Kilsyth bank machine was tampered with after fraudsters fixed device to ATM

Police have confirmed that swift action was taken after the fraudster was observed on CCTV attaching skimming device to an ATM machine outside the TSB bank in West Burnside Street.

The incident occurred at 5.10pm on Sunday, March 6.

Police rushed to the scene and removed the device which they have kept for analysis.

It appears that they acted before any customers could fall prey to a fraud – which could easily have have had the capacity to clear out entire accounts.

Now police are stressing that thieves will go to any lengths to rip off cardholders in this way.

And they want people in Kilsyth and beyond to be on their guard for variations to the fixtures and fittings on each machine they use.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “With this type of fraud, criminals create a device which looks like the card entry point on the machine and when this is used, their card is skimmed and the information encoded on the magnetic strip is stored for fraudulent use.

“Once they’ve obtained this, they try to find out the PIN number and these can be compromised in two ways.

One is by standing over the cardholder’s shoulder to record the number.

“The second is by the increasing use of micro-cameras being concealed within the lighting or false trunking of the machine.

“Real time pictures are often transmitted to a receiver attached to a hand-held camera, typically within 100 metres of the machine.

“The details will then be matched with the corresponding data.”

Meanwhile police have issued a description of the man involved.

He was white, wearing a grey jacket, white hat, jeans and dark shoes. He is in his 30s.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101.