Otaku Busted for “Criminally Cute” IdolMaster Credit Card
- Categories: Games, News
- Date: Dec 10, 2013 23:16 JST
- Tags: Anime Goods, Crime, IdolM@ster, Money, Otaku, Police, Shopping, USA
Americans confronted with an unfamiliar IdolMaster credit card apparently found it so cute they could not believe it genuine and instead arrested the owner for fraud, causing some consternation amongst Japanese Aimasu fans.
The IdolMaster credit card was issued by the Mitsui Sumitomo Bank (which, like most Japanese banks, is relatively exacting in who it grants the privilege of bilking to), and is one of the many anime-themed cards available in Japan.
When its Japanese owner attempted to use it overseas in the US however, its cute girls apparently proved too much for American staff, who did not believe it a genuine card and reported the incident to police, who promptly arrested the owner for suspected credit card fraud.
Mitsui Sumitomo reportedly intervened and subsequently apologised to the man for getting him arrested, promising compensation for ignominy.
As might be expected the incident attracted much attention in Japan:
“So cute it’s criminal.”
“Arresting him over this, it couldn’t be helped!”
“The yanks really are about as stupid and ignorant as they come, aren’t they?”
“Watching cartoons at that age!”
“So creepy they arrested him, I suppose that is fitting.”
“Idiots, nobody would pick such a creepy illustration for a fake card!”
“What kind of man goes abroad with his IdolMaster credit card…”
“I didn’t think anyone would dare use these in a shop.”
“You’d think they’d have checked with the card company before calling the cops on him?”
“As suspicious as it might be it is hard to believe they’d arrest him.”
“What kind of police would even arrest you for this without checking first that the card was OK?”
“Pretty bad – what’ll happen to all these novelty cards after news of this gets around? No more character cards?”
“He can probably sue someone hard, this being America.”
“It could be worse…”
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I would KILL for a card like that.
That WILL get you arrested, however.
Not necessarily. Remember kids, it's only a crime if you get caught!
The prisons are filled to overflowing with people who thought they wouldn't get caught.
Good news, you can get a capone or wellsfargo card with your own image designs.
http://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/image-card/
https://www.wellsfargo.com/credit-cards/design/
Capone? I thought he died in prison. :)
Custom credit/debit cards were offered once in my country, but i think the price you had to pay was a rip off.
Not to mention that the card is valid for only a few years at a time...
I have a card with this picture on it:
http://goo.gl/eLj6zj
I'm too lazy to take photos of the card itself, but it's awesome
Nice picture, but you're odd for choosing FF XIII
My little credit card can't be this cute...
yeah, it really can't or you get arrested because of it
Be sure not to put that in your front pocket or they will arrest you!
I wish there was a better source for this than some guy's Twitter. It sounds like something purposely made up to scare/troll otaku. But I wouldn't be surprised if this was true. LAPD is notoriously corrupt and stupid.
The original source is here
http://japanese.china.org.cn/life/2013-12/10/content_30852863.htm
"china.org.cn" is the fomal news website of Chinese Communist Party. The source is Chinese Gov.
Indeed it seems like something written to scare/troll otaku, if the clerk jumped from thinking it might be a fake card to calling the police and directly to an arrest. It seems like they didn't even go thru the normal procedure of checking a photo ID and matching the name on card, sliding the card and wait for the transaction to be authorized, or as last resort call the bank or visa/MC if it's declined or suspicion that it's fake...
And it's already been mentioned that various banks all around the world offer cards with your custom image.
Eh, I don't think LAPD are that stupid.
I bet you this happened in Florida. All sorts of stupid crap happen in that state, so it wouldn't be a surprise if it happened there.
You're about 2 weeks late Arte. Even /a/ was all over this last week.
I have a custom debit card with Shinobu-chan (Bakemonogatari) on it. :3
The bank I'm using offers custom debit/credit card that you can design the card anyway you want (with some restriction like can't use nude pic, words, trademark) after you finish with your photo you can just login and submit the photo on their website to issue the card and wait about 1 week for the card, cost me just $15 for the card.
My bank offered something similar but I didn't think it's worth it...
The idea is nice, I would pay 15$ to design my own credit card. Well, it's just a little misunderstanding and thing can be arranged between both parties, this's no longer my business.
I would like to see how it looks like.Can you make a pic?
I tried to get this picture on my Visa Electron but my bank declined due to copyright (Finland)
http://i.imgur.com/kqgKHnS.jpg
Damn, that´s an horrible drawing, you should be thankfull it was rejected.
No offense Dia, I have to agree with Anon here too.
That was just an old (?) anime. Heck, the anime is not even 15 years old.
You people are idiots. If it's not the newest and best art style it's bad? KEY animation style is perfectly fine for anyone who is over the age of 14 and appreciates diverse art forms.
Here is proof that half of this site is under age and doesn't belong here.
Hell, Dia rip the pic off the blu-ray plz. I know it's the newer style but it looks a trillion times better.
that pic is stupid funny.... i would put it on my card too
@Megas Kanon wasn't out on BluRay when I took that. I figured the card was so small that it wouldn't matter.
What? and I just thought about ordering custome card (Finland, nordea. Which bank you are using)
It was POP
Isn't Shinobu under copyright? Didn't you technically commit fraud by claiming otherwise?
As expected from a backwater country such as America.
It's really a third world country.
If someone took a picture of your ugly face and added it to a credit card, I wouldn't believe it was real. So why would a legit company take it without ever seeing one before? Calling someone Backwater just shows you're own backwater background.
(lets hope I used you're right :P or my rant will be turned back on me :P)
Unfortunately for you, you used "you're" incorrectly.
"Calling someone 'backwater' just shows your own backwater background."
Fixed for you. But lemme just say that America isn't all Honkytonk Klankakes and Twerking Black Gangstas.
True, we've got some nasty shit here, but we also have some real good treasure here that Japan can't replicate - though in their defense, they too have their own priceless treasures - and I'm not talking about anime/video games either. I mean, have you seen most of the photos of their more rural, authentic areas? That stuff looks like you'd be sampling heaven if you even set one foot in the area inside the photo!
@04:17
Dude, you shouldn't even waste your time on faggots like him because 9 out of 10 times it's actually an Amerifat, whom got his fatass kicked in school on a daily basis and couldn't get laid if he paid. Amerifats like him slander America & suck the yellow cock because it's their last chance as salvation. And unfortunately for them, even their ugly women don't want them.
Guess he shoulda had a big burly football player drinkin beer, shooting guns, and slapping a strippers ass on it. That be 'Merican right there!
'murican
the source is damn obvious that it's unreliable, those commenters all know this right?
I read about it on Crunchyroll too though.
Do they really call us yanks?
No, Artefact does.
I call you shitpiles, l0l.
lol funny biaytch/
Hey yankie, go shoot a cop.
I'd rather shoot YOU.
Or americans... And that's completely inaccurate.
I'm calling hoax on this one. Even discounting the fact that the source is just some random scrub's twitter, it doesn't make a lot of sense.
It's been well known int he US for over a decade that custom credit cards exist where banks will put nearly whatever you want on the face. Americans are frequently idiots (just like anyone else) and the police even more than most average citizens, but I have a hard time buying this.
Sounds like a BS story. People don't get arrested just because of how a card "looks". It is fairly common to have custom cards, and this story is seriously lackig details. Don't believe everything you see on the Inernet. If you do, then you are a true idiot.