| The woman, who asked to be known only by her first name, Louise, discovered the unauthorised withdrawals when she was told she had exceeded her daily withdrawal limit and checked her balance at the bank.
She was horrified to discover that a total of £550 had been withdrawn in three separate transactions from ATMs in Essex.
She reported the incident to Tayside Police and her bank, Abbey National, who immediately cancelled the card.
Louise’s quick thinking meant the fraudsters were unable to steal more money from her when they tried again in the early hours of last Monday.
She is now adding her voice to a police appeal in the Tele for vigilance after at least four unsuspecting members of the public had their bankcards cloned after withdrawing money from ATMs in the city.
“I couldn’t believe it, you see programmes about how it’s done and you’re warned to be safe but I never thought it would happen to me,” Louise said.
“I felt quite sick that someone had seen my bank account and taken my money out.
“I think the people doing it are quite clever because they seem to be doing it over the weekend when maybe you aren’t aware of how much you’ve spent or you can’t get your card stopped.
“The bank has been really sympathetic about it and immediately launched their own investigation into it.
“They said I should get the full £550 back within the next five working days but the loss of the money, albeit temporary, has put quite a strain on us.”
Last week police urged people who used the ATM machine at the Asda Kirkton store at Derwent Avenue between June 26 and June 30 to check their bank statements to make sure they haven’t been caught up in the scam too.
“I have an idea where the card was cloned but I’m not 100%,” Louise said.
“I would just warn people to be very, very careful. It’s not my fault, it’s not the bank’s fault — criminals are just out there stealing money and it’s sickening.”
Skimming is a process whereby the data from a bankcard’s magnetic strip is electronically copied to another card.
A “skimmer”, mounted to the front of the normal ATM slot, reads the card number and transmits it to the criminals, who are usually waiting close by.
A small camera or other recording device is placed above or close to the keypad, allowing the fraudsters to film the customer entering their pin number.
The details can then be used to produce replica cards.
Detective Inspector Kevin McMahon of Tayside Police urged people to be vigilant when withdrawing money.
“Have a good look at the machine and touch it to see if anything unusual appears to have been added to it,” he said.
“If there is a problem with getting the card back always take immediate action and report it.” |
