Fraudsters steal from motorists at city centre car park pay machines
A city centre car park has been targeted by fraudsters stealing money from drivers at payment machines.
Customers at Worcester Street car park in Oxford have had sums of money taken from their bank accounts shortly after using the pay machines.
Oxford City Council has issued a warning to car park users that they've identified the fraudulent activity and are working with the police to investigate.
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After three customers reported money taken or attempts for money to be taken from their accounts, checks revealed that fraudsters placed skimming devices disguised as legitimate card readers over the actual readers on city council pay machines.
Worcester Street Car Park payment machines have been compromised (Image: Olivia Christie) These can capture card data without the card owner's knowledge and allow scammers to take funds from the account.
A common sign of this scam is a "card declined" message on the machine, prompting users to move to another machine—by which time, the card may already have been compromised.
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Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, cabinet member for planning and culture at Oxford City Council, said: "We understand the concern this may cause and are taking this issue extremely seriously.
"This kind of incident is not common in any of our car parks.
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"Public safety and the security of our facilities are top priorities, and our staff regularly check the machines and are trained to spot this kind of scam.
"I would ask for car park users to remain vigilant and promptly report any similar incidents or suspicious activity to the police."
The city council say they have reported the incidents to the police and initiated increased inspections on all council-owned pay machines.
They've also instructed enforcement officers to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity and have made the public aware of the fraud risks.
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Guidance issued by the city council to car park users includes advising customers to inspect the card reader before inserting a bank card, and not use the machine if "anything looks unusual".
Messages on screen and bank notifications or warnings could be red flags that something is wrong.
It also said that RingGo, a mobile car park payment app, can be used as an alternative method to avoid bank card fraud.
The council asked car park users to report any suspicious activity to police immediately by phoning 101.
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Worcester Street is a 24-hour open-air car park accessed from Hythe Bridge Street and Park End Street.
It has a pay-and-display payment system and payment machines do not accept cash, although a telephone payment system with a valid bank card as well as RingGo app payments are available.
The car park is one of six owned and operated by the council in the city centre, though the council has not reported any other incidents of fraudulent activity at other locations.
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