CASH machines outside a Basingstoke supermarket have been targeted by thieves using card-cloning devices.

Gadgets that are hidden inside the cash machines and copy customers' card details have been found on the cashpoints outside Sainsbury's, in Wallop Drive, Hatch Warren, on three separate occasions.

Five customers reported thefts - totalling nearly £2,000 - between early April and last Wednesday.

Thieves use the device to obtain the card details and gain access to the victim's bank account.

Basingstoke police are investigating the incidents and are urging anyone who thinks their bank card details may have been copied to contact their card issuer.

A spokesman for Sainsbury's Bank said: "We can confirm there have been three separate occasions when cloning devices have been attached to the ATM machine outside the Sainsbury's store in Hatch Warren.

"The security staff at the store are currently checking the ATMs every two hours to ensure the chances of this happening again are minimised."

Basingstoke police spokeswoman Liz Walsh said: "In March, Bedfordshire police contacted us saying they had people reporting their cards being fraudulently used.

"When we looked into it, it emerged these cards had been used at an ATM at Sainsbury's in Wallop Drive.

"We then started to get reports from people in Hampshire saying the last time they used their card was at those ATMs and there has since been more money taken from their accounts that they did not authorise.

"We are keen to hear from witnesses or anyone who has seen any devices or seen anybody acting suspiciously in the area."

It is not the first time card-cloning devices have been found in north Hampshire.

In August 2003, thieves stole an estimated £30,000 from users of cashpoints at the Top of the Town, in Basingstoke, with individuals losing between £110 and £1,500 each.

And in November 2003, a NatWest cashpoint at Chineham Shopping Centre was targeted - once with a cloning device and on another occasion with a Lebanese loop, a clear plastic sleeve that is put into the cashpoint and retains a customer's card when it is inserted.

Anyone with information about the incidents at the Hatch Warren Sainsbury's should call Basingstoke police on 0845 045 4545.

First published: Tuesday, April 18, 2006