Thousands more bank cards blocked

The Bank of New Zealand has blocked the overseas use of nearly 5000 more cash cards as it works to minimise the damage from an ATM skimming fraud.

The scam has seen Bank of New Zealand accounts fleeced of more than $100,000.

It involved phonecards being loaded with bank card details stolen from ATM machines and then used to withdraw cash from more than 100 accounts -- some of them accessed from Canada.

Yesterday the bank said that based on information from the police, it had blocked the overseas use of a further 4844 cards used in the six Auckland ATM machines believed to have been targeted by a sophisticated skimming group.

The move affected customers who may have used the six machines -- at New Lynn, Silverdale, Pakuranga, on the corner of Queen and Victoria Sts, Manurewa, and a stand-alone machine on Ponsonby Rd -- between February 10 and February 28.

Yesterday's step was precautionary with no further fraud being detected on the accounts of customers who had used the affected machines, the bank said.

The aim was to minimise the risk to customers and at the same time provide as much flexibility and convenience as possible over the Easter weekend.

The bank emphasised that yesterday's action would only block overseas transactions. All use of ATM cards in this country would be unaffected.

Last week police investigating the fraud said they were looking for a man, possibly South American, who had bought more than 50 phone cards from a downtown Auckland souvenir shop.

On Tuesday night officers swooped on an Auckland apartment but a man being sought had already moved out.

For affected customers overseas, the bank said it had established emergency procedures to allow temporary access to transaction accounts by phoning +64 4 473 5901.

Affected customers who would be travelling overseas in the next few days should contact a Bank of New Zealand branch and make arrangements for a replacement card to be issued.

Replacement cards could be obtained at the Bank of New Zealand's Auckland International Airport branch between 9am and 9pm each day.

For any inquires or in the event of any transaction irregularities Bank of New Zealand customers in New Zealand should phone 0800 275 269.

- NZPA