A restaurant worker from Osaka is facing criminal charges after allegedly placing fake orders worth more than 4.3 billion yen—roughly $27 million—through the official online store of manga publisher Shueisha over a two-year period.
Mayu Yoshida, 32, was arrested on August 4 on suspicion of fraudulent obstruction of business, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Authorities allege that Yoshida placed orders more than 2,000 times through Shueisha’s Jump Character Store beginning around October 2023, without intending to complete the purchases.
Her alleged method involved selecting convenience-store prepayment, placing an order, and then allowing the payment deadline to expire so the order would automatically be canceled. Police say she allegedly repeated the process thousands of times.
Yoshida also allegedly placed more than 2,100 cash-on-delivery orders before refusing to accept the packages, leaving the seller responsible for return shipping costs under Japanese law. In some cases, she reportedly used fake addresses, making delivery impossible from the start.
To allegedly avoid detection, Yoshida created 238 separate customer accounts. Shueisha filed a police complaint in June 2025, more than a year before her arrest.
Shueisha reportedly incurred around 7.5 million yen, or approximately $47,000, in unrecoverable shipping and return fees, along with additional restocking and order-processing expenses. The larger impact, however, was reportedly on the company’s operations, as the massive number of fake orders caused temporary stock shortages that prevented legitimate customers from purchasing certain items while placing additional pressure on logistics.
Yoshida, who had reportedly been a legitimate customer of the Jump Character Store since fall 2018, admitted to the allegations following her arrest. She told investigators that she had been dealing with stress and found satisfaction in securing limited-edition items before they sold out.
“I felt a sense of satisfaction and refreshment from ordering items before they sold out,” she said.
She also stated, “I generally like anime. Ordering the products gave me a sense of satisfying my desires,” adding, “I do not have any resentment towards Shueisha.”
