy safer use of their cards. For example, by setting the cash withdrawal limits for IC transactions and magnetic strip transactions to zero yen and the cash withdrawal limit for biometrically authenticated transactions to an amount such as one million yen, the card will in effect become a card for only biometrically authenticated transactions, so customers can feel a sense of ease even if their cards are lost or stolen.
Regarding new issuances or switchover issuances of IC cash cards equipped with biometric authentication functions, we request that customers inquire to a customer service counter near them.
In addition, if by any chance a customer loses money in a fraud, we request that the customer inquire to a customer service counter or to the Security Support Center.
Toll Free: 0120-868-715
Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00 (excluding holidays, substitute public holidays, and the period from Dec 31 to Jan 3)
A5 In addition to continual, hard-hitting measures, from the 2008 fiscal year, we became the first Japanese bank ever to introduce "Risk Based Authentication" in the area of Internet banking.
In order to combat an increasing number of financial crimes in which Internet banking customer IDs and passwords are obtained fraudulently and accounts are then accessed, Mizuho Bank has continually bolstered various measures to prevent illegal access to the Mizuho Direct "Internet Banking" Website through which it provides services for Internet banking, mobile banking, and telephone banking.
Specifically, these efforts include introduction of software keyboards for entering login passwords (Aug 2005), enlargement of login passwords to 32 digits (Jan 2006), construction of an operating structure for closing phishing Websites in a short period of time (Jun 2007), introduction of Multipurpose Account Overdraft Selection Service to limit damage from fraudulent cash withdrawals (Sep 2009), and introduction of "disposable" one-time passwords that differ for each transaction (Mar 2008).
From Jun 2008, we became the first Japanese bank to introduce login authentication using Risk Based Authentication. Risk Based Authentication is a structure that comprehensively analyzes a customer's user environment (i.e., information such as personal computer settings and Internet service provider IP addresses), that monitors the state of use in real time while making risk calculations, and that detects system access suspected of being illegal use. If suspicious system access is detected, the structure uses a password set by the user beforehand to execute additional authentication and verify again whether the system is being used by the person himself. This enables effective prevention of illegal use by a third party on a different environment.
Furthermore, at the same that we introduced Risk Based Authentication, we also added a function that displays a customer's previously registered image on the login entry screen, thus allowing the customer to verify that the site is legitimate.
Mizuho Bank will continue to strengthen security measures so that customers can keep on using Mizuho Direct "Internet Banking" at their ease.
A6 On the basis of the various laws and regulations, we are paying compensation or distributions for damage.
Regarding money lost due to fraudulent withdrawals of deposits, on the basis of the Depositor Protection Law (note 1) enacted in Feb 2006 and the agreement officially announced by the Japanese Bankers Association (note 2) in Feb 2008, Mizuho is compensating customers who have incurred damage.
Furthermore, with regard to money lost due to remittance fraud, on the basis of the Law Concerning Remedies to Remittance Solicitation Fraud (note 3), which was enacted in Jun 2008, we are paying damage recovery distributions (left in deposit accounts used in crimes) to victims of fraud. The deposit accounts used in crimes that are accounts applicable to payments of damage recovery distributions, including the application periods, are announced publicly over the Internet, in order of precedence, by the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Japan (note 4).
We request that customers who have incurred damage make sure to contact one of the following customer service counters.
For each applicable deposit account used in a crime, an application period is established for payment of damage recovery distributions. Please be aware that applications will not be accepted after the elapse of the application period.
In recent years, the trend of financial crimes becoming increasingly systematized, ingenious, and sophisticated has been strengthening, and new scams are appearing one after another. Under such circumstances, Mizuho is working on damage prevention measures, with a strong sense of a mission to protect valuable property taken in trust from our customers. Some customers may feel that, with identity verification at branches and verbal notifications at ATM machines, the procedures are somehow troublesome, but we would like our customers to understand that these procedures are part of our efforts to prevent damage from crime. Additionally, in the same way as preventive measures, we are also focusing our efforts on responses to customers who fall victim to crime. We request that relevant customers make sure to contact us.
Takayuki Takahashi
Security Response Department
Operations Service Division
Mizuho Bank
Masakatsu Yamashina
Operational Data Management Team
Operations Service Division
Mizuho Bank
