The information from the card is downloaded on to another card

Northumbria Police say since the beginning of the year there have been a large number of incidents across the force area.

They have involved a device being fitted to machines which reads the card information and a pinhole camera which records people's pin numbers.

The amounts which have been withdrawn range from £20 to £400.

Vigilance urged

The device which is fitted to the machine looks like an entry point for a cash card.

The information from the card is then downloaded on to a card with a magnetic strip which can be used with the pin number to take out cash.

Police say people who have fallen victim to the scam have noticed that when inserting or withdrawing their cards, they tended to stick.

They are urging people to be vigilant and anyone who notices a device fitted to a machine not to use it and tell the police or bank.