Card clone warning at petrol pumps

DRIVERS are being warned to be "extremely vigilant" when paying for petrol at a service station pump, after gendarmes in the south-east of France started discovering card-reading devices fitted to payment terminals.

The Alpes-Maritimes gendarmerie says the devices are similar to those that have thieves have used at cash machines. They are fitted around the bank card slot and read the card's details, while a miniature camera records which numbers are pressed on the keypad.

The devices are designed to look like they are part of the payment machine - and the transaction goes through normally without the customer knowing what has happened.

Anyone who catches someone tampering with the card reader at an automatic petrol pump is urged to not intervene, but to make a note of the time, vehicle registration number, type/colour of vehicle and the direction it heads in, as well as any information about the person's appearance that could help identify them.

The police can be reached in France by calling 17.