Fraudsters 'on the skim'

The hands move away, revealing the keypad of the cash machine, and, at the edge of the screen, the sun-lit brick surface of Poole High Street.

A few moments later, another pair of hands comes into view, this time belonging to an older person, inserting a card into the slot and clearly typing in a PIN into the keypad.

Over the next 20 minutes, another 11 people come to the machine to withdraw cash, their PINs recorded by the camera.

But, thanks to the vigilance of a cardholder, the police are watching the video, rather than the crooks who filmed their own hands at the start of the recording, testing the "skimmer" they had just attached to the machine.

DS Richard Niemier, of Dorset Police cheque and card unit, said: "We were called by a member of the public who had trouble picking his card out of the machine.

"He decided to stop and watch what was going on and he saw some guys and a woman messing around with the machine.

"As soon as they left, he returned to the machine and saw that it looked completely different, so he called the police and started to follow them."

The fraudsters realised they were being followed and escaped.

Although they took the camera and skimmer, police found a Hi8 video recorder hidden nearby, and were able to see the images of the cashpoint that had been beamed to it.

The skimmer the crooks used in this case jutted out from the card opening, and picked up the details from each card that was inserted by scanning the magnetic strip.

DS Niemier said this is the main way card thieves steal from cashpoints in Dorset, using the information gleaned from the skimmer to counterfeit a card and taking money out using the recorded PIN.

In this case, although the crooks do not have the PINs, they can still buy goods over the internet or telephone using the details obtained by the skimmer.

Another method is known as "shoulder-surfing," where criminals look over a cardholder's shoulder to watch the PIN being entered, and then pickpocket the card or distract the cardholder to steal it.

Card-trapping devices can also be used, which are inserted into the machine's card slot and keep the card in the machine.

The thief tricks the victim into re-entering his PIN while he watches, and then after the cardholder leaves, the thief removes the device and makes off with the card and PIN.

Both the police and Mastercard UK say this type of theft will be curbed, at least for a time, when the new chip and PIN cards are fully implemented.

Richard Smith, risk services manager for Mastercard Northern Europe, told the Daily Echo: "Chip and PIN is going to have a huge positive impact on fraud cases, and we will see them reduced.

"The technology effectively makes counterfeiting of the magnetic strip of the card impossible, but we're very aware that fraudsters will always continue to try to find the weakest link.

"We're working to identify these areas and shut the door on them."

He advised cardholders to check their accounts monthly and report any fraud immediately to their banks.

DS Niemier said other types of card fraud are also evident in Dorset, including e-mails encouraging people to hand over their account details and thieves ordering items over the phone or internet using stolen account numbers.

One case police are investigating involves identity theft, where the offender took over the identity of an elderly Poole couple this summer, by intercepting their bank statements and setting up a false credit account in their names.

The couple only realised the crime when they received a statement saying they owed £19,500 on an account they knew nothing about.

While banks will reimburse most of the fraudulent losses if the cardholder convinces them they were not negligent, it takes time and effort for the victim to clear their credit ratings and, as another victim of identity theft told the Daily Echo, this can be distressing.

The Hamworthy victim discovered the theft when a man called her to ask why he had not received a camera lens she had supposedly sold him over the internet.

She then realised that someone had stolen her identity, using her credit card details, to fraudulently set up an account in her name on an auction site.

"I felt my privacy had been violated, and it was worrying to know how many personal details a stranger had about me - I didn't know what else he knew," she said.

"I had to stop my credit card and my debit card in case he had that number too."

Identity theft is very difficult to prevent, but there is a website, www.cifas.org.uk, that will make checks on any accounts that are opened in your name to try to stop it from happening.

Playing safe at cards

Card fraud is a booming business in Britain.

The Association for Payment Clearing Services says cash machine fraud has soared by 85 per cent to £61 million this year.

And total card fraud rose by 18 per cent to £478.8 million in the 12 months to June 2004.

Last year, the UK also saw £13 million rise in fraud, mainly due to increases in criminals stealing card details to make fraudulent remote transactions - through mail order, telephone, fax and the internet.

Identity theft showed the greatest increase in 2003, up 44 per cent to £29.7million.

Here are some of APACS's safety tips to cardholders:

Guard cards and card details. Don't let them out of your sight when making a transaction.

Don't carelessly discard receipts from card transactions. If possible, shred any documents relating to your financial affairs.

Never write down your PIN and never disclose it to anyone, even if they claim to be from your bank or the police.

When using a cash machine, be wary of anyone trying to watch you enter your PIN and do not allow yourself to be distracted.

Report lost or suspected fraudulent use of your card account to your card user immediately. The 24-hour emergency number is on your last statement, or call directory enquiries.

For more advice on playing safe with your credit cards look up the APACS website, www.cardwatch.org.uk.