A ‘HELPFUL’ thief stole hundreds of pounds from a bank account minutes after tricking a Christmas shopper at a cashpoint.
Patricia Monksfield had just withdrawn £30 from the HSBC ATM outside Sainsbury’s in High Street, Walthamstow, when a man approached her.
He said the cashpoint was not working and waved a leaflet at the 55-year-old, of Parkstone Road, Walthamstow.
When her card was not returned, the thief offered to help and told her to re-enter her pin number to retrieve it.
But the card was still not returned so Ms Monksfield went in to the store to report what had happened.
She was told to contact her bank and when she finally got through 45 minutes later she was told £400 had been stolen from her account.
It was then that she realised she had been duped by the thief, who appears to have quickly stolen the card as he distracted her with the leaflet.
The bank told Ms Monksfield that the money had been withdrawn at a cashpoint in the same road within minutes of the theft.
The thief also used the card in nearby shops.
Ms Monksfield said: “I was in disbelief that such a thing had happened to me.
"He didn't mug me but he tricked me, which near enough amounts to the same thing.
“He was very convincing and I thought he was just trying to be helpful. I just want to warn other people out there to be more careful and be on their guard when they are at a cashpoint, because this sort of thing could happen to anyone."
Ms Monksfield’s bank has reimbursed her the stolen money.
Police are believed to be waiting for CCTV footage of the incident, which happened at 5.15pm on December 23, from Sainsbury’s.
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