Scotland Yard holds 19 as East European online banking fraud nets £20m

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Scotland Yard computer crime specialists seized 19 people suspected of draining thousands of accounts.

The gang used a "Trojan horse" virus to infiltrate computers, capturing passwords and other private details. The software, called Zeus of Zbot, allowed details of bank accounts to be forwarded to computers controlled by the hackers. The gang is believed to have stolen thousands of pounds at a time, placing it in bogus "drop" accounts.

The Yard's e-crime unit was alerted after high street banks spotted a sudden rise in fraudulent activity. Detectives arrested 15 men and four women aged between 23 and 47 at addresses across London and Essex in dawn raids.

They are being questioned on suspicion of fraud, offences under the Computer Misuse Act and money laundering. Two of them were also held on suspicion of possessing a firearm.

Detective Chief Inspector Terry Wilson said police believed they had disrupted "a highly organised criminal network, which has used sophisticated methods to siphon large amounts of cash from many innocent people's accounts".

He said "immense personal anxiety and significant financial harm" had been caused, and added that banks have had to make good the losses to individuals. He added: "Online banking customers must make sure their security systems are up-to-date and be alert to any unusual or additional security features requested at variance with their normal log-on experience.

"Greater public awareness and education will make it harder for personal details to be compromised and for this type of fraud to be carried out."

Last year £59.7million was lost to online banking fraud, according to the sector's Financial Fraud Action UK group. Another £440million was lost to credit card fraud.

Online banking customers should keep anti-virus software up-to-date and set firewalls to the highest level.