Yesterday The Register reported that some customers of Web host Fasthosts, were unlawfuly having small amounts of Russian roubles charged to their credit cards. All the money was apparently going to a Moscow-based company called Incomtel.

Since the initial story, Fasthosts has issued a statement, which we will print in full.

We have carried out a full audit of our network security and are confident that all of our systems are fully secure. The servers that process credit card details are not connected to the Internet and we have found no evidence that any security breach could have occured.

Fasthosts manager Andy Michaels said the first report had been made about a month ago. It was investigated at the time, and the company was confident it was not a security issue. "We don't store that information on the Web," he said.

Back to the statement:

The latest information we have received would suggest that this problem is not related to just Fasthosts customers. Customers of other Internet companies have also received mysterious charges from Incomtel on their statements. Fasthosts is cooperating fully with the authorities on this matter in order to help them gather information for their inquiries.

We recommend that any card holders who have recieved such charges contact their bank immediately and ask for the amount to be charged back.

Since running the story, The Register has heard from other people who have their accounts charged, seemingly by Incomtel.

As more information about the Incomtel scam becomes available, we will let you know. ®