More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A woman shopping at a Tesco superstore has been left "anxious" after she had cash swiped from her bank account by a hidden electronic device.
The shopper, who does not want to be named, was at the Crescent Road branch in Faversham when she was approached by two men who squeezed past her - despite social distancing guidelines.
But it wasn't until hours later she suspected them of using a card skimmer to pinch money from her account.
She had been doing a weekly shop for six people on May 21 and arrived at about 10.45am.
"I paid for my shopping and checked my account later at home," she said.
"I noticed two transactions for that day in the same Tesco - one was (when I paid) at 11.09am and the other was at 10.52am, which would have been when I was still doing my shopping."
She spent hours trying to think of how it happened and was left baffled.
But later on she recalled a suspicious incident as she started to put the pieces together.
"I hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but two men asked to get by me when I had stopped to get something off a shelf," she added.
"The only thing at the time that registered was that they were far too close to me, not two-metres away as they should have been.
"One man said 'excuse me' and I replied to just give me a second, but he was already squeezing past me.
"I asked him to keep his distance which is when I then noticed his friend coming from behind me and following him."
At the time she was just frustrated they had not kept their distance.
But then she released the men may have swiped the money fraudulently using an electronic device.
The incident has made her fearful about being in the shops in case it happens again.
However, she has been advised she can buy a card protector case to prevent payments being snatched without the holder's permission - and will be investing in one.
A police spokesperson said it is investigating a report a small quantity of money was fraudulently withdrawn from a woman’s bank account after she was approached by two men.
"The men are reported to have used an electronic device to withdraw the money and inquiries to establish the full circumstances are ongoing," they said.
