EIGHT MEN ARRESTED OVER MISSION IMPOSSIBLE-LIKE £1.3m BARCLAYS CYBER THEFT

EIGHT men have been arrested following police investigations into a £1.3m cyber theft at a Barclays bank in London. The group have been held in relation to an alleged conspiracy to steal from the Swiss Cottage branch in April, when one of the thieves is reported to have posed as a workman who was there to fix computers. The man then attached a piece of hardware to one of the bank's internet routers which allowed the thieves to access their systems remotely. While this sounds like something out of a James Bond or Mission Impossible film, it is deadly serious with people's cash and valuables potentially at risk. The gang may have used the device to transfer money remotely to other bank accounts.

One of the raided properties is believed to be the nerve centre of the operation. The men, aged between 24 and 47, are facing charges of conspiracy to steal from Barclays Bank and conspiracy to defraud UK banks. Detective Inspector Mark Raymond said: "Those responsible for this offence are significant players within a sophisticated and determined organised criminal network, who used considerable technical abilities and traditional criminal know-how to infiltrate and exploit secure banking systems.

Source:Dailystar.co.uk

Police have seized cash, jewellery, drugs and thousands of credit cards from a number of addresses across London.