A television presenter has fallen victim to fraud after printing his bank account details in a widely read tabloid to prove that people that were scared of becoming victims of fraud were making a fuss about nothing. Presenter of the popular show Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, was referring to the concerns that arose following last year’s data loss blunder by HM Revenue and Customs, where the bank details of 25 million people were lost after two discs went astray.

The data loss caused severe concerns amongst millions of consumers, and dominated the financial headlines for some time. However, Clarkson rubbished the concerns, stating that people were making a big fuss about nothing. In order to try and prove a point he had his own bank details, including sort code and account number, printed in a column in the Sun newspaper, along with a comment that read: “All you’ll be able to do with them is put money into my account. Not take it out. Honestly, I’ve never known such a palaver about nothing.”

However, one reader used the presenter’s details to set up a direct debit, donating £500 of Clarkson’s money to the charity, Diabetes UK. After realising what had happened Clarkson admitted that he had been wrong, and that his mistake meant that millions of readers could have access to his account.

He said: “I opened my bank statement this morning to find out that someone has set up a direct debit which automatically takes £500 from my account. The bank cannot find out who did this because of the Data Protection Act and they cannot stop it from happening again. I was wrong and I have been punished for my mistake.”

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