Firm Finds Multiple Fake 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo Websites; Organizer Urges Public to be on Alert

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:11 JST, March 29, 2025

A cybersecurity firm in Tokyo has confirmed multiple fake websites that mimic the official site of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, which will kick off April 13.

Trend Micro Inc. found that domain names similar to the expo’s official site have been obtained, allowing fake sites to be produced.

The Expo organizer is calling on the public to be alert as these fakes appear to be phishing sites designed to steal users’ private information by pretending to sell admission tickets.

While the domain of the expo’s official website is expo2025.or.jp, the cybersecurity firm confirmed that three domains that include similar strings of characters, such as 2025expo and expo-2025, were registered between late February and mid-March.

One site posed as an English website for the expo with the name EXPO2025OSAKA. When users click the “Get Tickets” tab, they are asked to input their names and telephone numbers.

“This is not our official website,” said an official of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, the organizer of the Expo. “We’d like to urge people to be vigilant when they purchase tickets online.”

The association also said it had found a fake account disguising as the Expo’s official one on X in summer last year.

“Scam sites using domains similar to those of official websites have been created during international events in the past,” said Trend Micro’s Katsuyuki Okamoto. “People also need to watch out for social media posts disguising themselves as Expo-related, leading users to scam sites.”