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Garage card scammer jailed

35,000 card details snaffled

Theogenes De Montford, 29, of Blandford Way, Hayes has been sentenced to four and a half years for his role in one of the UK's biggest chip and pin scams.

The gang put card cloning equipment on pin entry handsets at petrol stations around the country.

De Montford was caught with 35,000 card details when arrested. An amazing 7,000 of these came from one garage - a Shell garage on Bluebell Hill in Maidstone, Kent.

A spokesman for Shell UK said the impact of all card fraud, not just this gang's, resulted in a 25 per cent drop in its business. Actual losses worked out at £725,000 between January and September, PA reports.

Garages are a favoured target for card scammers - customers are typically in a hurry and trust the big multinational branding.

De Montford pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to possess articles for use in the course of fraud.

Three other gang members got three and a half years each last week. ®

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