Police are appealing for information after people had money stolen after being distracted while withdrawing cash out from cashpoint machines in Oxford and Headington.

On three occasions yesterday, people were deliberately distracted and had their cash stolen.

The first time was at about 10am at the Lloyds TSB cashpoint in High Street, Oxford. The victim was withdrawing money when two men told him that the cashpoint wasn’t working and that he should report it. They then took his card and withdrew £300.

The men were wearing dark coloured suits and ties and had short dark hair. They have been described as having tanned skin and foreign accents.

At 10.39am at the same cashpoint a woman was withdrawing cash when a man with short dark hair took her card and her £300 in cash. There was also a second man with the first. Both men were black, about 5ft 7in tall and with short dark hair.

At 11.36am outside HSBC, in London Road, Headington, a man snatched a bank card from a man as he was about to withdraw cash. The offender was about 6ft tall, black, and was wearing white trousers and a white top.

Det Sgt Steve Raffield said: “I believe that these incidents could be connected and possibly also linked with a similar offence that happened on February 20, at about 4.45pm when three men told a woman the cashpoint wasn’t working at Lloyds TSB in Oxford and when she went in to report it they withdrew £700 from her account.

“I urge anybody who might have seen these incidents happen, or have any information to help with my investigation, to please get in touch.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to remind the public to be vigilant when they are withdrawing money. It is important to make sure that they keep their PIN hidden and that they don’t let themselves be distracted while getting the money out and put their money in a secure place as soon as it is withdrawn.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Det Sgt Raffield at Oxford police station via 0845 8 505 505, or if you don’t want to talk to the police or give your name, call Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.