Su Hill, a mother-of-three from Chandos Road, saw a man acting suspiciously at the NatWest cashpoint at the front of Boots in Montague Street as she queued to withdraw money at around 10.20am on Thursday, August 21.

The man spoke on a mobile phone while huddled over the machine, before quickly walking away.

Mrs Hill said she thought the man's behaviour was "odd", but did not suspect anything.

Sealant or glue

She continued with her withdrawal and noticed a form of glue or sealant was visible around the card slot.

She said: "You read all these things but you don't know what it looks like until it happens to you."

Although her withdrawal was successful, later that day Mrs Hill received a phone call from a man with "an African accent" asking for her bank details, claiming his company could reclaim all historic bank charges for her.

Asking for details

"It was a very bad line, which raised alarm bells," said Mrs Hill.

"He was very persistent about asking for the details.

"I said I needed to check them out because I wouldn't even give my brother my bank details."

After refusing to hand over details, Mrs Hill returned to the cashpoint to find a police officer standing guard, who told her to make a statement at the police station.

Cancelled cards

She said: "It's a bit of a shock. You always think you're going to be smart enough to know how to spot it."

Although unsure whether any money had been taken, Mrs Hill cancelled her bank cards and froze her accounts, meaning she was unable to take her daughter Jessi for a surprise meal to celebrate her GCSE results.

Sergeant Ian Kerr, from Worthing Police, confirmed a device had been recovered from the cashpoint and urged anyone who used the machine on August 21 to check their bank statements.

In March, more than a dozen people contacted police aafter using the Barclay's ATM in Chapel Road discovered money had been taken.

A man was arrested in April after a woman's cash card was swallowed by the ATM in Goring Road, and two men were seen removing a device.

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