Jeremy Clarkson found himself unexpectedly donating to charity
The Top Gear host revealed his account numbers after rubbishing the furore over the loss of 25 million people's personal details on two computer discs.
He wanted to prove the story was a fuss about nothing.
But Clarkson admitted he was "wrong" after he discovered a reader had used the details to create a £500 direct debit to the charity Diabetes UK.
I was wrong and I have been punished
"All you'll be able to do with them is put money into my account. Not take it out. Honestly, I've never known such a palaver about nothing," he told readers.
But he was proved wrong, as the 47-year-old wrote in his Sunday Times column.
"I opened my bank statement this morning to find out that someone has set up a direct debit which automatically takes £500 from my account," he said.
"The bank cannot find out who did this because of the Data Protection Act and they cannot stop it from happening again.
"I was wrong and I have been punished for my mistake."
Police were called in to search for the two discs, which contained the entire database of child benefit claimants and apparently got lost in the post in October 2007.
They were posted from HM Revenue and Customs offices in Tyne and Wear, but never turned up at their destination - the National Audit Office.
The loss, which led to an apology from Prime Minister Gordon Brown, created fears of identity fraud.
Clarkson now says of the case: "Contrary to what I said at the time, we must go after the idiots who lost the discs and stick cocktail sticks in their eyes until they beg for mercy."
CyndersParadigm on April 11st, 2019 at 15:43 UTC »
I actually remember reading the article. He said with the details he gave, people could only put money into the account, not take from it
binger5 on April 11st, 2019 at 15:41 UTC »
Kind of like the LifeLock CEO who got his identity stolen 13 times after posting his social security number.
ayesclub on April 11st, 2019 at 14:36 UTC »
The reason why he did it makes it all the more satisfying. He proclaimed that the outrage over the 2007 child benefit scandal in which bank details were leaked was mere hysteria and that people were fretting over nothing. Guess he was wrong.