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June 30, 2005updated 22 Nov 2022 3:57pm

Police probe Sun scoop

By Press Gazette

A City of London police investigation was under way this week after
a Sun investigation revealed that corrupt Indian call centre staff were
selling British bank account details.

Sun investigative reporter
Oliver Harvey told Press Gazette he has been off-diary working on the
story for months. He eventually nailed it after travelling to India and
meeting a man who sold him details of 1,000 UK customers’

bank accounts for £3,000.

Harvey
said: “It was quite a tricky investigation – we got the story through
contacts in India and the UK and I have been working on it for months.
My sources have been working on it for years.

“We knew stuff was happening out at call centres in India but to find the person responsible was incredibly difficult.”

The
Sun has handed over a dossier of evidence, including e-mail transcripts
and video surveillance, to the City of London Police. Several UK banks
also face the prospect of an investigation by the Information
Commissioner over possible breach of the Data Protection Act.

The story was followed up around the world and Harvey said he has been inundated with interview requests from India.

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It
is the latest in a string of high-profile scoops for The Sun. Last week
a Sun reporter took a fake bomb into Sandringham where Prince Harry was
training and last month the paper published pictures of Saddam Hussein
in his underpants.

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

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