ID and Bank Accounts BOGOFs : The Secrets of the Online Crime Tescos

Security Firm Symantec today revealed that UK identities are being purchased and sold in bulk buy special offers on "cyber crime supermarket" style underground economies, according to the latest edition of its Internet Security Threat Report.
 
The bi-annual global report found that UK bank account details are being sold on underground economy servers for as little as £5, and are the most commonly advertised item for sale on these "cyber supermarket" black market forums used by criminals to advertise and trade stolen information and services.

Where you live also indicates how attractive your identity is to cyber criminals as the report found that EU identities are in much higher demand, being traded at prices 50 per cent higher than American identities.

This is because of the flexibility of their use, since EU citizens are able to travel and conduct business freely throughout Europe making them useful to attackers who can use the identities easily across borders.

The Internet Security Threat Report also found that the higher the bank balance, the more lucrative it will be when sold on the cyber supermarket, with high value business accounts advertised for considerably more than lower balanced consumer ones.

Bank accounts that bundled in personal information such as names, addresses and dates of birth were advertised at higher prices than those without this extra information - indicating how identity thieves are adopting a 'buy-one-get-one-free' philosophy.