After reports that Iranian hackers stole hundreds of thousands of credit card numbers from account holders in the West, it was the Iranian people's turn to panic at the threat of credit and identity threat. A report over the weekend said that as many as three million Iranian credit card accounts have been compromised. Iran's central bank urged account holders to change their electronic personal identification numbers in order to avoid unauthorized use of their accounts.
The hacker was identified as a recent Iranian emigre who had worked in banking computer systems. Last week, as rumors of the compromised card numbers spread, central bank officials downplayed the reports, saying that “the threat to Iran's banking system is not serious.”