14 DAY TRIAL // A number of eight men have been arrested in Israel and Thailand for trying to extort money from the bank they previously worked for, by threatening with selling financial information of millions of customers.
The former employees worked for Leumi Card, one of the leading credit card companies in Israel that provides card issuing and clearing services.
The group's leader has been identified as Eliran Rosnis, who had been living in Thailand for most of the year.
About two weeks ago, he contacted the Leumi Card management and said that before leaving the company, he copied the card details of millions of customers, which he would sell on the black market unless he was paid millions of shekels in exchange.
According to the company, the information would not present a fraud risk to its clients because it could not be used for cloning or for online transactions.
Just like in the case of the breach on HSBC Turkey bank, data included on the magnetic stripe of the card and the card security code (CVV or CVC) were not taken by the thief. The stolen info referred to names, card numbers and government-issued ID card numbers, which is not sufficient for fraudulent use.
“It is important for me to emphasize that there is no suspicion of damage of any kind to our customers,” Leumi Card CEO, Hagai Heller, told The Jerusalem Post.
The online publication informs that the suspect, brought to Israel on Sunday morning, relied on TOR (The Onion Router) to preserve the anonymity of his location when contacting Leumi Card.