Has anyone been a victim in the last few days? My partner has and the only place we can think of where there was an opportunity to clone the card was a respected local trader, which seems very odd.

PMs please if the same has happened to you, interested to hear if anyone else has a similar story.

Happened to us a year or so ago at a local petrol station- also a respectable trader. Not sure how its done. Our card had to be stopped and reissued and around £500 or had been taken out of a cashpoint in the USA but we didn't have to pay for that. We found out about it from a call from Scotland Yards Fraud Squad- apparently it was part of a much bigger scam.

Hi jollyrog. Fortunately this hasn't happened to me recently, but it has happened to me three times over the years. The first I suspected was on the eurostar, the second at a restaurant in Brick Lane back in 2002 (this is really most likely where it happened as I rarely used the card) and more recently, about 4 yrs ago, at a reputable Indian Take Away (not round here) where I paid by credit card. The last is certain as the fraud officer let slip in conversation and I clearly wasn't the only victim. In the first 2 the card was used to buy goods, some overseas, mainly by internet, the latter was a £2k payment from my credit card onto someone's Barclaycard.

None of the above really helps with yours, but it is more common than people may think (or maybe it's just me!).

I am now paying by cash for all transactions under 100 pounds. Safer to get from machine in ( not outside ) the bank.

I use cash to pay for petrol now.

To be sure of not getting cloned never ever let your card out of your sight. If paying for food in a restaurant and there is a "problem" with the machine, before they can wisk it out the back ask for your card and get them to bring a new machine to you. ALWAYS cover the pin pad, the cloning at the petrol station was helped by a camera installed in the ceiling capturing pin entries.

Keep your cards safe and dont write your pin in your diary or stick it on your mobile under "bank", if your bag gets stolen so do all your details.

Be safe out there.