"Fetal Ultrasound Photo at 7 Weeks Sold for 56,000 Won" Shakes Secondhand Market... Leads to Drastic Measures

Mercari Bans Sale of Fetal Ultrasound Photos
Amid Growing Concerns Over Fraudulent Use
Company Responds to Fears of Scams Involving Fake Pregnancies
"AI Will Detect and Remove Ultrasound Listings"

A Japanese secondhand trading platform has decided to ban the sale of fetal ultrasound photos and similar items. This measure was implemented following concerns that fetal ultrasound images could be misused to falsely claim pregnancy and demand money.

Fetal photo sold on Japanese second-hand trading platform Mercari. Screenshot from X (formerly Twitter)

According to a recent report by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei), on August 25, the Japanese secondhand trading platform Mercari classified the sale of fetal ultrasound photos as an inappropriate transaction. The company announced that it would use artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor the situation and, starting September 1, would take actions such as removing listings if violations are detected.

This policy was announced through a blog post for users and will also apply equally to "Mercari Shops," an e-commerce service for small businesses. For items already listed, sellers have been asked to voluntarily withdraw their products.

Fetal ultrasound photo being sold on the Japanese secondhand trading platform Mercari.

The company explained that this decision was in response to growing social concerns that ultrasound photos could be used in scams, deceiving others into providing money for abortion or living expenses under the false pretense of pregnancy.

Concerns about the potential for scams using fetal ultrasound photos surfaced after related posts spread on Japanese social networking services (SNS) starting August 18. At that time, users called for platform-level regulations.

Meanwhile, despite these measures, listings for fetal ultrasound photos can still be found on the platform. On this day, a search for "fetal ultrasound photo" on Mercari revealed examples such as an item described as "date and name can be edited, 7 weeks pregnant" being sold for about 6,000 yen (56,000 won), and an "ultrasound photo of 5 months pregnant" listed for 3,000 yen (28,000 won).