Whilst Lancashire Police have warned members of the public not to use Santander cash machines as their security "has been compromised", Cheshire Police have confirmed that they have received no reports of ATMs being targeted with suspicious devices and they are not advising residents not to use specific ATMs.
Lancashire Police tweeted on Sunday, 3rd April, "Security at Santander ATMs in Lancs has been compromised. Advice is not to use them. If you have lost money please contact the bank and 101."
Cheshire Police then tweeted "Cheshire Police are currently making enquiries to an incident of anti-social behaviour involving a Santander ATM in Wilmslow."
We have received confirmation from Cheshire Police today that apparently no Santander ATMs have been targeted with suspicious devices in Wilmslow, or other parts of Cheshire, but a number of ATMs have been tampered with.
A spokesperson for Cheshire Police said "Cheshire police can confirm that there had been a number of ATMs tampered with over the weekend however these are not thought to be linked to skimming devices.
"It appeared that in one case keypad numbers had been stuck down in some way and a ruler had been attached to another causing an issue with the buttons.
"Users of all ATMs regardless of bank, business or location should always be vigilant as a matter of course and report any suspicious activity to police on 101."
Santander said that there are only five machines affected by this in Lancashire, where the bank has 1250 machines, and none of their customers have been impacted.
A Santander spokesperson said: "Santander was contacted this weekend by Police who requested that 5 ATM machines in the North West and Lancashire area be shut down due to potential criminal activity and vandalism. The 5 ATMs in question were shut down immediately. The Santander ATM network remains fully operational and we are assisting the Police with their enquiries in relation to the 5 ATMs in the Lancashire area.
"Customers are always advised to remain vigilant and if concerned about any other ATM machines, they should contact the police immediately and not use them."
