Police have charged three men and a woman for e-banking fraud. They will appear in Kowloon City Magistrates' Court tomorrow.

Initial enquiries revealed that the data of some customers of a major bank had been illegally obtained and used to open 13 e-banking accounts without the victims' authorisation between August 6 and 7.

Subsequently, $55,000 was unlawfully transferred from nine of the 13 accounts to a fraudulent one. The money was withdrawn immediately through ATMs or in person.

Police looked into the case in response to a complaint from the bank on August 20. Four men and a woman, aged 20 to 29, were arrested on October 15 and 16.

The 20-year-old woman is an incumbent staff member of the bank while a 25-year-old man had previously worked there. There is no known vulnerability in the bank's computer system.

A 21-year-old man was released on bail pending further enquiries.