PEOPLE using automatic cash machines in Darlington were last night warned to be on their guard after a woman was tricked out of £500 by an elaborate confidence trick.

Cheque and credit card investigators are looking for a man who tricked his victim into using a cash dispensing machine that had a false notice on it.

She was going to work last Saturday, when she used a machine in High Row at about 8.20am.

When the machine retained the woman's card and failed to dispense any money to her, a man stepped forward and pointed to a printed note stuck on the machine.

The notice purported to give instructions to customers about what action to take if the machine malfunctioned.

The woman followed the instructions, keying in a confidential code and entering her PIN number three times.

Having done so she was still unable to obtain any money or retrieve her bank card, so she walked away.

Later, the woman discovered that £500 had been withdrawn from her bank account by someone using the card she had inserted into the machine.

The bank confirmed that it had not issued the notice and quickly removed it from the machine.

The man involved in the incident is described as being tall, with dark hair and tanned skin.

His victim told police that he spoke with a foreign accent.

Detective Sergeant David Hall, of Durham Police's economic crime unit, said: "We believe that, similar to past incidents elsewhere in the county, a loop mechanism has been inserted into the ATM and has retained the victim's card.

"However, this is the first time a bogus notice has been used to dupe a person into repeatedly keying in their PIN number while someone watched from behind and recorded that information.

"The notice comprised typed letters on white paper and some of the words were misspelt."

He said: "We would urge people to check with the bank involved if they find any messages or notices attached to cash dispensing machines.

"When there is a known fault on this type of machine, banks keep them out of action until the problem is rectified."

Anyone with information about the incident can contact police on 0191-386 4929.