Beware...this crime could happen here.

ATM raid sparks police alert

Fortunately, the police have suspects in the frame for this crime but it might be useful to highlight it, as it is the type of crime that could be perpetrated anywhere and that, of course, includes Caithness.

POLICE in Inverness are reminding the public to remain vigilant following the discovery at the weekend of a card skimming device which was fitted to a bank machine at Tescos. Supermarket, Inshes, Inverness. As a result of police enquiries into this discovery 5 men were later arrested and are to appear at Inverness Sheriff Court on Monday 21 March 2011.
These devices are used to clone people's card details allowing the criminals to withdraw money from their accounts using their pin code which they usually obtain by standing nearby and watching people enter it on the machine's keypad.
They have also been known to attach small cameras to the machine in an attempt to obtain people's pin numbers.
Police advise members of the public to look carefully at the machine before using it and if it looks like it has been tampered with or altered in any way to report it immediately. People should also keep their hand over the keypad so that anyone standing nearby or using a camera cannot see them enter the number.