Angry credit card customers have flocked to banks in South Korea to cancel their cards after a massive theft of personal data. The loss is believed to have affected around 100 million cards, reportedly including those of the president and UN chief Ban Ki Moon<br /><br /> Prosecutors have arrested a 39 year old man, hired to improve client data protection but who stole information from three companies: Lotte Card, KB Financial Group and NongHyup Bank.<br /><br /> Senior executives at the three firms have handed in their resignation, after being accused of failing to ensure adequate security. The stolen data was unencrypted.<br /><br /> There are fears the information may have fallen into the hands of financial scammers.<br /><br /> Customers say they have lost all confidence in the system. <br /><br /> One woman said: “I can’t trust Lotte anymore. Not only this but I cannot trust our whole nation anymore. When it comes to credibility, who am I supposed to trust, what am I supposed to believe? I honestly don’t know anymore.”<br /><br /> Another woman added: “I cannot trust them. I wonder if an old person like me having a credit card is just my greed. I’ve lived my whole life based on credibility.”<br /><br /> South Koreans each have more than four credit cards on average. Citizens can generally live without carrying any cash as everywhere, including newsstands and buses, takes credit cards.
