Yaxley: Robbers take chip-and-pin machines from store
TERRIFIED staff were threatened as robbers strolled in and stripped the chip-and-pin machines from supermarket checkouts while customers were out shopping.
TERRIFIED staff were threatened as robbers strolled in and stripped the chip-and-pin machines from supermarket checkouts while customers were out shopping.The robbery took place at the Rainbow Supermarket in Bentley Avenue, Yaxley, at around 8pm on Wednesday, an hour before the shop was due to close.
Two men walked into the store and started cutting the wires of five of the machines, worth several hundred pounds each, at the checkout.
When staff tried to challenge the men, who were using wire cutters to take the machines, they were threatened by the robbers.
Today, shoppers who used the machines earlier in the day have been told not to worry about becoming a victim of credit card fraud after the theft.
Mark Bowerman, a spokesman for Cardwatch – a campaign to raise awareness of card fraud prevention – said: "The machines would be of limited use to a fraudster.
"The data stored on the machine would be unusable, and PIN numbers are not stored.
"Thieves may try to tamper with the machines to try and find out if they can adapt them for their own benefit, but this is unlikely to work either.
"We would encourage everyone to continue to check their card statements, but shoppers should not be worried because of this event."
Yesterday the shop was reopened, after new machines were installed at 7am.
Regional manager Mick Clarke said: "No-one was hurt in the incident, and we were open as usual yesterday."
The two men were believed to have had two accomplices, who waited outside the store.
All are described as black, and in their 20s. The first man had dreadlocks tied back, and was wearing a black leather jacket and one black glove.
The second wore a dark tracksuit with white along the arms, and had a dark rucksack on his back.
The third man was wearing a white jacket, white tracksuit bottoms and trainers, while the fourth was wearing a baseball cap.
Detective Sergeant Carl Anderson, from Huntingdon police station, said: "I believe there would have been people inside and outside the supermarket at the time this robbery happened and I would appeal to those people to come forward.
"Any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, could be important to this investigation."
Anyone with information should contact Det Sgt Anderson on 0845 456 456 4, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.
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Friday 19 March 2010
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