Cash machine fraud on the rise

Cash machine fraud has risen by an alarming average of 37 per cent a year between 1996 and 2005, according to Sainsbury's Bank.

Some £65.8 million was lost to card fraud in 2005 compared with just £21.2 million only five years ago.

Due to the growing problem, Sainsbury's Bank has announced that it is to invest an extra £3.5 million on security around its 885 cash machines. This money will be spent on extra CCTV cameras and anti-skimming devices, which are leading the fight against the growing practice of affixing a contraption onto the cash machine that copies the details of the customer's card without their knowledge.

But a spokesperson for APACS said that there are systems in place to cope with the onslaught of fraud.

"If we have huge instances of fraud in certain areas we have an intelligence system to alert banks. If they are developing systems they know what they are having to cope with," said Sandra Quinn.

She added that overseas transaction will continue to carry more risk than those at home, warning that "some foreign cash machines have not yet implemented chip and pin technology".

Customer are advised that they should be vigilant when taking out cash from and report anything that looks suspicious.

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