Published: Wednesday, 26th May, 2010 10:00am

Scan scam What are the crooks after?

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"ALL cash machines in the area are vulnerable" to a scam uncovered in Clydebank last week.

Fraudsters rigged a Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) ATM with a "skimming" device in an attempt to obtain customers' bank details.

Police are now warning residents in Clydebank to be "extremely vigilant" when withdrawing cash in the area.

The rogue device, which was found by a bank worker in Hardgate on Monday May 17, is now in the hands of investigators who are working to find out who planted it.

Three days later, an off-duty policeman discovered a similar device on an RBS machine in Dumbarton's High Street.

This follows a case in Helensburgh earlier in the month when a bank customer had money stolen from his account after his details were obtained, although no device was found at the branch.

Police said the skimming device had been recording at the well-used cash machine for around nine hours, but it is uncertain how many customers have been left vulnerable to theft.

At this stage police cannot definitely link all three incidents, however they have said there are "some similarities" between the discoveries at Rockbank Place and Dumbarton.

Police are keen to speak to two men who were spotted close to the Dumbarton ATM in the early hours of Thursday morning, both in their mid 30s and described as having "an Eastern European appearance", both with black hair, while one had it short and the other shoulder length.

DCI Norrie Conway, who is leading the investigation, said in a statement: "It's important that we receive as much information about these men as possible, any details that the public can provide will help us trace them and allow us to eliminate them from further enquiries.

"It's also worth noting that, based on our experience of similar fraudulent activity, it's likely that the criminals position themselves close to the ATM to monitor customers using the cash machines. If you were around Hardgate on the morning of May 17 and saw anyone acting suspiciously around the cash machines in the area please contact us as soon as possible."

There are no descriptions of the suspects wanted in relation to the Hardgate scam attempt at this time.

A Royal Bank of Scotland spokesman said: "We are aware of the incident and we are working with the police to investigate the matter.

"We would ask that anyone who is suspicious about any transaction or who believes they may have been the victim of fraud to contact their local branch as soon as possible."

He also recommended that people cover their cards with their free hand when inserting a card into an ATM and the key pad as they punch in their PIN.

POLICE say in this type of fraud, a device, created to look like the card entry point on the cash machine, is fitted over the genuine slot.

It passively skims the information encoded on the magnetic strip of the card.

These details are stored and subsequently used fraudulently.

Once crooks have successfully obtained the cardholder's details, they will focus their attention on finding out the corresponding Personal Identification Number (PIN).

PINs can be compromised in two ways. Firstly, by shoulder surfing, whereby the fraudster will tailgate behind the cardholder and look over their shoulder as they enter their number.

Secondly, there is increasing evidence of micro cameras being concealed within the lighting or false trunking around the ATM machine to focus on PIN entry.

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

The details will then be matched with the corresponding card data.

Once the threshold of compromised details has been reached the device will be removed and the information downloaded and used to create duplicate "cloned" cards.