TOURISTS and expats have been warned to be on their guard against brazen bank skimmers.

Voices reader Mandy Ricketts fell victim to a skimmer when he struck at the HSBC bank on Ataturk Bulvari.

Mandy Ricketts told the paper: “I went to the ATM at HSBC last Sunday without my husband, something I do without fear. 

“As I entered the door a young Turkish man told me the machine on the right was empty and said I may use the other machine ahead of him.

“I put my card in and realised that the screen was in Turkish and asked him for help to find the correct screen.  He told me to put my pin number in, but still no English screen or card. 

“He pressed a few buttons and told me to enter my pin again. Still no card or English screen and I never left his side.”

She said another Turkish man came in and, as a decoy, struck up a conversation with her and while distracted for a short time, the first man must have got her card out and lied that the machine had kept her card.

She added: “I turned around again and they were both gone. 

“Other people came into the bank and both machines were working perfectly !! By the time I got home and phoned HSBC 45 minutes had elapsed and 3000TL had gone from our bank account, half from an ATM and half spent in a shop. 

“Our Turkish friends have been extremely helpful and the bank and police very attentive.  But be warned it can and will happen in any country.”