Computer hackers have conned a hospital out of thousands of pounds after hacking into a telephone network.

The Conquest Hospital, in Hastings, has fallen prey to con artists who managed to infiltrate their voicemail system. The thieves then made a number of calls, many around the world, all at the hospital's expense.

It took two days for the fraud to be noticed and the phone system, which affects mainly internal calls, was shut down for three days until security measures could be put in place.

The police and the hospital's telecommunications suppliers are investigating the incident, which happened last weekend. A hospital spokesman said the cost to the hospital is not yet known but it is expected to run into thousands of pounds.

He said: "We are not sure yet if we will have to foot the bill, it may be picked up by our telecommunications suppliers.But the fact remains that a hospital, which

is publicly funded, was abused in this way.

"We want to warn any other large companies with a voicemail system to be on their guard against these people or persons. At the moment, we just have no idea who did this or how they did it. The incident mainly affected staff and the disruption to patients was minimal. People ringing the hospital could still get through."

Geoff Haynes, chief executive of Hastings and Rother NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said: "They are obviously highly organised and technically sophisticated. We will be co-operating with the police and our telecommunications suppliers in any investigation to help catch the perpetrators of this fraud."

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