NHK has learned of fraud cases in Japan in which people cancel their credit cards following illegal use but still keep being charged for things they didn't buy.

Several victims told NHK about their experiences. A woman in her 60s in Hokkaido, northern Japan, says she received an email in June that was supposedly a credit card statement. When she opened a link in the message to confirm her purchases, she entered her card details on what turned out to be a fake site.

She later received a notice that her card information had been registered to Apple Pay, a cashless payment service Apple provides.

Realizing she was a victim of fraud, she asked the credit card company to cancel the card, but it was still used to run up about 1,700 dollars in charges in more than 30 transactions in two months. She was later reimbursed by her credit card company.

Many similar cases have emerged.

Victims say they felt uneasy and stressful as they couldn't stop their cards being charged.

In normal credit card payments, the data is transferred to the card company to confirm its validity, even when payment is made through a smartphone.

But some contactless payment methods for small amounts are permitted without immediate contact with the card company. The user is charged later. It is believed that this system was exploited in the reported cases.

Yamamoto Masayuki, a payment system expert, says: "Each card company always introduces fraud detection systems. When a new method of fraud is utilized, it's difficult to stop the crimes at first, but the company should make efforts to upgrade the system."

He adds that consumers need to carefully check their credit card statements and they should contact their card company right away if they spot something suspicious.