Saturday, July 12, 2008

Credit card fraudsters target a Cotswold garage - thisisgloucestershire.co.uk - 09 Jul 2008

Dozens of customers of the Murco petrol station on the A40 at Andoversford were contacted by
their banks following suspicious withdrawals on their credit and debit card accounts – in countries such as Jamaica.

Police believe a skimming device that copies card information could have been fitted to the garage's credit card swipe machine.

Details were then used in cloned cards to withdraw money and buy goods.
Police searched the garage on Saturday as well as addresses in Cheltenham and Churchdown.
Filling station owner Ajitha Edirisinghe said his industry seemed to be “prone” to being targeted.

He said: “It's started everywhere in petrol stations but it's a shame it's happened to us.
“I feel so bad for all our customers because most are regulars.
“I've been here for six years and built up such a good relationship and never had such a problem before.

“Today we've been told to take over the system manually. We're ringing the card companies for authorisation for each transaction.

“We get 300 to 400 customers a day using their cards.
“It's going to cost me a lot because I've had to hire extra staff to cope.
“But we will ride this bad time and it's business as usual.”
The fraudulent transactions relate to cards used at the garage between May and the first week of June.

But investigating officers are keeping an open mind as to when customers had their data stolen and when the cards were actually cloned.

Murco UK and Mr Edirisinghe are co-operating fully with inquiries and the device has been seized for forensic examination.

North Cotswolds acting police Sergeant Tim Griffiths said: “We received the first report of possible credit card cloning relatively early last Thursday morning.

“It was soon apparent many in the area had fallen victim to numerous fraudulent transactions on their debit and credit cards.

“All high street banks have been informed of the issue and police inquiries are ongoing.”

Anyone who has used a credit card at the garage during the suspected time and noticed suspicious withdrawals from their account is advised to contact their bank immediately and then inform police on 0845 090 1234.

The rural garage hit the headlines in April 2007 when a robber showed part of a gun to a cashier and demanded the cash box containing £400.

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