JTB Corp. said Friday that forged JTB gift coupons totaling ¥7.31 million have been used in Tokyo to make purchases.
JTB and credit card firm JCB Co., its business partner, have reported the forgery to the Metropolitan Police Department and called on affiliated businesses that accept JTB Nice Gift coupons to guard against possible use of the counterfeits, according to the major travel agency.
JTB coupons can be used as a substitute for cash at various shops, department stores, hotels and restaurants.
A total of 1,462 fake ¥5,000 coupons were used last weekend at several shops in Tokyo primarily to buy big-ticket items. Since massive amounts of coupons were used, some retailers found the purchases suspicious and reported the matter to JTB, the company said.
JTB said it collected the coupons Monday and found them to be forgeries.
The counterfeit coupons lack the bumps made through a special printing process and have different-size holograms to the authentic ones, according to JTB.
JCB also sells JCB Gift Cards that can be used in a similar way and shares a common design with JTB Nice Gift coupons. But the travel agency said no illegal duplicates of the gift cards have been discovered so far.