£700 stolen from pensioner in cashpoint scam (From This Is Local London)

£700 stolen from pensioner in Sutton cashpoint scam

7:30am Tuesday 7th February 2012 in Where I Live

A couple stole £700 from an elderly man after tricking him out of his bank card.

The 74-year-old man went to the Lloyds TSB cash machine at the junction of Cheam Road and Sutton High Street on Saturday, January 28 at 3.30pm.

A young woman waiting at the machine invited the man to jump ahead of her in the queue.

When he inserted his card and entered his PIN, the woman said the machine was likely to “swallow” his card like it had hers.

A young man then approached and said his card was taken by the machine earlier in the day and there was nothing he could do as the bank was closed.

However, the victim found the bank was open and he told the staff what had happened.

They informed him his card was not taken by the machine but had been used to obtain £700 from the cashpoint outside Morrisons at 3.45pm.

The victim, who denied withdrawing the money, believes the couple took the card and removed the money.

He said the incident happened so quickly he did not realise what was going on.

Both the male and female suspects are described as in their early 20’s wearing black clothing and had European accents.

PC Duncan Harris, crime prevention officer based at Sutton police station, said customers should be aware of who is around them when withdrawing money and not to get distracted.

He said: “A message will appear on screen to tell you if your card has been retained and will advise you to pop into your nearest branch.”