Details of 21 million German bank accounts up for sale

In an undercover investigation, two reporters from the Wirtschaftswoche magazine met up with two individuals who offered to sell the bank account details and identifying information on 21 million people. Posing as interested buyers from a gambling operation, the reporters were given a CD containing 1.2 million accounts in a first delivery as proof to the authenticity of the information. The file has since been given to the authorities, though. As can be expected, the case has generated an uproar in Germany. The magazine noted that the information was most likely collected with the help of call center employees. For the full data, the crooks apparently asked for payment of €12 million, or US$15.3 million. Commercial and government organizations have been waking up to the need to take data protection seriously. This can only be a good sign, though one wonders whether it is already too little, too late.

For more on this story:
- check out this article from AFP
- check out this article from the Register

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