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A bizarre case from Japan has stunned both authorities and the tech world. A 38-year-old unemployed man from Nagoya, identified as Takuya Higashimoto, pulled off a two-year-long scheme that allowed him to enjoy free meals worth $24,000 (approximately Rs. 6.8 million) through a food delivery app called Demae-can.
According to Japanese media reports, Higashimoto discovered and exploited a refund glitch in the Demae-can platform — a popular food delivery service similar to Uber Eats. Over a period of two years, he placed 1,095 separate orders, and after receiving his meals, he would file complaints claiming that the food had never arrived.
Each time, the company processed a refund without verifying the delivery status, allowing him to keep both the food and the money.
How He Got Away With It
Investigators revealed that Higashimoto used a carefully planned system to remain undetected. He allegedly operated under 124 fake identities, each registered with false addresses across Nagoya and nearby areas. To make his deception harder to trace, he also used prepaid mobile SIM cards, which he registered with fake information and cancelled immediately after each transaction.
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Authorities believe he targeted high-end restaurants on the app, ordering premium sushi, steak, and bento boxes — meals that sometimes cost hundreds of dollars each. Over time, his actions became routine, and he began exploiting the same glitch over and over without raising suspicion.
The App’s Weak Link
The Demae-can delivery platform, which has millions of users in Japan, relies heavily on customer feedback and automated refund systems. The app’s policy states that if a user reports a missing delivery, they can receive a full refund once the claim is reviewed — often without any in-person verification.
This loophole became the perfect opening for Higashimoto. By consistently filing complaints that seemed plausible and using different names and numbers each time, he managed to slip through the cracks of the company’s verification system.
Cybercrime experts in Japan say this case highlights the risks of automation and over-reliance on customer trust in online delivery services.
The Investigation
The scam only came to light after Demae-can’s fraud detection team noticed a pattern of repeated refund requests linked to similar delivery zones. A deeper audit revealed that dozens of these “customers” were using the same type of prepaid phone and often placed orders from the same area.
When investigators traced the digital footprints, they eventually found all the fake accounts leading back to one person — Takuya Higashimoto. Police raided his apartment in Nagoya earlier this year and discovered dozens of prepaid phones, receipts, and delivery bags from various restaurants.
Authorities say Higashimoto admitted to the scam, telling officers that he “didn’t think it was a big deal” because the app kept giving him refunds.
A Lesson for Tech Companies
The case has sparked widespread discussion in Japan about security flaws in digital platforms and the balance between convenience and accountability. Demae-can has since launched a full internal review and announced new verification measures, including delivery photo confirmation and account tracking to detect unusual refund activity.
A spokesperson for the company apologized to customers and restaurant partners, saying:
“We regret that our system was exploited. We are taking this incident very seriously and have already begun strengthening our fraud prevention policies.”
Experts also suggest that Japan’s growing dependence on cashless and app-based services has made consumers and companies more vulnerable to digital fraud.
The Bigger Picture
While Higashimoto’s scam is unusual, it’s not the first time a food delivery app has faced such exploitation. Similar refund abuse schemes have been reported in countries like the U.S., India, and South Korea, where users manipulated systems to get free meals or partial refunds.
However, few have operated at the scale or duration seen in this case. Over two years, Higashimoto managed to pull off more than a thousand fraudulent orders — an act that not only cost the company millions of yen but also eroded trust between customers, restaurants, and the platform.
The Aftermath
Higashimoto now faces multiple charges under Japan’s cybercrime and fraud laws. If convicted, he could serve several years in prison and be fined heavily. Meanwhile, Demae-can’s reputation has taken a hit, and other delivery platforms in Japan are revising their refund procedures to ensure such loopholes are closed.
As Japan continues to digitize its economy, experts warn that fraud prevention systems must evolve just as fast as the technology itself.
What started as a simple trick to get a free dinner turned into one of Japan’s most bizarre cases of digital deception — a reminder that even in the age of automation, human greed finds its way through the smallest cracks in the system.
