On October 17, GEO and its parent company, Second Retailing (formerly GEO Holdings), confirmed unauthorized access to their internal systems and subsequently began temporarily suspending various apps and web services—including “GEO Online”—and performing system maintenance.
These measures were taken in response to the confirmation of unauthorized access by a third party to the company’s internal systems on October 15, 2026. After the unauthorized access was confirmed, necessary security measures were implemented, and emergency system maintenance has been underway since 9:00 PM on October 17 to prevent further damage.
As of the time of this writing, the completion date for the maintenance has not been determined. The company states that it is working with external security experts to investigate the cause and assess the scope of the impact, and will provide an update as soon as a timeline for restoration is established.
Recently, there has been a spate of unauthorized access incidents targeting companies and organizations in Japan.The BookOff Group, which handles the sale and purchase of video games and other items, also announced on October 9 that personal information had been leaked due to unauthorized access to its member management system. Furthermore, on October 8, JPCERT/CC issued a security alert noting a series of information leaks resulting from unauthorized access to domestic organizations.
The unauthorized access incident at GEO has affected services familiar to gamers, such as online ordering and reservations for video games. However, no connection to these other incidents has been confirmed, and as of now, GEO has not disclosed whether any personal information was leaked or the specific attack methods used.
Impact on “Geo Online” Services and In-Store Operations
Due to this maintenance, various “Geo Online” services have been temporarily suspended, and changes have been made to certain procedures at Geo and Geo Mobile stores nationwide. However, there are no changes to store hours, and in-store sales, buybacks, and rentals are available as usual.
The main areas affected and precautions for users, as announced in the official notice, are as follows.
GEO and GEO Mobile Stores and the GEO App
Reservations and Purchases: Reservations can only be made in-store. When purchasing a reserved item, you must present a “Ponta Card” (or Digital Ponta) in the name of the person who made the reservation.
Buyback and Rental Services: These services are available as usual, but you must present a “Ponta Card” (or Digital Ponta) as your membership card (please note that some features, such as the app membership card, may not be available).
Geo App Coupons: If you wish to use a coupon, please inform store staff directly, and they will assist you.
Notifications: Push notifications regarding rental returns and reserved items will be sent, but you will not be able to view the details within the app.
GEO Online Store, Mail-Order Rentals, and Mail-Order Buybacks
GEO Online Store: Acceptance of new orders and order cancellation procedures are suspended. However, items ordered before the start of maintenance will be shipped as usual.
GEO Buyback (Mail-in Buyback): Acceptance of new buyback requests, checking transaction status and history, reviewing and approving appraisal results, processing returns, transferring buyback payments, and updating registration information are all suspended. Pickups for requests already submitted will be conducted as usual on the specified date and time.
GEO Mail-in Rental: Online procedures, such as accepting new orders, have been temporarily suspended.
For updates on service restoration and detailed future announcements, please check the GEO Online maintenance notice page and Second Retailing’s official announcements.
