On Monday, the bank asked customers to ignore e-mails requesting their personal details after it was discovered that a number of NetBank users had been fooled into divulging their usernames and passwords to online con artists.
Victims of the hoax had responded to a bulk e-mail--which carried a Commonwealth Bank graphic and the subject "NetBank Security Server Update"--that carried instruction to activate a new NetBank account by following a hyperlink embedded in the body of the message. The customers were then directed to login at what appeared to be an authentic NetBank site. However, the site was a fake constructed by the scam's architects.
The suspect, who's identity has been withheld, has been charged with one count of being an accessory to obtaining money by deception under New South Wales (NSW) criminal laws, Australian Federal Police spokesman Steve Simpson confirmed today.
Federal police officers are expected to lay additional charges against him before his court appearance scheduled for early April in Sydney, Simpson told ZDNet Australia in an interview.
Further investigation has gone beyond Australian shores, Simpson said, adding that the federal police computer crimes unit and the NSW police department were jointly working on the case.
Following the incident, the bank immediately moved to assure its customers on Tuesday that its Internet banking service was secure, insisting that all funds were intact. However, in an interview with ZDNet Australia this evening, the bank's spokesman Paul Rey conceded for the first time that NetBank accounts were illegally accessed.
However, citing ongoing police investigations, Rey declined to reveal the number of compromised accounts, describing it as a "very small figure."
"It's sufficient to say that some transactions went through but they were rolled back," Rey told ZDNet Australia .
"We cannot comment on the specifics at this stage except that we protected our customer's funds," said Rey, emphasising that customers did not lose any money.
Fools shouldn't be using the Internet, let alone to manage their personal funds!