POLICE fear a man operating a rent card scam in Wales could be doing it across the UK with the help of others.
Officers in Lincolnshire have issued a warning on behalf of Gwent Police, where the man has conned various shops and got away with £2,200 over just five days in November.
They say the man goes into a shop and asks for his rent card to be topped up with an amount of cash, which in the Gwent cases has often been for £440.
The card is a fraud, has been cloned and is linked to a pre-pay Mastercard.
Once the operator has topped up the fraudulent rent card at a PayPoint terminal the man goes to pay for the top up on his bank card but it’s declined.
He tells the cashier he will go to a cashpoint to get the cash but never returns. The offender is then able to withdraw the cash that has been paid onto the Mastercard.
Police say he has been described as speaking with an Eastern European accent.
Anyone with information on the scam is asked to call Gwent Police on 01633 838111 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.