Card scammers stole all my cash

A MAN has spoken of his shock after his entire bank account was emptied when he fell victim to a cash machine scam.Barry Gordon, from Gorgie, was initially frustrated when a bank machine in the West End seemed to swallow his card as he was trying to withdraw £10.

However, when he returned home later that night and checked his account he was shocked to discover all of his money had been stolen.

Despite reporting the crime to the police, he has been told by his bank that unless he can provide CCTV footage of the incident it will not be able to return his money.

The cash was removed from his account at two autoteller machines – one located outside the Scotmid shop in Gorgie and another in Stenhouse Road.

Mr Gordon, who works as a freelance writer, said: “I was covering a show for a paper when I decided to stop at the cashpoint on West Maitland Street to get £10 out.

“But it withheld my card and started making this whirring noise. I tried to fish my card out with another card, but nothing happened so I went home.

“When I got in I immediately checked my internet banking and I found that all of my money had gone, hundreds of pounds. It had been taken from two locations really near to my house.

“I did notice a small bit of paper in the card slot when I was trying to take out cash, but it was only later that somebody told me a thief could have removed this with tweezers and my card would have come back out.

“Apparently there is also some sort of specialist device that can record your pin number.”

He immediately reported the theft to the police and contacted his bank to inform it as well, only to be told there was nothing it could do.

“I told the police on the Wednesday and I told my bank immediately, but apparently they can’t do anything about it unless I get CCTV footage showing the withdrawals,” he said.

“I felt the bank was rather accusatory and I am disappointed that they weren’t willing to help by at least returning my money.

“I’ve had no advice. I’ve had to eat into my overdraft, which has meant there has been some charges, but I’ve had no advice about that and no offer of an exemption. They’ve not helped me, and I have always been a good customer in the past.

“I hope other people watch out for this.”

Police put out a warning last year for bank customers to be on their guard against fraud after discovering a card-skimming device attached to a cash machine in Princes Street.

The device, which included a mobile phone used to film customers entering their pin, was concealed at the Royal Bank of Scotland ATM on the west end of the thoroughfare, and raised fears that thousands of customers could be at risk of fraud.