Science & Tech · Cybersecurity · 2 hrs ago
Data breach exposes 4.45 million Furusato Choice members’ information
Trustbank says hackers accessed Furusato Choice member data on 17 October, exposing information linked to 4,454,097 accounts.
Furusato Choice is a Japanese website where people make donations to local governments through a tax-deduction program.
The exposed details include names, contact information, hashed passwords and estimated donation tax deductions; the company says the figures may change as its investigation continues.
Members could save deduction estimates in their accounts after entering details such as income and family size.
Trustbank shut down related services on 19 October after noticing unusual access, and has not set a reopening date.
The company has reported the breach to Japan’s personal information protection regulator and plans to notify police on 21 October.
It is investigating the breach and strengthening security, and advises users who reused their Furusato Choice password elsewhere to change it there too.
Trustbank said an unauthorized access incident exposed 4,454,097 records of Furusato Choice members.
The exposed information includes names, email addresses, postal addresses, phone numbers, hashed passwords and estimated donation tax deductions.
The company said the unauthorized access took place on October 17 and it detected unusual access patterns on October 19.
Trustbank stopped Furusato Choice-related services on October 19 and said it has not set a date for their return.
The company reported the incident to Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission and plans to report it to police.
- Who
- Trustbank, the operator of Furusato Choice, reported the breach affecting its members.
- What
- An unauthorized party accessed member information, and 4,454,097 records were confirmed exposed.
- When
- The unauthorized access occurred on October 17, 2026. Trustbank detected unusual access patterns on October 19.
- Where
- Furusato Choice, a service operated by Trustbank in Japan.
- Why
- Not stated
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Trustbank said unauthorized access to member information took place.
Trustbank detected unusual access patterns and stopped Furusato Choice-related services at 3:50 p.m.
Trustbank reported the incident to Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission.
Trustbank said it planned to report the incident to the police station with jurisdiction.
- Confirmed exposed records
- 4,454,097
- Affected service
- Furusato Choice
- Exposed information
- Names, email addresses, postal addresses, phone numbers, hashed passwords and estimated donation tax deductions
- Service suspension
- October 19, 2026, at 3:50 p.m.
- Reported to
- Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission
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What people are saying
We deeply apologize for the significant concern and inconvenience caused to donors and all others concerned.
At present, the timing for resuming services has not been determined.
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【重要なお知らせ】 この度、「ふるさとチョイス」において不正アクセスの疑いがある事象を検知したため、被害拡大の防止および安全確保を最優先に、サービスを一時停止し、現在調査を行っております。 ご利用の皆様には、多大なご迷惑とご心配をおかけしておりますことを、深くお詫び申し上げます。