A Japanese Man Is Arrested for Hacking Pokémon Violet to Make a Living

Japanese cyber patrol officers in Kochi Prefecture arrested 36-year-old Yoshihiro Yamakawa for hacking and editing save files in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet for Nintendo Switch.

Yamakawa altered the save data to create and train rare game characters, which he then sold online for a profit. He was accused of computer fraud, save data tampering, and violating Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act.

Yamakawa reportedly confessed to the charges, stating he did it to make a living. Investigations suggest he made significant profits, and ongoing inquiries are being conducted.

Yamakawa sold rare Pokémon characters for around $85 each from December 2022 to March 2023. Well, this case is not the first involving cyber police detaining a Pokémon seller. In 2021, another hacker was arrested for similar illegal activities.

As we all perfectly know, The Pokémon Company is spending a lot of time working to combat hacking and the black market trading of rare Pokémon, as scammers continue to find ways to exploit the game for profit.

In January, The Pokémon Company stated that it’d investigate Palworld as the game was gaining more and more popularity back then.

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