A woman lost more than £5,000 at an Ascot ATM in a scam police say they 'haven’t seen in years.'

A man approached a woman’s car window at a supermarket and told her she had a parking ticket, which she could pay at the cash till.

She walked with him to the ATM machine to get cash and inserted her card, but it would not return from the slot when she tried to retrieve it. She tried with a second card and the same thing happened.

Thames Valley Police believe this to be a ‘skimming’ scam, whereby criminals insert a thin transparent sheath into the ATM which collects incoming cards.

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Victims leave the ATMs believing their cards are safe within the machine and they will be returned by the bank. In this instance, another man interrupted the pair at the ATM and told the woman she could use his mobile to contact the bank and cancel the cards.

The person on the other end of the phone said the cards had been cancelled and new ones would be sent to her.

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In fact, her cards had not been cancelled and when she phoned the bank at home they told her that £5,000 had been withdrawn from one account and £250 from another.

Police said the sheath is held in place by small metal grips at the card slot, which in years gone by they advised users to check for every time they used an ATM by running their finger along the slot.

If it was not smooth, move away instantly and if you are outside a bank, go inside and let them know.