In December several celebrities were forced to apologize publicly for stating on their personal blogs that they had "won" items on so-called penny auction websites when, in fact, they hadn't.
Penny auction sites, which first appeared in Germany in 2005, offer people the chance to bid online for merchandise, but because these transactions occur in cyberspace they are difficult to police. Since 2009, when penny auctions first appeared in Japan, there have been complaints about sites ramping up bids through computer programs and other means. Participants have to pay for each bid they make, anywhere from ¥30 to ¥100, which add up quickly when it's for an item everybody wants, such as a cheap iPad.
Osaka and Kyoto police are currently investigating a company called World Auction, and have arrested its manager and three others for fraud. Allegedly, World Auction not only artificially generated bids for its penny auctions, but some items offered for sale never even existed. World Auction paid several famous people to write on their blogs that they were able to purchase specific items on the site and how much they paid, but it turns out they didn't even participate. Sexy idol and TV personality Aki Hoshino reportedly received ¥300,000 from World Auction to write that she'd bought an air filter from the site for ¥1,080.