POLICE are warning people all across Gloucestershire to be on their guard when drawing money out of cash machines after a man had £240 taken from his account.

At around 11am on Friday, June 5 a man using his card at an ATM at Barclays bank in Cheltenham High Street had £240 taken out of his account after thieves swapped his card for another one.

This particular scam involves the thief approaching an ATM-user in the act of drawing cash and alerting him/her to a £10 or £20 note which will be on the floor behind them.

A co-offender - who will have monitored the victim's PIN number being punched into the keypad - swiftly removes the card and swaps it for a different one while the victim is distracted.

The offenders then leave the scene allowing them to withdraw large sums of money from the victim’s account.

Det Cons Andy Houghton said: “This is an organised crime committed by individuals who have no remorse for the often vulnerable persons they target.

"This is a cross-border investigation which will utilise the assistance of other police forces in the country.

"We ask that when using any cash machine, whether inside a banking institution or on the street, that all care is made to ensure that your PIN number is hidden from other people who may be trying to view it.

"Be aware of any persons loitering near to you and ensure that any suspicious activity is reported to the police."

Anyone with information about the Cheltenham card theft is asked to call 101, quoting incident 191 of June 5 2015.