A sophisticated device used to clone bank cards has been seized from a cashpoint.

Police checked various cashpoints in the Chelmsford area after the device was discovered at an automated machine at Tesco's in Springfield Road.

Card users are once again being urged to be vigilant when using cashpoints.

Police were called to the supermarket at 11.15am yesterday and found a false front had been fitted over the machine, with a camera on the keypad to photograph pin numbers.

A man trying to get money out of the machine on the supermarket's outside wall became suspicious when he noticed Velcro-type tape sticking out from its side.

The man, who works in offices opposite, pulled at it and the entire metal and plastic front came loose.

Anyone who saw any suspicious activity near the cash machine should contact Chelmsford police station on 01245 491212.

Published Friday August 13, 2004

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