Recent police intelligence has suggested that the practice of ‘skimming’ cash machines is becoming more widespread.

This type of fraudulent activity involves tampering with an ATM to steal bank cards or record card details. Directly targeting the victim, these techniques can, unfortunately, lead to significant financial loss.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to recognise cashpoint scams:

A blocked or loose card slot may indicate a scam

A ‘Lebanese Loop’, a strip of metal or plastic designed to trap a bank card in the ATM slot, is often used by thieves in order to steal bank card details. Raiders will return to the cashpoint to retrieve jammed card after the unknowing customer leaves. Police warn that the scam can be identified if the card slot sticks out further than other parts of the machine.

A bulky card slot could mean a skimmer device is in place.

Skimming devices are usually placed on top of a genuine card reader, making them usually indistinguishable.

The device may not appear level against the card machine, leaving a gap where the reader doesn’t touch the pin pad.

Watch out for a loose or spongy pin pad

A pin pad that feels thicker than normal or loose could be a fake. Certain counterfeit pin pads allow thieves to register your PIN number then transfer it to a criminal device.