Banks gave ‘knee-jerk’ response to skimming

BANKS have been criticised for their “knee-jerk” response after restricting tourists’ cash withdrawals to €100 per day after a massive card skimming operation was uncovered.

Last Thursday, criminals put skimming devices on debit/credit card machines in five large stores in the north and east of the country, recording the details of thousands of customers.

It is understood the scam was detected the following day when one of the affected stores realised there was something attached to the terminal which they did not recognise.