Credit Card Fraud Committed By Pokémon-Playing Fish

A Japanese YouTuber who streams his pet minnows playing games on a Nintendo Switch was shocked to find fishy charges on his credit card.

With a clever setup that lets fish play video games, the Mutekimaru Channel has gained nearly 93,000 YouTube subscribers.

A PC connected to a webcam that looks into a fish tank. Software on the PC tracks the movements of the fish. Each square on the tank grid corresponds to a Nintendo Switch controller button. When a fish stops in front of a court, the input for that made a square.

The fish have had some success: in 2020, after more than 3000 hours of work, they finished Pokémon Sapphire.

But when the game recently crashed, the fish were able to find their way to the Nintendo eShop. Where the owner’s login and credit card information saved.

Not only did this let viewers of the stream see the card information, but the fish was also able to charge 500 Yen (less than $4) through the Nintendo Store.

It took the carp-holder a few hours to find out about the fake perch-ases . And get a refund from Nintendo, which he did.