The UK’s Tesco Bank has temporarily blocked all online transactions after 20,000 of its customers have lost hundreds of pounds from their saving accounts over the weekend due to an online hacking attack.
The Bank's chief executive, Benny Higgins has confirmed that nearly 40,000 customers had noticed "suspicious activity" over the weekend, and they blamed "a systematic, sophisticated attack" for the hack.
However, customers who have saving accounts will not get affected by this, and the current account holders will still be able to withdraw cash.
Higgins said: "This will only affect current account customers. While online transactions will not be available, current account customers will still be able to use their cards for cash withdrawals, chip and pin payments, and all existing bill payments and direct debits will continue as normal. We are working hard to resume normal service on current accounts as soon as possible.
"We are working hard to resume normal service on current accounts as soon as possible," said Mr. Higgins.
Before the official announcement the bank has sent an alert to some account holders "have been subject to online criminal activity, in some cases resulting in money being withdrawn fraudulently".
Mr. Higgins also apologized for the "worry and inconvenience" that customers have faced.
Banks are on the hit list for the hackers and frauds. Recently, ATM of one of the largest bank in the world, State Bank of India was reportedly got affected by a malware, but fortunately, no major suspicious activity was reported.
The Bank's chief executive, Benny Higgins has confirmed that nearly 40,000 customers had noticed "suspicious activity" over the weekend, and they blamed "a systematic, sophisticated attack" for the hack.
However, customers who have saving accounts will not get affected by this, and the current account holders will still be able to withdraw cash.
Higgins said: "This will only affect current account customers. While online transactions will not be available, current account customers will still be able to use their cards for cash withdrawals, chip and pin payments, and all existing bill payments and direct debits will continue as normal. We are working hard to resume normal service on current accounts as soon as possible.
"We are working hard to resume normal service on current accounts as soon as possible," said Mr. Higgins.
Before the official announcement the bank has sent an alert to some account holders "have been subject to online criminal activity, in some cases resulting in money being withdrawn fraudulently".
Mr. Higgins also apologized for the "worry and inconvenience" that customers have faced.
Banks are on the hit list for the hackers and frauds. Recently, ATM of one of the largest bank in the world, State Bank of India was reportedly got affected by a malware, but fortunately, no major suspicious activity was reported.