Online sale of UK bank account details

by Gill Montia

Story link: Online sale of UK bank account details

Symantec, the infrastructure software company, has published its latest Security Threat Report, which reveals that UK bank account details can be purchased online for as little as £5.

Furthermore, UK bank customers are particularly at risk because the websites selling such details contain large numbers of UK accounts.

Some details are being packaged up into bundles, so that 50 credit card details are sold for £20, or 40p each.

Business account details appear more frequently than consumer data because they give criminals access to more lucrative forms of fraud.

At the same time, the report reveals that fraudulent activity against consumers is becoming more sophisticated and personalised.

It is difficult to take action against the criminals operating online because data is frequently made available for only a few days or even hours, before a website closes.

A growing trend revealed by the report is the use by identity fraudsters of social networking sites.

Many users of these sites are less savvy about the information they provide than they need to be.