Cashpoint theft/robbery warning - Tesco, East Dulwich Road

[thejournalist]

FYI East Dulwich neighbours: I was in the middle of a cash withdrawl at the cashpoint at the Tesco Express on ED road (the one next to the Esso petrol station) when a man appeared beside me waving his hands over the screen and saying not to use it because it had just taken his card. He then dissapeared and I cancelled the withdrawl. No card was returned. It took me literally 30 seconds (max) to realise something wasn't right and 'freeze' the card on my mobile/banking app. I immediately got a txt message from my bank saying a transaction had just been declined, and then another. I logged in to app and £251.50 had already been taken. This all happened increadibly quickly - the whole incident from first encounter to money being taken and me freezing card was probably around 3 minutes. The guy must have somehow seen me put my PIN number in. It's possible there was some kind of card skmming involved, but I don't know for sure. The man was around 5ft 6/7, black and wearing a covid-type face mask. I don't remember what clothes he was wearing. I got the feeling (mainly from his voice and eyes) that he wasn't young - maybe mid-30s to mid-40s (but I can't be sure). Obviously I repoted to police. 

Edited May 25 by thejournalist
Edited: correction to exact amount of money taken, £251.50

[Angelina]

Shocking - so fast.

Machines can have a false device for inserting your card into and then they retain it.

Your bank should return your money 

[HeadNun]

Just astonishing - how do they do it? Well done for being so on the ball. 

[ianr]

It might be helpful to know what kind of MO was involved.  Is it possible that the hand-waving man  (a) retrieved your card?  (b) accessed the keypad at all?  Have you found out how or where or for what item(s) the £251 transaction took place, or where your card ended up?

How, btw, does one cancel an ongoing ATM withdrawal?   I've got no idea in my mind of  what keypad options are available. 

[Alec1]

1 hour ago, ianr said:

It might be helpful to know what kind of MO was involved.  Is it possible that the hand-waving man  (a) retrieved your card?  (b) accessed the keypad at all?  Have you found out how or where or for what item(s) the £251 transaction took place, or where your card ended up?

How, btw, does one cancel an ongoing ATM withdrawal?   I've got no idea in my mind of  what keypad options are available. 

there's a cancel button on the keypad or screen prompt.

[ianr]

> there's a cancel button on the keypad or screen prompt.

That's reassuring.  Thanks.

[thejournalist]

So, i've had time to think about ever step of this incident. The main points are:

• I'd entered my pin number and was on the screen/page where you put in how much you want to withdraw
• At exactly that point the guy appeared and said the machine had taken his card, and started waving his hands over screen
• A 'menu' option came up on screen with two choices, one bottom left, one bottom right
• The bottom left option said something about entering a code to continue with transaction
• The guy was saying "press that or it'll take your card" - I didn't press either but he might have
• I haven't ever seen these on-screen options before - I didn't enter any details
• The guy then disappeared
• I pressed the 'cancel' button on keypad - the physical keypad - same screen options remained - no card was returned

Within 30 seconds of me realising card wasn't coming out I froze card on banking app and immediately had two txt msgs from bank saying transactions were being declined (but one for £251 had already gone though). The ref on bank statement for all three was: CARDTRONICS UK LTD BT KIOSK O/S 54 EA. Bank statement also said the date, time and that there was a £1.50 ATM withdrawl fee. 

I checked to see if there's a cashpoint in newsagent next door, but there's not. The cashpoint at petrol station is free so no ATM fee there eiher. 

 

[Blah Blah]

7 minutes ago, thejournalist said:

So, i've had time to think about ever step of this incident. The main points are:

• I'd entered my pin number and was on the screen/page where you put in how much you want to withdraw
• At exactly that point the guy appeared and said the machine had taken his card, and started waving his hands over screen
• A 'menu' option came up on screen with two choices, one bottom left, one bottom right
• The bottom left option said something about entering a code to continue with transaction
• The guy was saying "press that or it'll take your card" - I didn't press either but he might have
• I haven't ever seen these on-screen options before - I didn't enter any details
• The guy then disappeared
• I pressed the 'cancel' button on keypad - the physical keypad - same screen options remained - no card was returned

Within 30 seconds of me realising card wasn't coming out I froze card on banking app and immediately had two txt msgs from bank saying transactions were being declined (but one for £251 had already gone though). The ref on bank statement for all three was: CARDTRONICS UK LTD BT KIOSK O/S 54 EA. Bank statement also said the date, time and that there was a £1.50 ATM withdrawl fee. 

