London Underground is warning staff to be on the look out for suspicious activity at cash machines across the tube network after discovering card cloning devices attached to station ATMs.
The tube operator has sent an internal memo alerting staff to the appearance of sophisticated card skimming devices capable of scanning and recording user card details at machines across the capital. The memo includes photographs of a tampered Barclays' cash machine at Hammersmith Station.
London Underground spokesman Stuart Ross told the UK broadsheet newspaper The Guardian: "We have had reports over the last week of such devices appearing on machines across the Underground, and not just on Barclays' machines. We have had not had this problem before and we wanted to alert managers to the danger."
Both Barclays Bank and Abbey National have recently moved to cut daily cash machine withdrawal limits from £500 to £300 in an effort to protect customers from spiralling ATM fraud.
Barclays is to begin trials this week of a new anti-skimming device at 100 of its cash machines. If successful, the bank plans to roll-out the technology across its entire network of 2600 machines.