| |
Internet fraud on the rise
|
Cotton Traders Suffer Card Details Theft
Writes Dan Drage dan.drage@consumerchoices.co.uk
Clothing retailer Cotton Traders became the victim of a high profile web hack, resulting in the theft of credit and debit card details.
The magnitude of this security breach was never disclosed, but it is estimated up to 40,000 individual sets of card details were stolen.
Cotton Traders representatives, who confessed to the incident only yesterday, have reassured web customers that the incident was reported to Barclaycard (www.barclaycard.co.uk) immediately, and most cards were stopped in January.
Cotton Traders had the following to say:
|
"It is estimated up to 40,000 individual sets of card details were stolen."
|
“We would like to reassure all our customers that their data is secure and that the Cotton Traders website meets all leading Industry security standards.”
The theft is thought to have taken place over the busy Christmas period, but the exact timing is unknown.
The payment industry's trade body APACS are said to be “deeply concerned” by this incident, as hackers accessed details for "card not present" fraud. Effectively, details that could potentially be used for online purchases or mail order fraud.
According to APACS, a specialist police unit is investigating this case.
Chris Eagle, Commercial Manager at Credit Choices, urges Cotton Traders online customers to be vigilant, but not to panic:
“Those who shopped on the Cotton Traders website between November 2007 and January 2008 should check their card statements from that period with a fine toothed comb. If you spot a discrepancy, report it to your card issuer immediately”
He continues:
“Should you be concerned enough to believe your security has been compromised beyond a reasonable limit, contact your card issuer and ask for the card to be cancelled.”
| 
