Banks Make Phishing Easy

Banks are leaving customers prey to theft by failing to validate security codes from the magnetic strip on the back of cash cards, IT industry analyst Gartner has warned.

Thieves who have conned customers into giving away account information using phishing techniques, fake bank e-mails requesting that recipients visit a website and enter their data use the data to withdraw money from ATMs.

In a new report on US banking, Gartner estimates that that this fraud cost an estimated $2.75bn (£1.55bn) in the 12 months to May 2005. Computer Weekly