Missing money fuels fears of card clone scam at garages

POLICE are investigating allegations that motorists visiting two garages in Edinburgh have fallen victim to a card cloning scam which saw money removed from their accounts.

Customers who had been at the Shell petrol stations in Crewe Toll and Craigleith Road contacted police after later discovering that the cash was missing.

Another Shell garage in Mayfield Road, Easthouses, near Dalkeith, is already under investigation by fraud squad officers after similar allegations were made by drivers last month.

In the latest cases, Royal Bank of Scotland foiled an attempt by criminals to withdraw around 200 from a cashpoint in Australia from the account of a customer.

The customer had used both the Shell garages in the Capital to withdraw money over recent weeks.

Criminals used cloned cards from the Easthouses garage to take out cash from ATMs in Australia and Canada.

Officers have not linked the alleged thefts from the three Lothian petrol stations, but it is not being ruled out.

Police officers from the Specialist Fraud Unit, based at Musselburgh police station, are still working to determine whether the money was taken using a card "skimming" device attached to an ATM machine at the garages or a similar device used inside their shops.

One victim said: "I had a call from RBS yesterday morning as someone had cloned my debit card and attempted to make two $500 withdrawals from an ATM in Australia. The transactions were declined and RBS are issuing me with a new card.

"I seldom use that card in point-of-sale transactions, and on only two occasions in the past month – once at the Shell garage at Crewe Toll and once at the Shell garage on Craigleith Road."

The thefts may be the work of card-cloners similar to a gang which targeted more than 100 drivers at an Edinburgh petrol station in February last year.

The gang managed to grab tens of thousands of pounds from drivers' accounts after copying their card details at the BP garage on Barclay Place, Bruntsfield.

The victims then found withdrawals, totalling up to 1500 in some cases, being made in places as far afield as the south of England and Germany.

The cardholders' details were copied by a "skimming" device attached to the station's chip and pin machine.

When drivers made payments, the magnetic strip on their card was digitally copied by the skimmer and they were watched – or possibly filmed – entering their personal pin numbers.

Cloned cards were later produced to withdraw money from the owners' accounts.

RBS has urged any customers who fear they may have been targeted to come forward.

Employees at both city garages said they could not comment.

A police spokeswoman said: "An investigation is under way. However, it is in its early stages."