150 bank clients' signatures clients sold to criminal gang

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2676633/Bank-worker-stole-signatures-150-clients-sold-criminal-gang-400-000-fraud-spared-jail-children.html

Insider fraud from within banks is a massive risk nowadays. Call centre workers, cashiers, back-room staff and temporary workers are all likely to have equal access to customer details, and if they are low-paid with little allegiance to the bank, simple basic customer details alone represent a valuable resource that can be sold to criminals.

A NatWest banking officer who sold wealthy customers' details to criminals running a £400,000 fraud was spared jail because she has two young children.

The information was used by a gang of swindlers to go on spending sprees at Apple and Selfridges stores in Beirut, Marseilles and London. One customer lost more than £130,000 before the scam was stopped in April this year.

A well organised fraud could scoop millions and bring misery to many customers.

There is no mention that the associates were caught or that any money was recouped, so they'll be back at work looking for more recruits.

Noticing that one of the places that money was withdrawn in this fraud was Beirut, though I have no evidence that it was the case in this instance, but the easiest way to get round money laundering and terrorist financing legislation would be for a person to do it this way.

Current regulations and barriers presume that terrorists will make use of regular and legal means to transfer funds when in actual fact it is quite likely that supporters are often already deeply involved in the world of fraud and crime and this would be the most natural means to do it and it would be risk free. Risk free apart from the criminal 'dupe' passing information and the victims, and terrorists have no concern for them.

The fact that it wouldn't happen in my day wasn't simply because I was part of an older generation, there were good practical reasons and yet security within banks hasn't taken account of the changes. There are vulnerabilities that simply didn't exist in years past.

As I said

http://www.travolution.co.uk/articles/2014/07/04/7965/syntec-sentiment-tracker-finds-rising-concern-over-call-centre-fraud.html?

July 4, 2014

The CIFAS Internal Fraud Database, recently reported that 20% of the internal fraud cases reported by members in 2013 were committed in contact centres with many of these offences involving staff disclosing customer or commercial data to organised criminal.”

Insider fraud by staff handling customer details is a major risk nowadays, and it doesn't have to be pin numbers and card details. Simple contact details are worth money to criminals, and in banks much more sensitive information is accessible to those at the most basic level of employment or even temporary staff.

The article appears to be suggesting that the risk is to call centres in losing business from consumers who lose trust in them, without even mentioning the harm and loss to the customers affected.