Prankster Hacker Uses Crafty Cat to Really Mess with the Police

For months, Japan’s National Police Agency — akin to the FBI in the United States — have been chasing down an elusive criminal hacker who’s sent them on crazy capers all over Tokyo. Finding this person has become so urgent, they’ve forced several confessions from people who have no connection to the hacker whatsoever (oops!), and they even issued a ¥3 million (about $34,000) bounty the first ever for a cyber crime.

And yet, this stealthy hacker still surfs the WWW, and their latest police-taunt is probably amongst the best police-taunts in history.

On New Year’s Day, the hacker sent a series of email to newspapers and TV stations with riddles that delivered “an invitation to a new game”, one that would lead to the “chance for a big scoop”.

Very mysterious!

After cracking the codes, Japanese police were directed to a tiny island near Tokyo (Tashirojima?!), where they tracked down a cat and confiscated a digital memory card the hacker had strapped to its collar. I’m sure that was a smooth operation as cats often love to be picked up by large groups of uniformed strangers.

I hope the cat’s OK! This is not the cat’s fault some bored prankster used her as a pawn in a battle with the NPA. A battle I’d be totally OK with, except for the wasting of all the money, resources, and the extra creepy and awful fact that the hacker has made bomb threats against schools. Dear Hacker, please stick to making cops chase cats (or dogs, donuts, etc) and stay away from threatening children. Signed, Someone Who Wants to Love You