Following fears of inaction on EalingToday forum, Ealing Police reassure they were 'aware' of the problem
An arrest has been made and one person charged after several allegations of cloning at Shell Petrol Station in Hanwell.
Ealing Police have confirmed to EalingToday that a male has been arrested in connection with credit card fraud at the Shell garage and has been interviewed and bailed.
"The offences were identified by the banks who informed the police, who assisted by Shell, investigated and identified this male," said an Ealing Police spokesperson. "He is due to return to police bail at a central London Police station on 20 April 2009.
"This type of enquiry is often quite complex and can lead to further offences and suspects being identified. I trust your readers appreciate our reticence in not revealing any information too early that could otherwise compromise the investigation.
The arrest follows a flood of allegations of card cloning at the petrol station on the EalingToday forum.
"I`d like to advise the forum, residents and visitors, to pay in cash only at the Shell Garage, Church Road, Hanwell. This will help avoid subsequent problems with credit or debit cards in places as far away as Canada and the Philippines!" came the first stark warning.
And others were quick to confirm their own similar experiences:
"A friend warned me about this last week..... Herself and three people she knows all had money taken from their accounts abroad - the connection was the Shell garage!"
"I frequently use this garage and recently had someone take cash from my account in South Africa.... "
John Littleboy had just 'just short of £10k taken' after his card was cloned. He and his wife Jane launched a campaign, " providing information to and putting pressure on the local police and Jane attacking Shell Public Relations"...Our fear was not to promote anything to alert the garage staff that we were on to them."
"I was angry this was taking place so near to our homes and wanted to ensure others in our community did not encounter the same distress that comes with the discovery that it has happened to you," said John. "...
It was confirmed...that there had been one arrest and that person has been charged. The enquiry is still ongoing so hopefully there will be more successes in due course.
"Thank you to everyone who said they had also had cards cloned here – this really shows the power we have when we communicate and not sit at home thinking “poor me” or “why does this only happen to me” more often than not, others, even those you know, have suffered the same way.
"Finally despite all the criticism they get, this provides evidence of action behind the scenes within our Police Service which understandably we cannot all be privy to. – Well done to them, we just hope that magistrates and members of the judiciary have also had cards cloned and these guys get what they deserve and the efforts of the police are again, not in vain."
February 5, 2009
|