Motorists Hit in Credit Card Scam

IN November 2005 over a hundred motorists using a Solihull petrol station were victims of a credit card scam involving tens of thousands of pounds, it has been revealed.

One of those involved in the scam worked at the Jet garage concerned with another two men being hunted by police in connection with the fraud.

Another man will appear at Birmingham Crown Court after being arrested and charged with conspiracy to defraud the banking industry.

This latest credit card scam follows Shell’s decision earlier this month to suspend the chip-and-pin system at all of its 600 petrol stations after a national £1m credit card scam.

Some of the Solihull card victims had more than £1,000 stolen from their accounts after personal details had been gleaned from chip-and-pin cards used to pay for fuel.

The cloned cards were used at various ATMs across Birmingham and minimum withdrawals of £250 were made.

One victim, plumber Steven Bero, had £1,400 stolen from his account. He said: “ They know they only have three attempts at using your card so they always try to get lots of cash from you before settling for a smaller amount. I have researched this type of fraud, and it is relatively easy to carry out if you have a card-reading machine, some basic software and a PC.”

West Midland Police’s Economic Crime Unit became aware of the fraud when APACS (the Association of payments and clearing systems) tipped them off after they had detected fraudulent use of the stolen cards.

The garage in question was closed immediately but has since reopened under new management.

Detective Inspector Simon Wallis, head of West Midland Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “ In November 2005 we were notified by APACS of concerns at a garage in Warwick Road, Olton. Following the investigation the garage was closed down and has since re-opened under new management in December 2005.”

A spokesman for APACS added: “ We have a fraud intelligence bureau that shares intelligence between the banking industry and the police and has a specific focus on tracking card crime.

“ This was an example where the association was working with the police to help make the arrest.”

Alisdair Milton
31st May 2006

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