TILT! Counterfeit pachinko cards send $588 million down the chute.

[pcw@access.digex.net (Peter Wayner)]

The WSJ of Wednesday, May 22nd, 1996 (A18) reports that two
Japanese firms lost about 55 billion yen when criminals
counterfeited the stored money cards that they manufactured.
These cards are used to pay for pachinko games, but you can get
refunds wired to an account if you cash in a card. If my memory
serves me correctly, there is a certain amount of skill
involved. If you play well or are lucky, you might even add
money to the cards. But I'm not sure about this detail. In any
case, the people with the counterfeit cards could get refunds
when they didn't pay for the original card.

The Journal mentions three interesting details. First, the cards
were pushed by the police as a means to track the flow of cash
and stop money laundering. Obviously, there wouldn't be these
losses if they could really track the flow. Second, the
convenience of the new cards initially boosted profits because
it was so much easier to play with the cards that automatically
kept track of your money. Finally, the Journal reported that
there are 18,244 pachinko parlors in Japan.