Tobila Systems Report on Special Fraud and Phishing Scams (March 2026)

Tobila Systems Inc. (Headquarters: Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Atsushi Aketa; Securities Code: 4441; hereinafter "Tobila Systems"), which provides countermeasures against special fraud and phishing scams, will release its independent research report on fraud calls and SMS confirmed by the company's survey in March 2026. (Survey period: March 1 to March 31, 2026) We will also inform you about recent trends confirmed in our company's survey. ◉ Suspicious calls using international and mobile phone numbers are increasing again. ◉ "Fake police fraud" using numbers starting with "+1" continues, shifting to landline receiving areas. ◉ SMS impersonating communication carriers is increasing, driven by a rapid surge in schemes inducing PayPay payments. ◉ "Real-time phishing fraud" impersonating the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for a "survey on increased living expenses" is rapidly increasing. 1. Fraud Call Report ○ Suspicious calls using international and mobile phone numbers are increasing again. In March 2026, the proportion of newly registered numbers in Tobila Systems' nuisance call number database was 50.5% for international phone numbers (up 5.6% from the previous month) and 34.5% for mobile phone numbers (up 10.5% from the previous month), both showing an increase from the previous month. On the other hand, specific IP phone numbers (050 numbers) decreased to 6.2% (down 8.4% from the previous month) and landline numbers decreased to 4.9% (down 4.2% from the previous month). ○ "Fake police fraud" from "+1" continues, shifting to landline receiving areas. According to our survey, the international country codes with the highest number of incoming calls in March 2026 were North America (United States, Canada), Russia/Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Bhutan, in descending order. "Fake police fraud," where perpetrators impersonate police officers to extort money under the guise of investigations, continued to be frequently observed originating from international phone numbers starting with "+1" from the previous month. Additionally, automated calls impersonating financial institutions or power outage notifications increased, mainly from number ranges starting with "+1" and "+7." These incoming calls may lead to a scenario where, after the automated voice guidance, the call is connected to an operator, and then a person claiming to be a police officer appears. Furthermore, there was a trend of increasing calls to landlines for "fake police fraud" originating from international phone numbers starting with "+1." Analysis of the regions where these calls occurred on landlines showed a pattern where calls increased in specific regions for a short period, then shifted to other regions. In particular, a temporary increase in incoming calls was observed in the Hokuriku/Koshinetsu region (Toyama Prefecture), Kinki region (Wakayama Prefecture, Shiga Prefecture), Chugoku region (Shimane Prefecture, Tottori Prefecture), and Shikoku region (Kagawa Prefecture, Ehime Prefecture, Tokushima Prefecture). From these trends, it is inferred that criminal groups may be repeatedly targeting specific regions with intensive short-term calling campaigns. 2. Fraud SMS Report ○ SMS impersonating communication carriers is increasing, possibly due to a rapid surge in schemes inducing PayPay payments. In March 2026, the proportion of scams impersonating communication carriers increased to 25.7%. This is believed to be due to a surge in schemes claiming unpaid mobile phone bills and inducing payments via PayPay. Additionally, scams impersonating public utilities/life infrastructure increased to 19.1% from the previous month. Scams impersonating SNS/communication continued to be at a high rate of 26.6%. ○ SMS impersonating "Tokyo Electric Power" and "WhatsApp" continued throughout the month. Regarding SMS impersonating existing companies and brands, SMS impersonating "Tokyo Electric Power" and "WhatsApp" continued consistently throughout March 2026. Also, while "Mastercard" was prominent in early March, it was replaced by "Amazon" impersonating SMS from mid-March onwards. Please be aware of SMS phishing scams impersonating Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO)! (Tokyo Electric Power) https://www.tepco.co.jp/ep/support/sms/phishing/index-j.html Please be aware of phishing scams (Mastercard) https://www.mastercard.co.jp/ja-jp/personal/get-support/phishing.html Protect yourself from fraud (Amazon Customer Service) https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G3KGTPA8B42CKBJ4 Check the latest information on fraud SMS with "Fraud SMS Monitor," which visualizes real-time detection of fraud SMS. Fraud SMS Monitor https://sm