The Krankies have told how cyberattackers have cleared thousands of pounds from their bank.
Hackers are believed to have used wireless communications operated from a car parked outside their luxury Torquay home while Janette – famed for her role of Wee Jimmy Krankie – was using her iPad on the balcony.
And she and husband Ian, both 68, were shocked when they when cash began disappearing from their bank.
The cyber-raiders were able to “read’ their home hub details, and get into Janette’s computer.
It was believed they were vulnerable because they had retained a generic wi-fi code provided by the supplier and had not personalised it with a new key.
Ian - speaking to The Express - said: “We were shocked when the bank told us that £3,500 had been spent. They could have cleared us out.”
The bank is understood to have since refunded them for their loss.
Devon and Cornwall Police said the matter was not reported to them.
But they said thad that as it appeared the bank's fraud department was dealing with the matter they would not be the victim.
A police source said: "It is the bank who has been defrauded and would go down their own internal routes.
"It's very doubtful the bank would come to the police unless they identify those responsible and can prove they live in our patch."
It is understood the hackers discovered a debit card number from a recent online transactionand then used it to go on a spending spree.
The couple discovered that their money was being used on a return flight from London to Japan and another from Manchester to Morocco.
The stars’ bank’s fraud department had begun looking at the unusual expenditure and suspicions were raised by a bill at a restaurant in Chelsea for over £300.
Ian has said he recalled seeing a dark saloon parked outside their home on a Sunday afternoon while his wife was using her iPad.
He said: “At the time I reckoned he had stopped to make a mobile phone call and thought nothing more of it. Two days later, the bank had picked up on these transactions that had started draining our account.”
The couple have since personalised their home hub wi-fi key number.
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