AN Islander is warning Islanders who visit London to be on their guard when using cash machines, after having £12,000 stolen following a recent trip there.
Collector David Gainsborough Roberts had his card swallowed after putting it into a hole-in-the-wall on Old Compton Road in Soho. On phoning Abbey National, he was told that the card must have been eaten by the machine, but he was assured that nobody would be able to access his money.
However, after a cheque was returned to him earlier this week, he discovered that £12,000 had been stolen from his account.
Since speaking to the police fraud division in London, he has discovered that a number of Eastern European gangs are working in the Old Compton Road area, with some allegedly even hiring flats there.
Mr Roberts said that the police told him that these gangs watch the cash-points with binoculars to get people’s pin codes.
He was told that these criminals also have a way of making cash-machines swallow their cards and are then able to retrieve them afterwards, using some kind of magnetic device.
‘I just want to warn anyone who is going to this area of London,’ said Mr Gainsborough-Roberts. ‘It can happen, so be very careful and if your card doesn’t come out ring the police right there and then. The police told me that these people are very sophisticated. They were able to steal £12,000 from me in just nine days.’
