
UK village in Indian fraud web
More than half the people living in a village in Worcestershire have become victims of an international credit card fraud. Money is being withdrawn from their accounts in India, Sri Lanka, Denmark and the Dominican Republic.
This is the latest in a series of such complaints in which consumers across Britain have found money withdrawn from their accounts in India.
Wychbold, a sleepy village in Worcestershire, has 700 homes, of which 400 have had money withdrawn from their accounts abroad.
The local police believe their cards have been closed and details e-mailed to locations abroad from where they were used to withdraw money ranging from 50 pounds to 1,000 pounds.
In May, a journalist at Bournemouth found money withdrawn from his bank account in Chennai. Nearly 500 others in the area suffered the same fate.
British security officials have been grappling with card-cloning, by which card details are surreptitiously recorded during transactions at petrol pumps and supermarkets, and e-mailed across the globe for illegal withdrawals from ATM machines. Garages and petrol pumps have been the most vulnerable to such scams.
Teresa Tutin, 50, a homecare assistant in Wychbold, said: "Apparently I've bought something at a shop in Liverpool and worst of all apparently I've used a cashpoint in India recently. I can tell you that I haven't done either. So there is clearly something very sinister going on."
Another victim is Shaun Colley, whose Visa debit card details were used to withdraw 200 pounds in Germany. He said: "I thought I'd been unlucky, but everyone I spoke to in the village had suffered the same fate".
The local police recently took items from a local garage for examination.
Villagers have depended on a local petrol station managed by one Khalid Khan for years. Khan said he was doing all he could to help police investigation.
He said: "I have been in this business for 18 years and I have been in Wychbold for seven of them. I have never experienced a problem like this before. I'm so upset about what has happened to all our customers. I can assure them that it has nothing to do with us and we will do everything we can to help catch the people involved."
Detective sergeant Neil Austin, who is investigating the case, said: "We have had a number of further reports from members of the public who have found discrepancies with their bank accounts. Officers are in the process of contacting each card holder that has reported such activity and investigations are ongoing".

Britain tightens borders to keep out new Covid-19 strains

Nearly 60,000 have fled Central African Republic violence: UN

WHO stops short of advising proof of COVID shots for travel

Six EU nations express 'severe concern' over vaccine delays
- Ministers from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden said in their letter that the situation was "unacceptable" and "decreases the credibility of the vaccination process".

Biden appoints David Cohen once more as deputy CIA director

US imposes fresh sanctions on Iran in final days of Trump presidency

Eyes on Nancy Pelosi as Donald Trump's impeachment trial timing up in the air

Covid: China honours 'Bat Woman' of controversial Wuhan lab

US plans fresh Iran sanctions related to metals, conventional arms

Pentagon says US has dropped to 2,500 troops in Afghanistan

Joe Biden urges swift action on giant aid plan with Republicans wary

Man convicted in 3 killings to be last executed under Trump administration

Trump administration takes final swipes at China and its companies

Joe Biden is told trump may be Going but Trumpism lives on in Brazil
