scores of people have had their bank accounts emptied after thieves put a card skimming device on a cash machine in Oxford.

About 80 customers from the Coventry Building Society alone have reported having money stolen after they used an Abbey machine in London Road, Headington, while charity shop worker Sharon Walton, a Nationwide Building Society customer, had £390 taken from her account.

Police were investigating yesterday as Miss Walton, 45, estimated that hundreds of people could have been affected.

Miss Walton, the manager of the CLIC Sargent charity shop, in London Road, said she used the Abbey machine on Friday, after finding that a nearby Lloyds TSB cashpoint had been blocked up with glue.

Over the weekend £390 was withdrawn from her account at two cash machines in Enfield and Tottenham, north London.

She said: “I was totally shocked. I went to the bank on Monday to check if my direct debits had been taken out and found this.

“It’s thrown me into a bit of turmoil. If it wasn’t for my partner, who lent me some money, I wouldn’t have anything right now.

“I’m not using any more of these machines up here now. I think there must be a ring at work.

“I’m only using card machines in buildings from now on, which I know can’t have been tampered with.”

She added: “There’s a lot of concern and worry here. I think hundreds of people must have been caught up in this.”

Criminals attach skimming devices to cash machines which read a person’s bank card while a tiny camera records their PIN number.

The thieves then make new ‘clone’ versions of the cards and use them to withdraw money from other bank machines.

Abbey said evidence of tampering was found by its engineer who inspected the machine but no card cloning device was discovered.

The incident comes as police are set to launch an investigation into card cloning in Chipping Norton, after six people reported incidents in the town over the weekend Coventry Building Society spokesman Richard Field said: “I can confirm the skimming device was attached to the Abbey ATM and people that used the machine are at risk of having their card details stolen.

“It will have affected customers from a range of institutions.

“We have had about 80 customers affected.

“In these situations we take immediate steps to stop the cards and reimburse customers for all the fraudulent withdrawals.”

Abbey spokesman Eleanor Ross said: “While there was evidence of some tampering at the machine, no device was found.

“We would advise anyone who has used an ATM and thinks that their card has been compromised to contact their bank as soon as possible.”

A Lloyds TSB spokesman said vandals may have been responsible for the damage to its machine, rather than the card skimmers putting it out of action to force people to use the Abbey machine.

Thames Valley Police spokesman Vicky Brandon said: “We received a report from a woman in Blackbird Leys that transactions had been made in other parts of the country between May 30 and 31 on her card.

“We will now be investigating this matter.”

cwalker@oxfordmail.co.uk