Laptop with bank details of over a million Britons sold on eBay
Last Updated: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 | 11:28 AM ET
CBC News
The British government began an investigation Tuesday into how a computer containing highly sensitive bank information of over a million people was sold via online auction site eBay.
The laptop computer, which was sold for just under $70 to British IT manager Andrew Chapman, contained customers' credit card applications, account details, signatures, cellphone numbers and mothers' maiden names.
The Royal Bank of Scotland and Natwest Bank confirmed their customers' details were included in the computer.
A former employee of a data archiving firm put the computer up for sale without erasing the sensitive data earlier this month, reported British newspaper The Daily Mail.
The company, Graphic Data, digitally stores information for a number of Britain's financial institutions. A spokesperson for the company said the company did not authorize the sale of the computer.
Both eBay and Graphic Data have said they are investigating how the computer came to be offered for sale.
The identity of the person who sold the computer has not yet been confirmed.
