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[August 2017]

FY2016 Summary of inquiries about cross-border consumer disputes received by Cross Border Consumer Center Japan (CCJ)

This summary reflects inquiries about cross-border consumer disputes received by Cross Border Consumer Center Japan (CCJ) in the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan (NCAC). Details of the information will be given on the "Annual Report on Consumer Affairs 2017" (to be issued in October 2017).

Trends and characteristics in FY2016

  • CCJ received 4,473 inquiries about cross-border consumer disputes 1 in FY2016. The number of inquiries continued to exceed 4,000 since FY2013.
  • Almost all of the inquiries (98%) were about trouble over online shopping. Credit card payment, which accounted for around 80% of all the transactions, was the most common payment method.
  • CCJ received numerous inquiries about trouble over cancellation of purchase of PC software 2 in FY2016. As a result, inquiries related to "software", which accounted for 22% of all, showed the highest growth in FY2016 (versus 9% in FY2015). As in the previous year, CCJ received numerous inquiries about trouble over mail order service of cosmetics 3 from consumers who had purchased cosmetics after seeing an advertisement on SNS.
  • The percentage of inquiries related to fraud or counterfeit products was less than 20%, which showed a reduction of 12% from FY2015.
  • The most common home country of businesses related to the inquiries was the US, followed by the UK, and China. These three countries occupy nearly 70% of all.
  1. 1 Data received in ten months from June 2015 through March 2016. CCJ temporarily stopped its consultation service for two months in April and May 2015 due to CCJ transfer from the Consumer Affairs Agency to NCAC.
  2. 2 In many cases, a pop-up message about computer virus infection or security was shown on the PC screen and consumers called the number indicated on the message, and then the PC was remotely manipulated to place an order for PC security software.
  3. 3 In many cases, consumers saw an advertisement on SNS and placed an order for cosmetics just intending to try once, but actually a regular purchase contract was made.