A new form of computer virus is targeting millions of internet banking users.
The virus lies dormant on the customer's computer until they try to access their bank account, when it re-directs the user's web-browser to a fake website designed to look like the official bank version. This way, the fraudsters can take a customer's login details and access their accounts.
Internet portal Lycos said it is tracking 100,000 incidents of the Troj/BankAsh-A virus a day and that there were 3.3 million attacks last month alone.
The websites of Barclays and Bank of Scotland are the most recent targets for the attack.
"The stolen details are used to hi-jack bank accounts and for identity theft," said Wessel van Rensburg, Lycos UK head of email.
"While these crimes are not new, the methods by which data is obtained are extremely sophisticated. This is a multi-billion pound industry and tens, if not hundreds, of thousands are being affected," he said.
The virus gets onto a user's machine as an email attachment, a download from a webpage or file-sharing network, or is placed on the users' PC as part of another software package.
"While the technology industry is just about keeping up with the hackers - with advanced anti-virus filters aiming at stopping this software ever reaching the internet users - education is the only long-term solution. PC users need to ensure they are taking the correct precautions when using the web in order to protect their data," Mr Van Rensburg said.
New virus threatens internet banking
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