Stars' bank details revealed on Internet

Roger Moore, a victim of Internet error

ZURICH, Switzerland -- The bank details of several show business stars, including former James Bond actor Roger Moore, were posted on the public Internet for a week as a result of an error by a Swiss bank.

A technical glitch revealed the stars' secret bank account numbers, private addresses and money transfers on a Credit Suisse Group Web site, the bank acknowledged on Thursday.

That meant that Internet users could get a rare glimpse into account details of such stars as Moore, Swiss entertainer DJ Bobo and German pop star Udo Juergens.

The Swiss Blick newspaper said in a front-page story that several stars were affected by the inadvertent publication of details of 675 money transfers, but did not say exactly how many.

Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-largest bank, confirmed the report and said it had shut down a test Web site where the details appeared.

"We are investigating how exactly that could have happened and have closed down the page," CS spokesman Georg Soentgerath told CNN.com.

"A third person put data in there which should never have gone in there. Unfortunately it could lead to a loss of confidence in the bank."

The problem cropped up when a Swiss agency that coordinates royalty payments sent the confidential data to Credit Suisse as a test of its transfer system. But the numbers inexplicably appeared on the bank's Internet banking Web site, Direct.net.

"This is a first-class scandal," Juergens told Blick. "How can I feel secure at such an institution?"

"I am mad as hell. I am going to close my two accounts at CS," Swiss singer Polo Hofer was quoted as saying.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Microsoft servers hit by another hacker
November 7, 2000
Hacker warns Nasdaq.com of security holes
October 3, 2000>
Western Union Web hack attributed to 'human error'
September 13, 2000

Credit Suisse - Direct Net (Internet Banking)
Credit Suisse Group
DJ BoBo
Roger Moore

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.