£20,000 stolen from bank account following distraction theft in Oswestry
An woman has seen over £20,000 withdrawn from her bank account after her bank card was stolen in a distraction theft.
The incident happened on Monday 5 October, when the woman withdrew some cash from a bank cash point in Oswestry.
After making a couple of shopping calls, she walked home, as she walked up her drive, she was approached by a female holding a map and asking, in a foreign accent, for directions. The female was joined by a male. The resident was asked to mark a map and was asked if the map could be put on the kitchen table out of the rain.
The two callers then left and the resident believed that nothing had been taken. However, on Friday, she discovered that her own bank card had been taken and to conceal the theft, had been replaced by a card which had been stolen elsewhere.
The suspected offenders obtained the PIN by observing the victim at the cash point. The bank confirmed that over £20,000 had been withdrawn from the victim's accounts by fraudulent transactions at various locations around the UK.
Similar distraction thefts of bank cards using the map and requests in poor English for written directions have been reported recently in Shrewsbury, Market Drayton, and Broseley and elsewhere.
Police say they have had several attempted thefts reported in similar circumstances on supermarket and town centre car parks in Newport in the last few months.
They are reminding people to be vigilant when withdrawing money at cash points or paying for purchases in busy shops and supermarkets.
