Gang of eight arrested over £1.3million Barclays computer hijack plot in carbon copy of Santander scam

A gang has been arrested on suspicion of hijacking the computer system in a Barclays bank to siphon off £1.3million.
Scotland Yard said today it had held eight men after a cyber-attack on a branch in Swiss Cottage, north London.
The group is accused of sending in a bogus engineer who installed a hacking device on at least one computer that allowed screens to be viewed remotely.

Cyber-attack: Scotland Yard said today it had held eight men who they believed hacked a branch in Swiss Cottage, north London (pictured) to get £1.3m

Hacking: The Met Police has said a device similar to this was used by criminals, which when plugged into a computer transmits screen contents to a remote PC

It is a carbon copy of an alleged plot to steal from a Santander branch in south-east London foiled a week ago, but the Met would not confirm if the two incidents are linked.
The latest gang are accused of using highly sensitive information displayed on the computer to access accounts and drain money from them in April.
These men, who are aged between 24 and 47, have been arrested in connection with an allegation of conspiracy to steal, and conspiracy to defraud UK banks.

They are in custody in London police stations.
Cash, jewellery, drugs, thousands of credit cards and personal data have been seized in searches at addresses in Westminster, Newham, Camden, Brent and Essex.
Detectives described one of the addresses in central London as the fraudsters' control centre.

Similarities: Last week a gang allegedly used a discreet gizmo plugged into a Santander computer to spy on its content

A search of the Barclays Bank branch in Swiss Cottage, north London, where £1.3 million was stolen in April, unearthed a 'keyboard video mouse' (KVM) switch attached to a 3G router to one of the computers. 
It is believed the gang could have been using the gadget to transfer money remotely into different bank accounts.
Metropolitan Police 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.'
The arrests are the latest in a series of cyber crimes targeting banks in an attempt to steal millions of pounds.
A gang is alleged to have tried to use the KVM gadget to take control of all the computers at a branch of Santander in Surrey Quays shopping centre in south east London. The attempt failed and the Spanish bank said they were unable to steal any money.
Four men - Lanre Mullins-Abudu, 25, from Putney, south west London; Dean Outram, 34, from north west London; Akash Vaghela, 27, from Hounslow, west London; and Asad Ali Qureshi, 35, from south west London - are to appear on conspiracy to steal charges at London's Southwark Crown Court on September 27.
Eight other people have been bailed to a date in mid-November pending further inquiries.