The FBI and British police expected to find professional criminals when they descended on a small village in west Wales last Thursday. Instead, they got two 18-year old hackers armed with nothing more than a £700 computer. Raphael Gray, 18, is accused of stealing 23,000 credit card details, including the credit card number of the world's richest man, Microsoft boss Bill Gates, from "eight banking Web sites". Another unnamed youth was arrested in the swoop in Clynderwen, Pembrokeshire, part of an FBI-led investigation into a suspected $3 million fraud. Gates' credit card number and others were recently sent to NBCi by a hacker called Curador (Welsh for custodian). Gray, the self-styled Saint of E-commerce, began his hacking spree just six weeks ago, according to the Sunday Telegraph. "I knew the man was from the FBI because he had an American accent and was wearing a trench coat," he told the paper. "There were eight local police officers in a riot van with him so it was an unusual sight in Clynderwen. I just wanted to prove how insecure these sites are. I have done the honest thing but I have been ignored. That's why I posted the information on the Internet." Gray and his suspected accomplice have been released on police bail. But what will happen to the "eight banking Web sites", from whence the credit card details were obtained? Surely, these companies have a duty of care to their customers, which would oblige them to take all reasonable measures to keep credit card details safe and secure. If two 18 year-old hackers can squirrel the credit card numbers of 23,000 accounts, then these sites are clearly not safe and secure. Perhaps it's time for regulators to toughen up their act. ® Related Stories Hacking credit cards is preposterously easy Biggest online credit card heist leaked to MSNBC Chinese hackers turn to identity theft Credit card fraudsters cost Expedia $6 million French credit card hacker convicted Chinese Govt. loosely implicated in credit info heist Online store security holes let hackers buy at cut price Net credit card fraud pushes up crime figures Popular online billing software hacked Credit card details published on Web after hack attack