London, March 2: An international credit card cloning scam has been unearthed in UK in which thousands of pounds in the bank accounts of British people were allegedly siphoned off from foreign locations including India.

Hundreds of car owners in Lincolnshire in the east Midlands became victims of the scam last week after they filled fuel from a petrol station in the county.

This is the latest in a series of credit card scams across Britain in which card details are recorded by hidden cameras while making payment for fuel at petrol stations and then sent across to foreign locations where they are used to withdraw money.

Several British people have reported instances of money being withdrawn from their accounts in India, Philippines, Australia and Canada.

In Britain, most banks have introduced a "chip and pin" system for transactions in shops using credit and debit cards.

This means that for every purchase, apart from the card, the customer also needs to punch in an exclusive pin number.

Signing for purchases using cards has been virtually phased out to prevent card frauds.

In the petrol station in Lincolnshire, the police found a hole drilled in the ceiling above the chip and pin machine.

It is believed that a camera placed there filmed customers keying in their numbers.

The fraudsters then produced replica credit cards that they sent to associates around the world.