£5 to buy UK bank details

10 April 2008

British bank details being sold in ‘cyber-crime supermarkets’

A report has revealed that UK bank account details are for sale from as little as £5 in ‘cyber-crime supermarkets’.

Additionally, the cyber-criminals are now targeting social networking sites says the report into online crime by web security firm Symantec.

Symantec revealed that EU identities cost sell for more money than American ones because they can be put to use across the whole of the EU.

Cyber criminals are targeting those using social networking sites, instead of online banking, because their users are more careless.

Symantec conduct their ‘Internet Security Threat Report’ twice-yearly. The latest report has shown that UK bank account details were the most advertised items on those black-market forums used to sell stolen data.

The report also found that accounts belonging high-value businesses were most frequently targeted because the details could be sold for a higher amount than those relating to accounts with lower balances held by consumers.

Symantec also found instances of bulk-buying where personal details had been packaged up in wholesale bundles.

In the last half of 2007, Symantec found 50 credit card numbers for £20 (£0.40 each) and 500 credit card numbers for £100 (£0.20 each).