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Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19,000 UK credit card details found via Google search

Cybercriminals accidently made the information live claims reports

Carrie-Ann Skinner PC Advisor

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Credit card details of 19,000 UK online shoppers were freely available on Google, it has been revealed.

Anyone using the search engine could have easily accessed not only the name and addresses of thousands of Visa, Mastercard and American Express card holders, but also the full card details too.

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It is thought cybercriminals accidently made the information live during a bid to sell the credit card details to other online criminals.

According to the banking body APACS, the majority of the cards had already been cancelled but the owners were probably unaware their information was available online.

An APACS spokesman told The Telegraph: "The data was originally posted on an unsecured server in Vietnam used by criminal gangs. The site was closed down in February but the information remained available on a 'cached' version of the page on Google, which stores historical snapshots of websites even after they are removed".

Google confirmed the information has since been removed.

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