London, UK - 13 April 2004, 17:15 GMT - Just before Easter, customers of the venerable Swiss financial institution Zuercher Kantonalbank (ZKB) were targeted by identity theft emails. A few days prior to the ZKB incident, Basler Kantonalbank (BKB) customers were similarly targeted in another round of "phishing" scam attacks aimed at international and domestic banks worldwide. The Basler Kantonalbank has put up an advisory on its web site explaining the problem. Eastern European criminal syndicates are widely suspected of carrying out the phishing scams. Historically, Swiss private banks with their strict adherence to client confidentiality through "secrecy laws" have been seen as safe havens for high net worth individuals across the world. These recent phishing incidents seeking to carry out mass identity theft undermine confidence in the unique selling proposition of Swiss banks.

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