Man arrested for memorizing over 1,300 customers’ credit card info, using it online

Who said Japanese rote learning did not have a practical application in the modern world?

@Disillusioned

That is a good one. Still. Impressive that he could recall all of that information.

One thing I have noticed about credit cards in Japan is that billing address doesn’t matter when making online purchases. In the US, if I put my house number wrong, my purchase would be declined. In Japan, I made purchases and typed my new address before even updating it and all the purchases I made went through without any problems.

I gotta say, that's an impressive memory. He should be forced to community work and then some kind of government job (of course, paying back the money he stole all the while). A memory that good is a horrible thing to waste.

My daughter has a photographic memory. How it works never fails to amaze me. However, she's not a thief.

Man, I can't even remember my own credit card number even though I have used it online many times.

that is an amazing memory he have i wish i have 10% of that lol

This man must be a genius! He reminds me of Rain Man. I think he should be banned from the three Integrated Resorts that are being built.

“What a waste of talent.” Well, he wasn’t letting it go to waste, was he!

Still remember my UK national insurance number from 34 years ago. But not a clue what I ate for dinner yesterday, or where I left my wallet....

the suspect had bought two shoulder bags valued at a total of 270,000 yen.

Something is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

@lucabrasi I have your wallet. Tee hee! Just kidding, hope you get it back.

I am sure he could have used his skill for something legal!

Classic I can count to 24 using toes, fingers and other body parts, there is no way I can get to 1,300 unless I count and remember the hairs on my chinny chin chin. And moderators facial not below the belt line.

People seem to think he has hundreds of cc numbers memorized. He doesn't. He remembered the info long enough to write it down in his notebook.

People seem to think he has hundreds of cc numbers memorized. He doesn't. He remembered the info long enough to write it down in his notebook.

Bugle Boy is right! He probably remembered a credit card information long enough to make a record of it somewhere. It isn't that amazing.

My daughter has a photographic memory. How it works never fails to amaze me. However, she's not a thief.

Most humans have a photographic memory in a general sense because we tend remember more things visually than with our other senses.

True photographic memory doesn't really exist including @Laguna's daughter. Sorry nothing personal!

Research shows that eidetic imagery is found mostly in children and a select few geriatric adults with a large portion possessing some kind of cognitive issue. Also research shows that those identified as possessing eidetic imagery are not always 100% accurate.

However, some people's memories are better than others due to genetics, development (formal and informal training) and experiences (Nature vs Nurture).

1,300!? God damn.

Bugle Boy is right! He probably remembered a credit card information long enough to make a record of it somewhere. It isn't that amazing.

It's still pretty amazing to remember a single credit card's info - account number, exp date, and CVC - after only a momentary glimpse.

photographic memory doesnt = higher intelligence,

I mean if his intelligence equalled his memory powers he would he wouldnt have got caught.all the cards he memorised and used it wouldnt take much investigation to realise the link of all the cards and that had been used at the company he was working for. Then he made the mistake of writing them all down paper. and delivering the illegally bought good to his home address. Genius indeed. LOL

It's still pretty amazing to remember a single credit card's info - account number, exp date, and CVC - after only a momentary glimpse.

There are memory techniques to do just that. Have you ever seen the memory championships? The people who compete are not identified as having any special photographic memory (it doesn't really exist.) They have trained and practiced a lot like any other elite skill competitor.

They can do the same thing. A Shogi or Chess grandmaster can do it too. Any skilled mental competitor can also perform that feat.

I took a memory class, paid for at my first job. It was mostly about storage techniques using outlandish stories with visual, audio, touch, and smell in each story. The more imagination and senses involved, the more movement in the story, the better for retention. The class was just 10 sessions over a few weeks. The trick is to store whatever information you want to retain for later in a specific way. Revisiting the things you want to stay memorized every few days would keep it as long as you wanted until it was committed to long-term memory, usually in about 2 weeks. Keeping lists for hours or a few days is really easy. Keeping 20 separate lists - say the information on 20 credit cards isn't hard. Somehow our minds never confuse them. There's no limit to the number of stories we can remember that I've found. More important things just need to be reviewed from time to time. The review can happen anywhere, anytime.

Ordered items use a bin-to-number storage method where things are grouped as they make sense for the memory. 1 = tie, 2, 3, 4, 5, ... to infinity. There are specific items for every number. Think key/value. If the order isn't important, skipping the bins is easier when making up crazy stories.

Memorizing people and names uses a different technique. Right after the class finished, attended a crawfish boil where I knew nobody and meeting about 40 people. Because I could, I memorized all their names for the length of the party. As I was leaving, I said goodbye to the 6 people near the door, using each of their names. 4 of them didn't remember meeting me earlier and 2 didn't remember my name. That's very typical. Everyone is bad at names, because they don't make a point to store the name with the face initially. From that point on, I decided never to show that skill in crowds, but I do us it one-on-one sometimes. Humans like to hear their own names.

Let me ask 2 questions.

a) how many buses did you see the last time you were on the streets for 20+ minutes? You don't know, right?

b) how many purple-green stripped buses did you see being driven by a giant red panda this year? I bet you know the answer to that one.

The guy didn't memorize 1300 cards at the same time. Don't be nearly so impressed.

Ah ... the PEG system (for people thinking in English) https://thinkersplayground.com/the-peg-system-of-mnemonics-60c9516378be That's what I was taught about 30 yrs ago.

It would seem to make sense these days to have a 2nd-level of confirmation for purchases on your credit card - one with you typing your pin number into the keypad, and another confirming the purchase upon your phone.

Sure would be nice to have that aptitude. Would make memorizing kanji so much easier...

An intelligent fella who could make tons of money legally. Casinos are coming to Japan and he should use his talents there.

WOW He could make a fortune gambling in card games or many other careers if he wanted.

With such capabilities he should be Japan's Prime Minister or so!

If he has a photographic memory, how did he fail to excel in the Japanese public education system and get a job at a first-tier company?

Outliers (the extremely intelligent, or extremely unintelligent) are rarely effectively supported in standardized education systems.

He should have used his skill to study law textbooks and then impressing an interviewer at a law firm who would like him so much he would hire him and pretend that he had passed the bar.