How to rob an idol singer otaku: Look up the birthday of his favorite idol

Momoiro Clover Z supporter gets robbed by fellow fan for having an easy-to-crack ATM card code.

A few months ago, 21-year-old Yuya Yamomoto somehow managed to secretly take possession of an ATM card belonging to an acquaintance of his. Obviously, you don’t go stealing someone’s ATM card unless you’re also looking to steal their cash, but there was still one hurdle Yamamoto, a part-time worker living in Tokyo’s Mitaka district, had to clear.

Like any ATM card, this one required a PIN before Yamamoto could make a withdrawal, but obviously he couldn’t just ask the rightful owner, an 18-year-old high school boy, for it. However, it turned out that the code wasn’t very hard to break, since Yamamoto and the card’s owner are both ardent fans of Japanese idol singer unit Momoiro Clover Z.

▼ Momoiro Clover Z’s “Tengoku no Namae”

As with all multi-vocalist idol groups, individual Momoiro Clover Z fans all have their own personal favorite, or “oshi member” as they’re called in the fan community. It’s especially easy to tell which singer a Momoiro fan supports too, since fans often attend the group’s concerts and events dressed head-to-toe in that singer’s pre-set image color.

So since Yamamoto knew which member the ATM card’s owner liked best, he guessed that he’d used the numerical digits of her birthday as the card’s PIN, and each singer’s birthday can be easily confirmed, since it’s listed as part of her profile on the official Momoiro Clover Z website. Yamamoto’s hunch turned out to be correct, and between May 21 and 23 of this year, he used the card to steal 112,000 yen (US$1,010) from the owner’s account, withdrawing the cash from convenience store ATMs in Mitaka.

However, on September 11 the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s Mitaka Precinct announced that Yamamoto has been arrested and that he has admitted to the theft. With the major details of the crime now known to the public (although which specific idol’s birthday was used as the PIN remains undisclosed), Momoiro Clover Z has issued a statement through its website, saying:

“Recently, a fan’s ATM card was illegally used by someone else. Please make sure that all of our ATM and credit cards are still in your possessions, and that the PINs are difficult for other people to guess.”

Because remember, your personal identification number should, at the very least, not be based on things publicly posted on a major music act’s website.

Source: Livedoor News/Jiji Tsushinsha via Jin
Top image: Pakutaso

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