Wilmslow Police are alerting the public to be vigilant following a report of cash point fraud in Handforth.
A number of victims of fraud have taken to Facebook to warn local residents to be on the look out.
Donna Marie Hunt wrote "My daughters account was affected, they took £800 a few days ago and tried again today for £120. The cards been stopped.
"Used her card at ATMs in the village, also one ATM at Tesco took card in and wouldn't let us draw cash out insufficient funds Xmas eve. It's been taken out in Australia."
Kathy Hyde responded "My bank rang me yesterday and told someone had tried to take £500 cash from my account. The bank declined the transaction so I didn't lose anything. Whoever it was tried to withdraw the cash on Christmas Day in Australia!! I have used the cash machine at Spar and Tesco at Handforth Dean."
Stu Marklow added "i have been nobbled by the spar machine, $500 (251.69p) taken out of an ATM in Brisbane Australia, and they tried again the following day but Barclays fraud team spotted the same day I had filled up with fuel in Stockport and I wasn't in Australia so declined it."
Many of the tactics being used by fraudsters across the country tend to be card skimming, card entrapment and cash trapping.
There are three main ways in which the fraudster will commit fraud:
1. Card Skimming − This involves the use of the video recording element of mobile telephones to capture the pin numbers of innocent ATM users. These adapted mobile telephones are usually hidden above the pin number area. The fraudster will also attach a false mouth piece which will read and copy the details on the magnetic strip of the card. Once these details have been copied, this information can be transferred on to a new card and, with the pin number, they can withdraw money from the victims account. The fraudster will also use an adapted mobile telephone to record the pin number being inputted by the victim.
2. Card Entrapment − The fraudster will use an adapted mobile telephone to record the pin number being inputted by the victim but will use a device to trap the victims card once it has been placed into the machine. The victim usually believes that the card has been retained by the cash machine due to a problem. The fraudster will recover the original card and the pin number and is then ready to use the card.
3. Cash Trapping − The fraudster will place a device over the area where the money is released from the cash machine. The device traps the money making the victim believe that the machine has a problem and is not releasing any funds. The fraudster will then collect the device and the money collected.
Sgt Angela Coppock said: "We have checked the machines in the village and they are okay. We would always advise that it is good practice to be vigilant wherever and whenever you use a cash machine and to be aware of any suspicious activity around cash points, which may be an attempt to deploy a device.
"If you want to report any suspicious activity, or have been a victim of ATM machine scam, please contact Cheshire Police on 101."
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