A Flood of Orders for Traditional Wooden Pens: The Fraud Countermeasures that Supported Pre-orders - Nohara Kogei Introduces Fraud Detection Service 'O-PLUX'

Cacco Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Hiroyuki Iwai; Securities Code: 4166, hereafter 'Cacco'), which supports safe online transactions using AI and proprietary algorithms, announced that its fraud detection service 'O-PLUX', which boasts the No. 1 domestic adoption track record (*1), has been adopted by Nohara Kogei Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Kiso-gun, Nagano Prefecture; President: Kazuhiro Nohara, hereafter 'Nohara Kogei'). Nohara Kogei inherits the traditional craft techniques of 'Nagiso Rokuro Zaiku' (woodturning), and the service has significantly contributed to strengthening countermeasures against fraudulent orders, such as malicious reselling.

We have published a case study interview regarding the background of this implementation and its results.

*1: Tokyo Shoko Research, "Survey on the Number of Sites Implementing Paid Fraud Detection Services on Domestic EC Sites in Japan," as of the end of March 2025.

Click here for the case study interview.

■ Background of Implementation: Overheating Popularity from TV Broadcasts and Worsening Resale/Fraudulent Orders

Nohara Kogei, with a history of over 100 years, saw a sudden surge in orders for its wooden pens after being featured in a documentary program in 2015. Due to its overwhelming popularity, the online store experienced server crashes from concentrated access, and manufacturing could not keep up. Currently, they have transitioned to a pre-order sales style held once every half year.

However, due to their high rarity, duplicate orders and prank orders aimed at high-priced resales on flea market apps and other sites became frequent. Staff had to visually check thousands of order data entries a day one by one and make inquiries, which required an enormous amount of time and effort.

■ Effects of Implementing 'O-PLUX'

Nohara Kogei introduced 'O-PLUX' in 2023 to deliver products to more customers. Through a smooth implementation via a Shopify app (*2), real-time automatic screening became possible, yielding the following results:

1. Significant Reduction in Work Hours: The customer guidance process after order completion, which was handled by a two-person team, was shortened by 4 days. This accounts for about 30% of their overall operations.

2. Alleviation of Mental Burden: They were freed from the "fear of oversight" associated with visual checks, establishing a stable order receiving environment.

3. Fostering a Sense of Security in EC Site Usage: By earnestly tackling fraudulent orders and resale countermeasures, they have provided customers with peace of mind.

*2: An extension (tool) that can add and expand unique functions to Shopify stores within 'Shopify', one of the world's largest multi-channel commerce platforms.

Please refer here for details on the integration of the Shopify app and 'O-PLUX'.

https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000078.000009799.html

■ Comments from Mr. Kazuhiro Nohara, President, and Ms. Mihoko Kinoshita of Nohara Kogei Co., Ltd.

We are truly grateful that things have become mentally much easier after the implementation. Previously, we were constantly facing anxiety, but now we can confidently leave it to 'O-PLUX'. We hope that implementing such a system will lead to peace of mind not only for us but also for our customers. We will continue to carefully craft our products so that people can appreciate the goodness of wood.

■ About the Fraud Detection Service 'O-PLUX'

The fraud detection service 'O-PLUX' provided by Cacco is a cloud service that detects fraudulent logins and fraudulent orders occurring in EC in real-time. It prevents fraud damage such as personal information leaks, fraudulent use of credit cards, and malicious reselling, while realizing the automation of screening operations.

Service Features:

1. No.1 Domestic Adoption Track Record
Abundant track record with implementation across numerous EC sites.

2. Highly Accurate Fraud Detection
Achieves high detection accuracy through a wide variety of shared negative data, patented data aggregation technology, and localized screening logic.

3. Agile Response Capability
Flexibly responds to new fraud methods through a combination of dedicated consultants and AI (Machine Learning x Rule-based).

4. Easy Implementation
Users can choose according to their situation, with options for standard integration with various EC systems or operation via CSV upload requiring no system development.

5. Available from 30,000 Yen per Month
Can be introduced at low cost, allowing for advance verification of effectiveness and operational checks through trials.

■ About Cacco Inc.

The fraud detection service 'O-PLUX' provided by Cacco is a cloud service that uses proprietary algorithms leveraging data science such as AI to detect all kinds of fraud in online transactions in real-time, realizing damage prevention and automation of check operations. It provides fraud detection solutions as a countermeasure against information leaks, phishing, and spoofing across a series of processes: from unauthorized logins to fraudulent orders for EC businesses, and from account opening to login and transactions for financial institutions and membership sites.