It has recently been reported that Barclays bank has leaked account details of up to 27,000 files. It is seen as the worst breach of bank data ever witnessed in banking history. There has been a cache of personal and financial details stolen and then sold onto rogue traders.

When they had received the information, unscrupulous dealers used this information to pressurize investors into scams. After revelations made by a former City broker who blew the whistle on the files in order to stop the problem growing even further, Barclays now face unlimited fines for not protecting customer information.

However, since these revelations have come to light, Barclays have launched an urgent investigation and promised to co-operate with the police. It is unbelievable to hear how this well-known British bank has allowed highly sensitive information such as earnings, savings, mortgages, health issues and insurance policies, get into the hands of these rogue dealers. The data also included passport and insurance numbers, which is known to cost millions on the black market. Once the dealers get hold of this information, it easily allows unsuspected individuals to be targeted by investment scams.

One former commodity broker told reporters, “This is the worst leak I’ve come across by far. But this illegal trade is going on all the time in the City. I want to go public to stop it getting bigger.”

But it is not the first time Barclays has been rigged with scandal. In 2012, the bank was fined £290 million for Libor rigging. This latest loss is a breach of its obligation under the Data Protection Act to keep personal information secure.

One of the victims, 69-year-old Janice Snowling, from Maldon, Essex told the Mail on Sunday, “I’m really angry. I think we should get some sort of compensation. It’s outrageous. The banking industry is the pits.”

Thousands who trusted their banks with highly sensitive information which included answers to questionnaires – or ‘psychometric tests’ – which revealed their attitude to risk, now face the possibility of their information being used to manipulate them into handing over money in investment scams.

The bank in retaliation has sent an urgent message to all of its customers by stipulating: “We will take all necessary steps to contact and give advice to those customers as soon as possible so that they can also ensure the safety of their personal data. Protecting customers’ data is a top priority and we take this issue extremely seriously. This appears to be criminal action and we will co-operate with the authorities on pursuing the perpetrator. We would like to reassure all of our customers that we have taken every practical measure to ensure that personal and financial details remain as safe and secure as possible.”

Therefore whatever the outcome will be, we know that we will all have to be on our guard as more and more traders pay high sums of money to continue conning us all. Unfortunately for Barclays they are a victim of their own traders, and it will be a while before the full outcome of this investigation is made known and the people responsible are held to account of their crimes.

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