Three men were convicted at Southwark Crown Court on Monday of conspiring to defraud in a swindle based at petrol stations.

The gang, who the station businesses themselves or bribed existing staff, stole £254,000 and might have netted more than £3.5 million, it was claimed.

Cards were copied with high-tech equipment near tills and spy cameras fitted into ceilings to monitor customers entering PIN numbers.

Withdrawals with 'cloned' cards were then made in foreign countries - often those with less stringent card security measures.

Ariyakunathasa Pirathesan, 28, was jailed for four-and-a-half years after converting a rented property in Coventry into what Judge Martin Beddoe called a "fraud factory", complete with details of hundreds of 'compromised' accounts and 4,500 blank cards.

Some had pin numbers written on them ready to be flown abroad.
Footage from the mini cameras was later found at a warehouse in Leicester.

Pirathesan himself made 29 trips to India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and the US in less than a year.

Sri Lankan co-defendent Sombalu Jeyaganesh, 34, was given three years for his role, embossing the cards in Liverpool.

Sivanesan Mayilvaganam, 28 and of Mitcham, Surrey, was also jailed for three years for "processing".

Both Jeyaganesh and Mayilvaganam face deportation after serving their time.

Chris Coltart, prosecuting, said that based on average amounts taken and the number of accounts details, up to £3.5 million could have been at risk.

The victims' stories

Carole Johnson fell victim to the fraudsters during a spate of incidents in Hatton.

Card services organisation APACS confirmed this week that the village had been targeted by the gang.

In May, thousands of pounds were taken from the accounts of residents, all of whom had used the Shell garage on Birmingham Road.

Mrs Johnson said: "We were absolutely convinced they had somehow got into the stations - and it looks like we were right. There were so many of us.

"I think the sentences are very poor and they should certainly be deported. What happened caused a lot of difficulties to a lot of people.

"Elderly people were extremely upset and others found themselves being charged for going over account limits, though the banks must have known what had happened to us."

"I tell my daughter always to use credit, not debit, because it's easier to get money back. And to make sure she covers her hand when she enters her PIN and doesn't have a code which has a 'shape' on the keypad, so they can guess the numbers.

" I think that is how they got me, because I am usually so careful."

Tony Archer, of nearby Hampton-on-the-Hill, watched in April as small amounts, then larger sums, were stolen from his account in quick succession, all from Australia. In the end £2,097 had gone.

He said: "I'm pleased something has been done about this and they've caught them. Every second person I spoke to here seemed to have been affected, but it never crossed my mind there was collusion from staff.

"Since then I've stopped using ATMs, though I still buy petrol on a card. You don't want to be carry large sums of money about for other reasons!"

Other places the gang operated included Kenilworth, where dozens of people reported problems in November. All were customers of the Shell station in Warwick Road.

APACS also said Balsall Common had been affected. In late 2008 Godfrey Chesshire, the chairman of the parish council, said the village had endured an "epidemic" of cloning. A Shell garage there changed hands soon after the problems.

End of an era?

Those who had money taken may have been among the final victims of a fraud 'era'.

APACS spokesman Mark Bowerman said: "it still goes on, but copying magnetic strips is an 'old' type of fraud.

"They started with cash machines and moved into other areas, like garages, where there is a high throughput of people paying with cards.

"Typically one person gets a job and after a few weeks lets criminal friends in, or they coerce someone already there into helping. Sometimes they are just bold as brass and go in wearing uniforms with a fake badge claiming they are from maintenance.

"The withdrawals are made abroad, but as more countries introduce chip and PIN this type of fraud becomes more difficult.

"The chip contains other security features, not just the PIN, which criminals cannot copy."

He criticised the "blase" way many members of the public use their cards.

And he said that while there was a definite link between Sri Lankan groups and such fraud, the crime was "far from exclusive".