Cyber fraudsters force NatWest to shut website

NatWest was forced to shut down its online bank until noon yesterday after a fake website was set up and emails were sent to consumers asking for account details and Pin numbers.

The internet banking operation was shut in the early hours of yesterday for security reasons.

NatWest was unable to give details of how many customers were affected by the fraudsters but insisted that none had lost money as a result of the cyber attack.

Customers who have fallen victim to emails by sending bank details over the internet were urged to call a customer help line on 0845 6008212.

The security problems at NatWest came as its parent company, Royal Bank of Scotland, tried to play down concerns about rising bad debts in a trading statement to the City.

Fred Goodwin, chief executive of RBS, distanced himself from comments made by John Varley, chief executive-designate at rival Barclays, who had warned that some consumers faced a "financial nemesis" following the recent interest rate rise.

Mr Goodwin said: "It didn't strike me as an appropriate remark. It would take a lot more than a 25 basis point increase before we would start to worry about credit quality."

Even so, RBS shares fell 20p to £16.22 while Alliance & Leicester, which also updated the City on its trading for 2003, rose 1.5p to 876.5p.

A&L also insisted that it had not uncovered any deterioration in the credit quality of consumers. "Mortgage asset quality remains excellent, with the number of accounts in arrears at the end of September 2003 lower than at the end of June 2003."

A&L, which said it was on track to meet its aim of double-digit percentage growth in earnings per share in 2003, added that its unsecured lending book was also "very strong".

RBS stressed that it was "fully on track" to meet the City's expectations for 2003.

At the start of December, RBS delivered the final payment to shareholders promised after its £20bn takeover of NatWest three years ago.

The payment cost £1.5bn and brings the total payment to investors through this method to £2.7bn.