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Cyber crooks selling private information for 10p

Personal bank details and other private data belonging to UK individuals are reportedly being trafficked on the web by secret Russian criminal gangs, reports say.

According to the Sunday Herald, the personal information is being sold to the highest bidder through secret internet sites and many unsuspecting individuals may be exposed to online threats or ID theft.

"This is big business. Every day criminal traders are using this network to sell in excess of £10,000 worth of private data that can be used as a tool kit to steal the subjects' identities," said Jacques Erasmus, a former hacker turned security expert.

"Nobody knows exactly who runs the operation, but its reputation for security, reliability and quality merchandise has seen it become known in underworld circles as the organised criminal's answer to eBay."

The newspaper used an undercover identity to infiltrate the network where they discovered as little as 10p could grant access to dates of birth and credit card numbers.

The news comes amid reports from the University of Michigan that over 75 per cent of banking websites are flawed.

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