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Some 75,000 Bord Gais customers have been warned to monitor their bank accounts for suspicious transactions after a laptop computer containing their account details was stolen.

The office of the data protection commissioner told those affected that fraudsters could potentially use their information to withdraw money from their accounts or take out loans in their name.

“The risk may be low but there is a risk,” said deputy data protection commissioner Gary Davis.

Four laptops were stolen from Bord Gáis offices on Foley St in Dublin’s north inner city in the early hours of June 5th.

One of the computers, containing the banking details of around 75,000 people, was not encrypted.

The laptop contains details such as account numbers, home addresses and branch details of people who had recently switched from the ESB as part of Bord Gais’s “big switch” campaign.

Bord Gáis plans to write to all of the customers tomorrow. It has also begun contacting the main banks to inform them how many of their customer’s details are on the non encrypted stolen machine.

The managing director of Bord Gais Energy, Dave Bunworth told The Irish Timeshe “deeply regretted” the theft a machine that was not encrypted.

“We have had an aggressive system of encrypting since last July and this computer should have been encrypted before it was given to the staff member; it was a flaw in the system.”

Mr Bunworth added while the machine was not encrypted, the data saved on it could only be accessed using a username and password.

The Irish Timesunderstands gardaí believe they know who broke into the Bord Gáis offices and nearby premises last Friday week. However, the stolen goods have not yet been found.

Gary Davis said the office of the data protection commissioner was informed by Bord Gais immediately the robbery took place.

Bord Gáis confirmed with the commissioner’s office last Thursday that one of the laptops was not encrypted. This was a cause for concern, Mr Davis said.

The commissioner’s office advised Bord Gáis to release news of the theft.

However, gardaí informed the company they were working on a definite line of inquiry and it was decided that no public comment would be made until certain lines of inquiry were exhausted.

When the Garda investigation yielded nothing Bord Gais decided to make a statement at 6.30pm today announcing the theft. Media outlets became aware of the planned announcement and it was brought forward to 5.30pm.