Call-centre staff 'selling bank details'

A police investigation has been launched into an Indian call centre after reports in the Sun newspaper claimed workers there are selling on UK custome

17:18 23 June 2005

A police investigation has been launched into an Indian call centre after reports in the Sun newspaper claimed workers there are selling on UK customers' bank details.

Confidential personal details and bank account information on 1,000 British consumers were sold to an undercover journalist for just 3 each by a computer expert in Delhi, the newspaper claims.

Information included data on customers of top British banks including HSBC, Lloyds TSB and Barclays.

The worker reportedly claimed he had received the information from his contacts working in call centres in India.

Among the information acquired were passwords, addresses, credit card details, driving licences, phone numbers and passports - all of which could be used to get into victims' accounts.

The centre worker revealed to the newspaper that he could get as many as 200,000 account details per month.

British companies are increasingly outsourcing work to Indian call centres to save money, but these new findings have added to the already serious concerns about identity theft facing UK consumers.

However, police have tried to reassure consumers that cases such as this are a relatively rare occurrence.