Warning after cashpoint theft

CASHPOINT users are being warned to be cautious when withdrawing money after a woman's card was stolen.A woman from the seaside town had been using her card to withdraw cash from a machine in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe, on Thursday when a man distracted her and stole her card.

CASHPOINT users are being warned to be cautious when withdrawing money after a woman's card was stolen.

A woman from the seaside town had been using her card to withdraw cash from a machine in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe, on Thursday when a man distracted her and stole her card.

Before she could cancel her card £450 had been withdrawn from her account.

The thief used an increasingly common con-trick where he tapped the woman on the shoulder and told her she had dropped something.

She looked down, saw a £5 note and picked it up. But when she looked back to retrieve her card from the machine it had gone – as had the man.

He is thought to be in his forties, with dark hair and an eastern European accent.

The woman went in to the bank to see if the machine had swallowed up the card, but when she was told it had not, her card was cancelled.

However she discovered later that there had been several withdrawals made from the card totalling £450.

Police are urging caution when withdrawing money from cash points after the incident on Thursday July 25 at around 2pm.

If anyone has any information concerning the stolen card, they should contact Felixstowe police on 01473 613500.

Another scam being used in the UK involves thieves putting a thin, clear, rigid plastic sleeve into the cashpoint card slot. When a person then later goes to insert their card, the machine will not be able to read the strip, so that it keeps requesting the PIN number.

While this is happening the thief manages to watch the PIN number being tapped in so that when the person using the machine gives up and goes in to the bank to tell staff they think the machine has swallowed up their card, the thief removes the plastic sleeve complete with card, and empties the account.

To avoid this, cashpoint users should run their finger along the card slot before putting their card in, because the sleeve will have a couple of tiny prongs on them which the thief will need to get the sleeve out of the slot.

Advice from police:

Never divulge your personal identification number (PIN) to anyone.

Be quick and do not hang around the cashpoint when you have completed your transactions.

Try not to use a cashpoint late at night or in a deserted street.

Never count your money on the street, put it away as soon as possible.

Do not write your PIN down even if it is disguised or in code