'Scammers' steal 20,000 shop customers’ payment details

An investigation is underway into the theft of payment-card details from around 20,000 bank customers in Ireland.

The theft was carried out by a gang who posed as engineers to gain access to credit and laser card sales terminals in Irish shops.

The gang managed to remove the original terminals and replace them with compromised machines capable of skimming car details from unsuspecting customers.

The Irish Payment Services Organisation says the gang has used the cards to withdraw money in countries where chip and pin is not yet implemented.

However, it has declined to name the shops where the scam was carried out.

It says banks will refund any customers whose details have been used to make fraudulent transactions.

The theft has also forced the banks to restrict withdrawals by account holders while travelling abroad.