National Police Agency unravels ``kit'' used to create phishing site, cuts off distribution route

On the 14th, the National Police Agency announced that, in collaboration with IT giant Microsoft and others, it has uncovered some of the facts surrounding phishing that targets people in Japan and steals personal information. It is said that a ``kit'' that allows criminals to easily create phishing sites (fake sites) has been circulating, and they have succeeded in disabling the domain used by the seller of the kit.

Phishing is the act of stealing information by redirecting people to a fake website that looks exactly like the real one and forcing them to enter credit card numbers and other information. As personal information is leaked one after another due to unauthorized access, the National Police Agency says that phishing emails are sometimes sent to leaked email addresses, and the National Police Agency is urging people not to click on links in the emails.

Since October 2025, the National Police Agency has been working to uncover the reality of phishing damage targeting Japan. As a result, it was found that about half of the approximately 120,000 fake websites from companies and medical institutions that were confirmed in 2015 were created using kits called ``Iron Man.'' Ironman reportedly contained templates from more than 2,300 fake sites, including those from Japanese companies.

The person creating the fake website is said to have purchased kits and other items from other people. In order to block the distribution channels of these criminal tools, the National Police Agency and other organizations identify the domains of the sellers. Microsoft made 34 domains unavailable from the 8th to the 14th of this month.

According to statistics from the Anti-Phishing Council, there were approximately 2.45 million phishing reports in 2015, an increase of approximately 740,000 from the previous year. In 2026, there were approximately 730,000 cases from January to June.