Internet banking records of thousands of Britons are being sold for less than $40 in Nigeria after being gleaned from recycled computers sent to Africa by British companies. According to experts at InfoWatch, any company or individual could find themselves in the same situation if they fail to take precautions.
The banking details of thousands of Britons are being sold in West Africa. The details of each bank client are currently being traded for under $40. Nigerian fraudsters are apparently finding the data on old recycled computers sent to Africa from the UK. It appears that the banking details are still on the computers’ hard drives, which have not been wiped properly. The information also seems to be fairly easy to access.
This version, put forward by British reporters, is corroborated by the fact that Nigeria is home to a thriving second-hand PC market. Due to negligence on the part of the computers’ former owners, the threat of identity theft emanating from West Africa is now particularly acute. The problem stems from British users, often UK councils, not wiping their hard disks of financial and personal details before passing on their computers for recycling.
UK companies are legally required under the Data Protection Act to store personal information securely and to delete people's personal information from their computers when it is no longer needed.
Source: BBC NEWS
