If personal data is stolen, it is anything but a pleasure for those affected. However, when it comes to those previously involved in, or victims of, organized crime, the potential consequences are far more serious: Life and limb could be at stake.

While it may sound a little far-fetched, this apparently what happened in the Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto, at a state counseling center dedicated to the prevention of violence, as CSOonline’s German edition reports.

The Kumamoto Prefecture Anti-Violence Movement Promotion Center promises free and confidential counselling services to people who are associated with (or threatened by) yakuzas, Japan’s gangster organizations.