Bank of Israel
Office of the Spokesperson and Economic Information
03.01.2012

Banking Supervision Department: Credit card companies reported that they
have identified the customers whose credit card details were exposed on the
Internet

As reported in the media, details of credit card customers were recently
exposed on the Internet, as a result of hackers breaking into the websites
of companies which maintained that information. Based on an initial report
submitted by credit card companies to the Banking Supervision Department,
the information was on a total of about 15,000 active cards, at the three
credit card companies—Cal (Cartisey Ashrai Le'Israel)—Israel Credit Cards;
Isracard, and Leumi Card. The Banking Supervision Department is in
continuous contact with the companies in order to investigate the event, the
circumstances of its occurrence, and actions being taken to deal with the
occurrence.

The credit card companies reported that they have identified the cards of
the customers whose details were exposed on the Internet, and the cards have
been blocked for use in Internet purchases and telephone purchases. This is
expected to prevent fraudulent use of the cards through these methods,
following the exposure of the information. The companies are contacting the
customers in order to exchange the cards that they own. Service centers of
all the companies are set to provide answers to customers, and customers who
suspect that their card has been misused can turn to the credit card company
in order to look into the need to cancel the charge.

The Banking Supervision Department wishes to clarify that the customers will
not bear responsibility for fraudulent use of the cards as a result of the
exposure of their details as noted above, in accordance with the
instructions of the Debit Card Law. In any case, the Banking Supervision
Department recommends that customers examine the charges on their credit
card statement or at the websites of the credit card companies in order to
identify transactions that they did not conduct. Any problem should be
reported to the credit card companies as soon as possible.