PEOPLE may discover today that their bank accounts have been emptied by thieves.

Police are urging people who have been using two cash machines outside a supermarket to check their accounts as a matter of urgency - as both machines have been tampered with.

Both automatic cash dispensers had been rigged with mini cameras and electronic devices to record people's pin numbers and read their card details.

Police say they do not know how long the scam has been in operation at the Tesco superstore in Ingleby Barwick, near Stockton.

Inspector Paul Pickering, of Cleveland Police, said: "The machines had been fitted with false covers containing electronic equipment that scans cards and users of the machines. Unfortunately, we do not know when these covers were fitted.

"Anyone who has used these cash machines should check their bank accounts as soon as possible and report any fraudulent activity to their bank and the police."

It is not the first time criminals have fitted false fronts to "hole-in-wall" cash machines. Looking very much like the genuine article, the fake machines have a card slot which decodes the magnetic information held on a person's bank card as it is passed through.

Mini spy cameras housed behind the false covers are used to record pin numbers on to laptop computer equipment and the footage downloaded to a hard drive for easy retrieval. Bank cards can then be cloned, allowing criminals to empty bank accounts.

Police were made aware of the scam at Ingleby Barwick on Friday. They are urging anyone who may have witnessed suspicious behaviour around the machines to contact on (01642) 302810.

The cost of cash machine fraud in the UK was estimated at more than £30m last year, rising sharply from £8.2m in 1997.

Last year, a gang of illegal immigrants was jailed by a judge at Teesside Crown for carrying out ATM scams in the North-East.

Romanian nationals Carlo Canavaro, 24, Raducu Munteanu, 21, along with Latvian Jurijs Markevics, 27, and Italian Bartolomeo Cinieri, 22, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal