Hackers Hijack Japanese Trading Accounts to Pump Penny Stocks

Hackers have infiltrated Japanese online brokerage accounts, orchestrating a sophisticated scheme to manipulate penny stock prices globally. Authorities peg the total volume of fraudulent trades at roughly ¥100 billion ($710 million), with cybercriminals leveraging stolen client credentials to artificially inflate low-cap shares across multiple markets. The playbook is simple: buy thinly traded stocks, pump their prices, then dump holdings at a profit—often before victims notice their accounts have been compromised. In response, multiple Japanese securities firms have suspended new buy orders for select small-cap stocks, both foreign and domestic, as regulators scramble to contain the fallout. The breaches highlight mounting vulnerabilities in retail trading platforms as bad actors exploit lax security measures to turn brokerage accounts into unwitting vehicles for market abuse.