Sainsbury's banks £3.5m on ATM security

Sainsbury's Bank is investing £3.5m to protect its 885 cash machines against fraudsters.

The money will be spent on installing CCTV and introducing anti-skimming devices.

Sainsbury’s Bank head of channels Kevin Barrett said cash machine fraud is a "growing problem" that the bank is taking "very seriously".

It said that the new technology "would stop this happening".

Research from banking industry body Apacs, found that cash machine fraud during the first three months of 2006 totalled £21.4m - an increase of 54 per cent compared to 2005 figures.

ATM skimming accounts for the greatest proportion of cash machine fraud in the UK.

This involves attaching a small electronic device to the card entry slot of a cash machine to record a card's details without the cardholder's knowledge, by copying the information stored on the magnetic strip on the card. The criminal then copies the card and uses it to withdraw money at a cash machine.

Because they still carry the magnetic strip, chip and PIN cards are also susceptable to skimming.