According to the Daily Mail, a user who preferred to remain anonymous handed over files containing personal and financial information of 2,000 Barclays Bank customers to the newspaper.
However, this data is only a small sample, as the total number of customer records intercepted by the financial institution and allegedly sold to brokers exceeds 27,000.
Barclays has been informed by the Daily Mail about the incident and has already begun investigating the matter. The bank could face huge fines as a result of the data breach
The leaked information includes mortgages, insurance policies, salaries, savings, health issues, social security numbers and passport details of the financial institution's customers. Each of the customer records could be sold for $50 on the underground markets.
The Daily Mail whistleblower claimed to have received the information from a head of a brokerage firm who had already used the data for his own personal gain. The former broker revealed that the 27,000 files are “unrefined gold” for brokers, as the information they contain allows them to easily manipulate their targets.
Initial investigations indicate that the leaked data relates to customers of a business financing program, which has been discontinued since 2011.
