Egg isn't the only bank cracked
Published: 24 Aug 2000 12:52 BST
According to reports the National Crime Squad (NCS) believes that Egg may not be the only Internet bank to have been targeted by criminals. The Financial Times reports that NCS enquiries suggest other online banks have fallen victim to similar frauds.
Tuesday's arrests were the result of a six-month investigation into attempts to create multiple accounts at Egg. It appears those responsible may have planned to take out loans that would not subsequently be paid back, although banking experts suggest that money laundering may have been the motivation.
Although Egg claims its security was not breached and that no customers suffered financial loss, the events have caused more concern for consumers worried about spending money online. And with good cause:
- In February, UK hackers demanded a £10m ransom from Visa
- A hacker managed to break into the computer system of American online retailer CD-Universe in January, stealing customer credit card details
- Also in January, Virgin.net called on the police to investigate a security breach which caused thousands of Internet accounts to be closed down
- Last December, one Egg customer was able to access another customer's account. Egg blamed human error for the mistake.
Earlier this month, the National Consumer Council called on the Government to get its act together to rebuild public confidence in e-commerce. Its research showed that Internet security scares made people much less willing shop online.
It has long been held that you could tell how well a company looked after its staff by the state of the toilets. Using the same analogy Chris Long thinks you can say pretty much the same about Banks that roll out new technology services, you can tell how much they think about the customers by how much they provide. Go to AnchorDesk UK for the news comment.
Take me to the e-commerce special.
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