Cash machine users are being warned to be on their guard as criminals’ attempts to steal their card details and pin codes have tripled year-on-year.
Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK), which released the figures, said it has seen a recent spate of incidents involving fraudsters resorting to “low-tech” crimes involving cash machines.
Some 7,525 incidents at ATMs were recorded in the first four months of this year, compared with 2,553 during the same period in 2012.
FFA UK said that improved security generally, amid advances in technology such as chip and pin and better fraud detection methods across the banks, is forcing criminals to turn to more old-fashioned ways to trick people.
It has seen a growing trend of criminals “shoulder surfing”, meaning they simply look over a bank customers’ shoulder while they key in their pin and then distract them so they can snatch their card from the cash machine.
It said that people should always shield the keypad when they are entering their pin and if anyone appears to be watching, the customer should cancel the transaction and find another ATM to use.
People should not accept offers of help at a machine from “seemingly well-meaning strangers,” FFA UK warned.
Other techniques involve setting up a hidden camera to record people entering their details. Fraudsters also sometimes fit devices in machines to trap a card, which they then retrieve after the customer has walked off, assuming it has simply been swallowed by the bank.
If someone finds that their card has been trapped, they should report it to the card company immediately, ideally using their mobile phone while still standing in front of the machine, FFA UK said.
The body said that cash machines are still generally very safe, but people should remember to take “common sense precautions” when withdrawing their cash.