Motorists warned of new card cloning scam as petrol station spy camera records chip and PIN details

The warning comes after police investigating a scam at one filling station found a small, drilled hole in the ceiling above a chip and PIN machine.

A similar scam in a rural village affected virtually every household there.

It is thought the spyhole at the BP garage in Lincoln was used to mount a covert camera to record the PINs of unsuspecting motorists.

Lincolnshire Police said yesterday they had received more than 200 reports of fraudulent transactions from people who filled up at the petrol station, on the A46 at Damons Roundabout.

Victims' cards were cloned and the copies were used as far away as India and Dubai in what the force said was a national scam, not unique to the county.

An HSBC spokesman warned: "These networks are sophisticated. They target vendors like petrol stations where security is lower than places like supermarkets."

Customer Graham Jennings, from Lincoln, said: "I bought petrol at the garage last Thursday. Three days later, I got a call from the bank asking me if I'd been to India and bought anything in the last day. I could not believe it."

Detective Constable Nicola Hurt, of Lincoln CID, said: "We started to receive calls from people earlier this week who have just started getting their bills and statements through the post and the numbers have just been increasing day by day.

"We've now had more than 200 bank and credit cards compromised in this way."

It is believed fraudsters installed the camera at the garage to record details of banks and building societies that could then be used with the PINs.

Now police are investigating a similar scam in Leicestershire, where a fake chip and PIN card reader was installed in a village shop and petrol station.

Nearly every household in Houghton on the Hill was scammed in this way, with some customers losing thousands of pounds.

The HSBC spokesman advised customers to shield their details from sight as they input them.

He said: "In terms of security, the best thing to do is completely cover the chip and PIN machine when you put your number in."

Ms Hurt added: "One machine is all that's needed. Don't risk details from your card being skimmed and used to take money from your account."

Police believe the A46 petrol station employees knew nothing of the scam.

"There is absolutely nothing to suggest that staff working at the garage knew anything about this scam, so motorists have nothing to worry about and should continue filling up their cars there."

Police inquiries into the crimes are continuing.

Any other victims are asked to contact their bank or building society, which can collate the details to pass on to police.