AT least two people in Marlborough have fallen victim to a cashpoint scam sweeping Europe that has become known as either the Lebanese Loop or Romanian Loop.

Using a simple home-made device crooks have been able to steal cash point cards and, using the pin number details obtained by an accomplice, drain bank accounts.

Two townspeople have fallen victim to the scam while using cashpoints in Marlborough High Street and both had significant sums of money withdrawn.

This week police warned cashpoint users to make sure they do not fall for the same ruse if the cash dispenser appears to be retaining their card.

DC Bob Carver said: "If the machine does not return you card, examine it carefully to see if a false card slot has been put over the genuine one, see if there is anything sticking out from the slot. If there is pull it and you will get your card back."

He said the success of the scam depended on a nearby accomplice watching to note the pin number as the user taps it in. Sometimes the accomplice will tell the cardholder that the same thing has happened to them or they will even ask what the pin number is so that they can try it, said DC Carver.

One Marlborough mother-of-two lost £500 last month as a result of the scam and knows of a friend who also was a victim.

The woman, who does not want to be named, was using the cashpoint at NatWest in Marlborough when the machine failed to return her card, and another woman standing nearby claimed the same thing had happened to her.

The mum's suspicions were aroused a few minutes later when she came out of a shop and saw the cashpoint being used by other people. "I telephoned my husband and he cancelled my card straight away," she said.

However in the time it took the bank to cancel her card, it was used at the HSBC cashpoint in the town to withdraw the maximum allowed in one transaction, £500.

The woman, who had the money refunded by her bank, said: "I just want other people who use cashpoints to know it could easily happen to them."

Police say the scam is usually committed on Friday evenings or weekends when the bank branches are closed so customers cannot go in and report their cards have been lost.