Thieves clone cash cards and raid bank accounts

Dec 11 2008 by Marjorie Kerr, West Lothian Courier

CARD-CLONING con artists have defrauded West Lothian people of thousands of pounds in a cruel Christmas sting.

In the last week, dozens of county people have had their bank accounts raided by thieves who have copied their cash cards and used them abroad.

The criminals, usually from Australia, the Middle East or Far East, have helped themselves to around s340 a time.

And police say the problem is widespread across the area, with more than one bank affected.

A police spokesman said: We dont know the total extent of the fraud, because most banks deal with this issue internally without informing the police of each case.

This is a wide-ranging and complicated problem, which we and the banks are investigating.

Officers say they cant pinpoint the source of the scam, but say ATMs or handheld card payment machines could be affected.

One of those affected by the theft was a mum-of-two from Livingston.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said her husband had first noticed money was missing from their joint account last Monday.

She said: My husband was checking our account online when he noticed a transaction for s345 which we couldnt account for.

He contacted the bank who told him our account had been accessed from abroad, and there were other people affected.

When he went to our branch to sort it out, there were several other people queuing up to speak to someone about the same thing.

We had to cut up our cards and are being issued with new pin numbers and weve been told well get our money back, but its the inconvenience thats so annoying.

At this time of year you need access to your money without being worried about someone stealing your details.

Also affected was John Stewart also of Livingston, who was alerted to the problem by his bank last week.

He said: My bank contacted me last Tuesday, to say my current account had been accessed in Australia to the tune of s349.44.

I have been assured my money will be refunded.

The thieves access bank accounts by copying the details held on the magnetic strip of a cash or credit card and filming the cards owner entering their pin number.

APACS, the bank trade association coordinates measures to limit bank fraud.

And the groups spokesman, Mark Bannerman, said card cloning is now a nationwide problem.

However, he stressed there are ways to reduce the chance of being affected.

He said: Unfortunately this happens at all times of year and happens in various places around the country.

There is nothing which can make you 100 per cent secure, however, if you shield the keypad when you enter your pin number in a shop or at an ATM it should reduce the risk.

Its also worth removing handheld card payment machines, used in shops, from their cradle before entering your pin.

Thieves will train a camera to film you enter your number while its in the cradle, but if you lift the machine away, it will be out of the cameras line of vision.