A local Japanese government agency dedicated to preventing organized crime has apologized after experiencing an incident it fears may have led to a leak of personal information describing 2,500 people who reached out to it for consultation.
The Kumamoto Prefecture Violence Prevention Movement Promotion Center offers
counselling services for those being extorted by gangsters, those who want to leave organized crime groups, or even parents whose children find themselves in a relationship with a Yakuza member.
Services are promised to be free and confidential.
Confidentiality is crucial, as Japan's organized crime groups are no more forgiving than their counterparts elsewhere. Members are known to observe a rigid hierarchy and be exceedingly loyal – some even self-mutilating to demonstrate their commitment.
Leaving the Yakuza is known to be extremely difficult, as is reintegration into society. While the ranks of gangs have thinned considerably in recent decades – from around 180,000
in the 1960s to
around 10,000 today [PDF] – they remain active.
On Thursday the Center
placed a notice on its website admitting a potential disaster: it had been phished.
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