A CRACKDOWN on credit card skimming has been launched by Kent police. The campaign is aimed at credit or debit card holders, with the message: Don't let your card out of your sight. In the last six months, police in the county have seen a rapid rise in the number of places where credit card companies believe cards are skimmed - when a card's magnetic stripe is copied and the details used to make counterfeit cards.

Det Sgt Mark Fairhurst, of Kent's fraud squad, said: "Skimming is often used as a way of funding organised crime, such as drug trafficking. "The advice to card holders is simple. Don't let you card be taken out of your sight. Make sure you witness your card being swiped and be suspicious if it is swiped in more than one machine for one transaction."

Machines used to skim cards are often small and found near shop tills. Evidence from other parts of the country show that criminals bribe or threaten people working in petrol stations, restaurants and shops to carry out the offence.

Making the couterfeit cards takes little more than a laptop computer and scanner and many cards can be made from the information gained from a single card. The first a holder may know of the fraud is when their card is refused or when they receive a statement.

Suspicious card holders or anyone with information about people involved in skimming should call Kent Police on 01622 654819 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111. A national secheme, Card Watch, is offering a minimum of £500 for information that leads to the conviction of anyone involved in the offence.