A Chinese couple hid a computer behind a hotel fridge in Kobe, Japan. It quietly sent 480,000 phishing emails before anyone noticed.
Police say the husband checked into the hotel under a false name, then slipped a mini-PC behind the room's refrigerator and connected it to the hotel's Wi-Fi. From there, it blasted out roughly 480,000 emails impersonating a credit card company, all designed to steal people's personal and financial data. Investigators found the device held 2.4 million harvested email addresses. They believe someone else was operating it remotely.
The hotel only found out because recipients grew suspicious and contacted the property directly using IP data from the emails.
That wasn't the couple's only scheme. On New Year's Day 2026, they allegedly used stolen credit card information to buy a down jacket and other items worth about ¥470,000. Police say that was just a fraction of it, with purchases on stolen cards totaling more than ¥10 million since 2024.
This isn't their first arrest either. They'd already been taken in earlier this year for a nearly identical phishing setup at a different Kobe hotel. When police searched their home this time, they found 74 seized smartphones.
Investigators say this looks organized, with more people likely still involved. The couple is now facing renewed charges while that search continues.
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