Credit and debit card passwords and PINs are being sold on Russian websites – and full bank details for £190

By Charlotte Beugge

Your credit and debit card details could be up for sale on a Russian website for as little as £19 – and full access to a UK bank account can cost just £190.

A report in the Daily Mail’s Money Mail section says that account numbers and passwords of thousands of British bank customers are on sale on Russian websites. The information has been stolen from customers unwittingly giving their passwords and other details on fake websites or from devices attached to cash machines. Armed with the stolen details, it could be possible for a fraudster to get access to your bank account or credit card.  

While victims of such frauds are usually refunded in full by their bank or card company, the cost is paid for by all customers through increased fees and charges. Card fraud costs around £308 million a year and every set of stolen card details costs banks £120.

  The paper quotes Richard Hurley, a spokesman for UK anti-fraud organisation Cifas, saying: "It’s an open secret that banks hand on to their customers the millions of pounds they lose this way".

Stolen card details are sold in bulk on websites based often in Eastern Europe or China. The report says that one seller on a Russian website was offering British credit cards, with full details of the person’s identity, for just £19 each and for £190 they also claimed to be able to offer access to a UK bank account with a credit limit of £8,000.

It also delved into the 'deep internet' where one website was offering British and German Visa cards and MasterCards complete with their security codes, with credit limits of £2,000 each, for £25 per card. The Daily Mail has passed all the results of its investigation to the police.