Greece’s four main banks have cancelled and are planning to replace some 15,000 credit or debit cards, after a travel service website used by some of their customers was hacked.
Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank, Eurobank and the National Bank of Greece, in a joint statement said that although there was a small number of customers charged with transactions they never made, they decided to take precautionary measures and will gradually replace all the cards that have made even one transaction on that website in the past.
The online travel website was used to book airline tickets, ferry tickets, hotels, cars and purchase travel insurance.
Details about the breach are still unknown, however an inquiry is underway which will investigate whether the website adheres to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). It is expected to be completed by the end of March.
If it fully complies to the standards, then the investigation will seek to clarify how the leak occurred.
Bank executives said the immediate activation of security methods will keep whatever costs they incur “manageable.”
