A MAN who had more than £2,000 taken from his bank account after using a cash machine in Worcester city centre is warning others to be vigilant.

Tony May used the Nationwide ATM machine in High Street on Wednesday, December 10 for the first time to withdraw cash.

He was careful to shield the keypad with his hand when he typed in the pin number – but a few weeks later he noticed money had been taken from his account without his knowledge.

A spokesman for Nationwide has confirmed a skimming device was placed on the machine to copy cards and pin numbers on Wednesday, December 10 and Thursday, December 11. He said the device had since been removed and the machine was now working properly.

Mr May is urging others who may have withdrawn cash around this date to check their accounts for innacuracies.

The 63-year-old, of Warndon Villages, said: “I had seven withdrawals on my account of £300 a day.

“I have reported this to Nationwide and they say they are investigating the problem, so there is nothing I can do until they have completed that. But I want other people to know this has happened so they can make sure it doesn’t or hasn’t happened to them.”

A spokesman for south Worcestershire police confirmed that they had received two complaints between Wednesday, December 10 and Thursday, December 18 from Nationwide customers who had had money taken illegally from their accounts.

“While we have been made aware of the circumstances of these two incidents, under the 2006 Fraud Act, the responsibility for investigating this type of crime rests with the banks and similar organisations affected,” he said. A spokesman for Nationwide said the device had been reported to branch staff, the police and the ATM team. They added an engineer had since checked the machine.

“Any customers that feel they may have been the victim of fraud should report it to their local bank or building society branch,” he said. “Where Nationwide customers have been the innocent victims of fraudulent activity we will fully refund them.

“Nationwide takes the security of its members’ money very seriously. We always advise customers to be vigilant when using any ATM and if in any doubt not to use the machine but report their concerns to the nearest branch immediately.”

He said anti-skimming technology had been installed and they were looking at other ways to protect customers against it.