By now you've probably seen the MSNBC report by Bob Sullivan entitled, Survey: 2 million bank accounts robbed, followed by the subhead, Criminals taking advantage of online banking, Gartner says. The MSNBC article seems to say that 2 million U.S. consumers lost money from their checking accounts due to online banking.

In fact, here is what Gartner actually says in its report:

"Illegal access to checking accounts is the fastest-growing type of consumer fraud, and may be proliferating through online channels." (italics are mine)

The report goes on to say that most consumers do not know how they theft occured, only 17% believed that their info was stolen off the Internet, another 10% reported their wallet was stolen, and only 5% recall giving up personal info to phishers.

Gartner also says that 70% of the online consumers reporting losses also report that they banked or paid bills online, "which exposes their (codes) to the Internet." However, what they don't say is that close to 70% of ALL online consumers are banking or paying bills online, so it doesn't look like there is strong correlation between the two.

Finally, let's not neglect the sample size. It looks staggering in the headlines to say that 2 million people were robbed. But my back-of-the-envelope calculations show that the multi-million number was extrapolated from fewer than 75 respondents reporting a recent unauthorized checking account withdrawal (from Gartner's survey of 5000 online adults). I'll let the market research experts debate the exact reliability of Gartner's extrapolation, but one should be wary.

As bad as the MSNBC article looks for the online banking industry, the NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw got even more carried away. They took an even bigger number, 4.5 million, which Gartner said is the number of people who have ever had an unauthorized checking account withdrawal, and mistakenly said that all those people were robbed via online banking. Here is the exact synopsis of the TV feature from the MSNBC website:

"An estimated 4.5 million Americans have had money stolen from their Internet bank accounts.
NBC's Bob Hager reports."

This is a great example of a respectable piece of research taken out of context which then begins to have a life of its own as other news media echo the original piece. Hopefully, someone will dig a little deeper and set the record straight. Since I was quoted in the original Sullivan story, before I had seen the actual Gartner research, I will be contacting him to urge a followup.

Just to show that not everyone takes the 2 million number at face value, a story posted today at NBC affiliate WEEK-TV quotes Peoples Bank (Bloomington/Normal, IL) CEO, Ed Vogelsinger as saying that despite having 20% of their base using online banking, so far no one has reported any Internet banking fraud. Way to go Ed.

We urge our readers to take appropriate steps through their PR channels to set the record straight. At a minimum be prepared to rebut the MSNBC numbers if approached by the media. Feel free to send any reporter our way.

Contact: Jim Bruene, Editor, Online Banking Report, at 206-517-5021 or email jim@onlinebankingreport.com.

Reference: "Banks Must Act Urgently to Stop Account Hijackers," by Avivah Litan, Gartner