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Japanese YouTuber’s pet fish ‘takes control of Nintendo account’, changes username and racks up credit card bill

A Jibanyan stands in front of the Nintendo stand at the Gamescom 2016 gaming trade fair during the media day on 17 August 2016 in Cologne, Germany (Getty Images)
A Jibanyan stands in front of the Nintendo stand at the Gamescom 2016 gaming trade fair during the media day on 17 August 2016 in Cologne, Germany (Getty Images)

A popular Japanese gamer’s pet fish managed to inadvertently change the name on his Nintendo Switch account, download a new avatar for him, set up a PayPal account, and run up a credit card bill, according to reports.

According to CNN, YouTuber Mutekimaru had set up an advanced motion detector that visually divides the fish aquarium into several sections, with each area corresponding to a separate gaming button on the Nintendo Switch console.

The camera detected the motion of the fish and picked up the corresponding button wherever it stopped, allowing it to remotely control the buttons.

It was all going well before fish entered unchartered territory when the game crashed due to an unknown error during live-streaming while Mutekimaru had stepped away from the system.

In the next seven hours, as the fish continued to swim through the tank, the console returned to the home screen, with the pet still having the Nintendo control.

Pet fish playing game on the internet (YouTube/Mutekimaru Channel)
Pet fish playing game on the internet (YouTube/Mutekimaru Channel)

Without actually touching the screen, the inadvertent hacker successfully managed to change the owner’s name on his Switch, download a new avatar for him and set him a PayPal account, reported CNN.

It also “eagerly read the terms and conditions” on the Nintendo eShop, one of the captions read, according to Insider. “Many of us humans don’t read the terms of service, but fish are smarter than we are.”

It then added 500 yen (£3) to his Switch account, while exposing his credit card details during the livestream. The gamer filed for a refund with the Nintendo, reported the outlet.

The video, now seen over 482,000 times on YouTube, invited humorous comments from viewers.

“Sorry to hear about the fish going on a shopping spree. I hope it got good talking to about responsibility and money spending. I hope you were able to fix what he messed up,” wrote a user.

“I can only imagine having to explain to customer service that your pet fish made purchases on your account, lmao,” wrote another.