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‘Small sums’ removed from French premier’s online bank account

France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy has fallen victim to online crime. French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche yesterday revealed that Sarkozy filed a complaint to police last month after noticing that small sums of money had been removed from his private bank account.

It is believed that hackers somehow obtained the French President’s account log in details. Sources quoted by Le Journal du Dimanche said it was unlikely that the perpetrators knew the identity of their victim.

“This proves the system of Internet checking is not infallible,” Luc Chatel, France’s secretary of state for consumer affairs, said on the radio yesterday. “These cases are sufficiently rare that we haven't had to really organise ourselves, but they are sufficiently serious for us to reflect on how to improve the system.”

France saw a nine percent increase in online banking-related crime last year, Chatel said. Meanwhile, a recent report found that online banking fraud in the UK increased 185% during the first six months of this year.

Further reading

Online banking fraud up 185%
Online banking fraud has soared while a wave of phishing sites and spyware scams netted almost £300 million, according to APACS

Sting operation shuts illegal card trading forum

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