I checked to see if there's a cashpoint in newsagent next door, but there's not. The cashpoint at petrol station is free so no ATM fee there eiher. 

 

The co-op uses ATMs operated by Cardtronics, and they also operate a digital ATM service (meaning he could have made those transactions electronically). 

That cashpoint is operated by Natwest. It sounds like he brought up their 'Get Cash' scheme screen as the distraction (a way that allows Natwest customers to withdraw cash without needing to use their card). So he was using a skimming device to steal your card in that moment, but brought up the Get Cash screen to distract you while he did that. Your confusion was just long enough for him to get away. Card thieves are incredibly slick.

Here is some info on Natwest Get Cash for reference -

'To use a Get Cash code at a NatWest ATM, you first initiate the withdrawal through the NatWest mobile app, which generates a secure code. You then visit a compatible ATM (NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, or Tesco ATMs). At the ATM, press the "Enter" key and follow the on-screen prompts, entering the code twice. The code is valid for 3 hours, and if expired, funds will be recredited to your account.'

I use that cashpoint all the time, so it's good to know if a local thief is targetting Natwest ATMs.

 

[Insuflo]

“54 Ea” must be 54, East Dulwich Road? Which is the other side of the road. Isn’t there a combined pay phone/ cash machine kiosk outside the Londis?

[David Peckham]

I was about to suggest the same thing. I wasn't sure of the provider, but it definitely charges £1.50 for withdrawals.

 

[Blah Blah]

Cardtronics do Londis too, so that could be where he went. Worth asking the Police to source CCTV from there and the ATM itself.

[Sephiroth]

Being scammed is horrible.  So first of all, sympathies to you there

but fair play for the details and the extra thought on subsequent posts and additional comments from others  - genuinely helpful 

 

seeing a generic “I got done - be careful” is the kind of thing we all nod along with but think wouldn’t happen to us.  But I feel these extra details would inform any potential future experience I might have and might save me money and hassle 

[thejournalist]

Thanks to everyone who replied in this thread. Genuinely helpful information, observations and thoughts... and helps restore my broader faith in humanity! Also, my bank just told me someone called them saying they had found my card on Crystal Palace Road. Thank you people of East Dulwich ❤️.

Edited May 24 by thejournalist

[thejournalist]

20 hours ago, Insuflo said:

“54 Ea” must be 54, East Dulwich Road? Which is the other side of the road. Isn’t there a combined pay phone/ cash machine kiosk outside the Londis?

Yes, you're right. And within a 20 second sprint. 

[Insuflo]

I thought I’d seen one there. I suppose that the key to operating this scam is having another ATM close by, so the card can be used immediately. Could be that they’ve used the same routine in that location before.

[Nigello]

How nice that the firm that charges you ££ to withdraw your own money is keeping its cash cow nice and clean. 

[Blah Blah]

Amazing how fast he was. He literally had something like a minute between stealing the card and using another cashpoint before it was blocked. The bank will return the money but willing to bet he will hit that same ATM with the same ruse again at some point.

[Romnarz]

Might be worth pointing out it might be a good idea to be suspicious of anyone who comes near you that is wearing a mask.

Covid is a thing of the past

In the same area I have seen several young lads wearing masks on bikes, they slow down when going past anyone 'fiddling' with mobile phones. they move on if its an old model that is not worth stealing. There have been several incidents of movile phone thefts around Goose Green.

YES  some people  are immune deficient  and perhaps still feel they need to wear a mask although I question how nessesary that is in the open air.

[Blah Blah]

The other thing I do at an ATM, is cover the card slot with my right hand while the card is in there. I then use my left hand for the rest. If a card does not come out, then you can look for a skimming device and remove it, ATMs are badly designed imo. They could be recessed to make side sccess impossible for a would be theif. The pin number aspect is a weakness also.

[thejournalist]

5 hours ago, Blah Blah said:

The other thing I do at an ATM, is cover the card slot with my right hand while the card is in there. I then use my left hand for the rest. If a card does not come out, then you can look for a skimming device and remove it, ATMs are badly designed imo. They could be recessed to make side sccess impossible for a would be theif. The pin number aspect is a weakness also.

Good advice. Also, thinking about it, seems crazy that cashpoint technology is basically the same as it was decades ago. 

[vladi]

Before using an ATM, I always look around and see if there any likely opportunists hanging around. If there is, I just walk away and observe from close by.  At the ATM, I always  cup my left hand over the key pad when entering the pin with my right. I then have one hand ready to collect the cash and the other over the card slot.