eBay customer buys one million account details for £35

UK eBayer finds an identity theft treasure trove of information left on a storage device

LONDON – A UK eBay customer was shocked to find the financial details of more than one million bank and credit card customers contained on a ‘Snap!’ network attached storage device purchased on the internet auction site for £35.

The device contained the financial information of more than a million American Express, RBS and NatWest customers – including names, addresses, mobile phone numbers, sort codes, bank numbers, credit card details, answers to secret questions and signature scans – an identity thief’s dream.

The haul was purchased by IT manager Andrew Chapman from a former employee of Graphic Data, responsible for storing data in electronic format for several financial firms. The companies involved, and the UK information commissioner, are now investigating the incident.

Graphic Data released a statement saying: “Certain pieces of IT equipment have been removed from a secure area. We are seeking to recover this equipment, which apparently contained customer data. We take customer privacy and data security very seriously.”