Customer rips card cloning device off Headington cash machine (From Oxford Mail)

Customer rips card cloning device off Headington cash machine

6:30am Wednesday 19th August 2009 in News By Chris Walker

Ben Buckland, 27, outside the Abbey in Headington, where he discovered the device

IT manager Ben Buckland took decisive action when he spotted a card cloning device on a cash machine – he ripped it off and handed it to police.

Mr Buckland, 27, could have saved hundreds of people from having their bank accounts emptied after he discovered the card skimming device attached to the Abbey ATM, in London Road, Headington.

In the last two months Headington has become a hunting ground for fraudsters. Police said there were 10 recorded incidents of skimming devices being fitted to cash machines in the area, with hundreds of customers’ accounts placed at risk as a result.

There were a further four incidents in the rest of Oxford, although none had occurred in the last six weeks.

Mr Buckland, who works at Helen House Hospice in East Oxford, discovered his PIN was being recorded when he leaned on the top of the ATM and accidentally nudged a concealed camera. A closer inspection revealed a false front had been placed on top of the card reader.

To stop others falling victim, he ripped the device off and carried it home in a bag of shopping.

Mr Buckland, who lives near the shops in Headington, said: “The device was very realistic. I was quite shocked that I couldn’t notice it.

“The colour of the device and the bank machine were identical. At the time I wasn’t hugely concerned about a gang watching me.

“I was much more interested in stopping this from recording and affecting other people.”

In June, about 80 customers from the Coventry Building Society reported having money stolen after they used the same cash machine.

When Mr Buckland got home he was surprised to see the low-tech nature of the device, which records PIN keystrokes on a mobile phone.

He said: “It was obviously home-made, as there was lots of glue and sellotape on the device. It looked low-tech but still quite sophisticated.”

After removing the device at about 3pm on Saturday Mr Buckland handed it into police at St Aldate’s.

Det Insp Simon Morton said: “These skimming devices are tailor-made to look like the ATMs the thieves are putting them on.

“It’s good to take these devices out of circulation because they are quite expensive to make. This member of the public has been very vigilant and it’s excellent he’s stopped crimes that were about to happen.

“However, if similar circumstances arise the best course of action is to call the police or bank security staff immediately so we can seize the equipment and check if any gangs are operating in the area.

“The perpetrators are usually part of a team that focuses on cash machines in a town for a period of time and then move to the next town.

“I’m confident that we will identify and catch the criminals, no matter where they move onto.”

Police are examining forensic evidence from the card reader and checking local CCTV cameras.

Abbey would not say whether it had cameras trained on the machine.

In June, Sharon Walton, 45, who works in the CLIC Sargent shop in London Road, had £390 taken from her account by criminals in Enfield and nearby Tottenham, north London, after she used the same Abbey machine as Mr Buckland.

She said: “Well done to this man, it’s great news.”

cwalker@oxfordmail.co.uk