British investigators and Barclays, one of the three biggest banks in the UK, said it is investigating the possibility of the theft and sale of the personal data of 27,000 customers.
If initial reports are proven to be true, the data breach would be the worst in the history of high street banks—a UK term referring to large retail banks with many branches.
According to the Daily Mail, an unnamed whistleblower provided it with files containing thousands of customers’ names and financial information.
The anonymous source told the newspaper data was sold to brokers for “investment scams.” The data could be sold for much as 50 pounds, or $82.
Barclays said it was grateful to the newspaper for bringing the issue to its attention and it contacted the Information Commission and other regulators.
“Our initial investigations suggest this is isolated to customers linked to our Barclays Financial Planning business which we ceased operating as a service in 2011,” Barclays said, in a statement. “Based on what we have seen, this appears to be data from 2008 or earlier.”
The bank promised to contact customers.
“This appears to be a criminal action and we will cooperate with the authorities on pursuing the perpetrator,” Barclays said.
Chad Hemenway is Managing Editor of Advisen News. He has more than 15 years of journalist experience at a variety of online, daily, and weekly publications. He has covered P&C insurance news since 2007, and he has experience writing about all P&C lines as well as regulation and litigation. Chad won a Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Single Article in 2014 for his coverage of the insurance implications of traumatic brain injuries and Best News Coverage in 2013 for coverage of Superstorm Sandy. Contact Chad at 212.897.4824 or [email protected].
