Saudi Hackers Steal, Leak Israeli Credit Card Accounts

A Saudi hacker group reportedly associated with Anonymous yesterday posted credit card information on what it said represented 400,000 Israeli account holders, but an Israeli credit card firm said most of the accounts were invalid or incorrect and that the total count was far less.

According to Reuters, media reports out of Israel said the hackers had infiltrated multiple websites in Israel and grabbed the credit card data. Dov Kotler, CEO of Isracard, said in a statement that a file listing 400,000 Israeli credit card numbers had appeared online, but that his firm studied the list and confirmed that around 14,000 of the credit card numbers listed by the hackers were valid, including 6,600 issued by Isracard, according to Reuters.

The hackers claimed to be using the stolen credit card accounts, but Israeli banks have frozen the accounts and won't hold the account holders responsible for any fraudulent charges. Among the hacked websites were an Israeli sports information website and a local television station, according to published reports.

Visitors to One, the Saudi sports site, on Monday evening were redirected to a post on the hacker's site that stated: “We decided to give a new year’s gift to the world: the information of about 400,000 Israelis.”

The post continued, “What fun it is for us to see 400,000 people gathered in front of credit card companies and banks and complaining that their credit card information has been stolen. To see Israeli banks destroying 400,000 credit cards and producing new ones (so expensive, huh?). To see people buying things for themselves using the credit cards and damaging the credibility of Israeli credit cards around the world.”

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