A 38-year-old man from Nagoya, Japan, took advantage of a loophole in a popular food delivery app to receive meals worth $24,000 (around Rs. 6.8 million) for free.
Authorities identified the man as Takuya Higashimoto, who exploited a refund glitch in the Demae-can delivery platform. Over two years, he placed 1,095 orders, falsely claiming that his food had not been delivered in order to secure refunds while keeping the meals.
Investigators discovered that Higashimoto, who had been unemployed for several years, used 124 fake names and addresses to place the orders. He reportedly ordered high-end food items and used prepaid mobile phone cards registered with false information to maintain anonymity, cancelling them after use.
Japanese police are investigating how he was able to exploit the system for so long. The case has led Demae-can to reassess its refund policy and enhance verification procedures to prevent future abuses.
