Fraudsters siphon off £1m from petrol outlets

London: Eight people were yesterday being questioned by detectives in connection with a chip and pin fraud racket which led to hundreds of petrol stations suspending the service.

Shell stopped chip and pin at 600 of its garages after customers across the country were targeted.

They had credit and debit card details copied by fraudsters, and then money withdrawn from their accounts.

More than £1 million (Dh6.82 million) was siphoned off. An investigation by the Met Police's cheque and plastic crime unit is under way.

BP and other petrol companies are also looking into reports of card fraud.

Eight people were arrested in connection with the crime, including one from Guildford and another from Portsmouth, according to the Association of Payment Clearing Services.

Precaution

Police suspect that fraudsters posing as engineers have altered the pin pads, or that employees might be involved.

Criminals implant devices into chip and pin machines which can copy a bank card's magnetic strip and record pin numbers.

The device cannot copy the chip, which means any fake card can only be used in machines where chip and pin is not implemented often abroad.

AA Shell spokeswoman said: "In the interests of our customers, we have temporarily suspended chip and pin availability in our company-owned service stations."