Santander Bank hacking plot: 12 men arrested

Hi-tech bank robbers were stopped as UK cops foil Santander Bank heist plot.

09:55 14 September 2013

Police have arrested and detained 12 men aged between 23 and 50 over an audacious alleged plot to steal millions of money from Santander Bank by remotely taking control of a computer.

In a report, it was revealed that one of the arrested men pretended to be an engineer and fitted a device to a machine in Surrey Quays branch of Santander with the aim to get access to the bank’s data. He was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to steal.

Following the arrest, several addresses in Brent, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Richmond, Westminster, and Slough were searched and property was seized.

Det Insp Mark Raymond said: "This was a sophisticated plot that could have led to the loss of a very large amount of money from the bank, and is the most significant case of this kind that we have come across.

"I would like to thank our partners from the industry who have provided valuable assistance throughout this investigation."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the bank assured customers that no harm was done. He said: "Through this co-operation, Santander was aware of the possibility of the attack connected to the arrests.”

"The attempt to fit the device to the computer in the Surrey Quays Branch was undertaken by a bogus maintenance engineer pretending to be from a third party.”

"It failed and no money was ever at risk. No member of Santander staff was involved in this attempted fraud."