In last fortnight’s EFTPOS skimming scam, fraudsters made use of a new kind of card-skimming device to steal nearly $450,000 from West Australian bank accounts, going by the initial reports pertaining to the scam.

According to the police, as many as 1400 accounts have reportedly been defrauded “so far”, with more complaints still pouring in. The magnitude of the scam would probably rise after the financial institutions give a clearer picture of the money withdrawn, in about a week.

Going by the information forwarded by the fraud squad Detective Senior Sergeant Don Heise, 6PR scammers somehow managed to attach skimming devices on EFTPOS machines in retail outlets, especially fast food restaurants, thereby stripping unsuspecting shoppers of their money.

Noting that EFTPOS machine skimming differs from ATM skimming in the sense that the pin and card details of a person are recorded internally by the EFTPOS machines used in shops; thus implying that no matter what a person does to conceal the pin, the details are always on record.

Saying that the fraud was not discovered until people checked their bank statements, Detective Heise said: “Since late August, early September there were a lot of incidents across the metropolitan area where people's information had been obtained through skimming.”

About the extent of the fraud, Heise added: “It appears to be growing ... and there are numerous areas affected.”