Barclays customers hit by cash machine fraud gangs

Hundreds of Barclays customers have lost thousands of pounds after their cards were apparently "swallowed" by the bank's machines.

The new wave of cash machine fraud, masterminded by a network of eastern European gangs has affected Barclays Bank ATMs in London, Essex, West Sussex, Leicestershire and Wales.

The fraud is known as a "Lebanese Loop", which involves criminals inserting a card-capturing device inside a cash machine's slot and a mobile phone camera behind a fake plastic cover over the ATM's keypad.

Customers insert a card into the machine and types in the Pin, the camera records it, and a message appears on screen saying the card is inactive.

The victim assumes his card has been "swallowed", and walks away to call his bank. The fraudster retrieves the card and, using the recorded Pin, withdraws as much money as possible.

A spokeswoman for Barclays said: "We are already tackling [the fraud] by upgrading our machines."

Debit and credit card fraud cost £609million last year.