TSB is investing £200,000 in a partnership with the Metropolitan Police to boost its cybersecurity efforts, after it revealed it had been one of several banks to be targeted by “complex” and “sophisticated” cyber attacks last year.

Challenger bank TSB was hit by a series of IT meltdowns starting in April last year, leaving thousands customers unable to access their mobile and online banking services and leading to the exit of chief executive Paul Pester.

The bank said it had secured the anti-fraud and cybersecurity tie up with the Met in a bid to protect its customers from the £2 million lost to fraud each die and step up efforts to hunt down the cyber criminals responsible.

Figures revealed by the Met last year showed that over 3,500 Londoners are reporting fraud and cybercrimes each month with many more attacks going unreported or detected.

Revealing that it had found itself the target of cyberattacks in the last 12 months, TSB stated: “It is a serious crime often carried out by organised crime groups involved in drug rings, human trafficking and terrorism.

“It is becoming increasingly challenging, following several highly complex and sophisticated attacks against banks last year, including against TSB.”

The joint project will initially focus on the boroughs of Lewisham, Bexley and Greenwich in South East London to target help local communities in their efforts to disrupt and prevent would-be-fraudsters before they commit a crime.

The funding will also be used to train officers and staff in cybersecurity skills - particularly within the Met’s Special Constabulary - and finance innovative ways of tackling fraud locally, including the Met’s Cybertools app for front-line police officers.

Superintendent Sean McDermid, of the Met’s South East Basic Command Unit, said: “Fraud is a serious epidemic and only through building positive relationships between the police, banks, business and London’s communities, can we tackle it.”

TSB executive chairman Richard Meddings added: “TSB’s experience last year shows the scale and risk of fraud in a digital age. Fraud is a serious and organised crime, and we want to hunt down the criminals targeting customers.

“That’s why we’ve put our learning into practice to work with the Met to help ensure fraud is a high-risk crime.”

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