EDINBURGH, Scotland–Tesco Bank here has been forced to block all online transactions for its customers after money was reportedly stolen from 20,000 accounts and suspicious activity was found related to another 20,000.
"Tesco Bank can confirm that, over the weekend, some of its customers' current accounts have been subject to online criminal activity, in some cases resulting in money being withdrawn fraudulently," said CEO Benny Higgins in a statement. "We continue to work with the authorities and regulators to address the fraud and will keep our customers informed through regular updates on our website, Twitter and direct communication. We apologize for the worry and inconvenience that this has caused for customers, and can only stress that we are taking every step to protect our customers' accounts."
Tesco Bank, which is owned by supermarket giant Tesco, said it first discovered indications that fraud was occurring on Nov. 5 when customers began reporting that their accounts had been drained. Other customers reported having difficulty in connecting with call center staff. Higgins told the BBC that he was “very hopeful” customers would receive full refunds within 24 hours.
"Any financial loss that results from this fraudulent activity will be borne by the bank," Higgins said. "Customers are not at financial risk."
According to Tesco, the fraud involved checking accounts, known in the U.K. as current accounts, which it introduced in 2014. The bank has not provided details on how the bank’s systems were breached, whether any insiders were involved, or whether a vendor or vendors were involved.