A victim of a card con has warned people to be vigilant after discovering £300 had been taken from her account by a gang armed with a hidden camera.
Lisa McDonaugh, aged 38, from Kingsthorpe, tried to take out £150 from a cashpoint at the Co-Op in St David’s on Friday.
After inserting her card and typing in her PIN she checked her balance and requested some cash. However, a message then came up telling her to contact her bank. Her card was then kept inside the machine.
After leaving to report it to her bank, she later discovered a gang had snatched her card and used her PIN to spend £300.
They withdrew £250 from a bank machine in Kingsthorpe, before spending £50 on petrol. They then tied to use the card in Coventry, but failed.
Ms McDonaugh said she was shocked to discover the gang had been able to get her PIN. She said: “I just burst into tears in the bank when they told me.
“She said: ‘I’m sorry you have been a victim of fraud’. I just thought my card was safe because it was inside the machine. I guess I was just naive.”
Ms McDonaugh said the only sign the machine had been tampered with was the fact the card slot seemed “tighter”.
A police spokesman said they were aware gangs targeted people in Northampton using cameras and other devices.
Detectives said it was an “on-going” issue and stressed there was not a specific problem in the town currently.