A mother today told of her shock at discovering thieves had cleared out her bank account - without her even knowing about it.

Amanda Hall, 28, of Lambourne Crescent, Vange, didn't discover her account had been raided until she went to withdraw cash on Monday and was mystified to learn almost £400 was missing.

Ms Hall said: "I couldn't understand what had happened so I went into Barclays and was told that money had been taken out in Brixton.

"I was so shocked I broke down in tears. I had no money to give my five-year-old Jade to go to school and I couldn't even pay my bills."

PC Terry Wheeler at Basildon police said Ms Hall is one of a dozen victims to be targeted by the criminals who have been putting a device on the cash machine to register the card details and a camera to film users punching in their PIN numbers.

He urged people to check machines carefully, use one hand to cover the keypad as they insert their PIN and be aware of people around them.

Published Thursday July 8, 2004

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