Guildford Cashier Wrongly Accused in Viral Social Media Report

Published on: 17 Sep, 2016
Updated on: 17 Sep, 2016

A member of staff at a Guildford petrol station was named and shamed on social media sites following an allegation of card cloning although Surrey Police found no evidence of any offence.

The police are now reminding the public to report offences using the proper channels.

The incident took place on September 6 (2016), when a female customer attempted to use her debit card after purchasing fuel and cigarettes. The cashier said the chip and pin machine was dirty and cleaned it with a wipe before placing the card back in the machine. She then asked the customer to re-enter her pin number.

The customer thought this was suspicious and when she checked with the bank, there were two pending transactions of the same amount she had spent on petrol. The bank agreed to cancel one of the transactions so she was not at a loss.

The matter was reported to Surrey Police and it was referred to Action Fraud. In the meantime, however, the customer returned to the petrol station and took a photo of the cashier who served her and posted it on Facebook along with a comment related to her allegation as a warning to other people.

The Facebook post was shared over 3,000 times and attracted a number of negative comments against both the petrol station and the cashier.

A number of enquiries have been carried out and officers have reviewed CCTV footage from the premises but have found nothing so far to suggest that the card was cloned.

PC Andy Tindale, who is investigating the incident, said: “I would like to reassure the local community that we are aware of this matter and are carrying out a number of enquiries. I am quite satisfied, however, that no offences have been committed.

“I would urge anyone wishing to report a crime or make an allegation to contact us on 101 or use our online reporting system rather than by commenting on an open social media forum such as Facebook. Not only could this potentially hamper any ongoing investigation, naming and shaming someone so publicly without any proof is completely ill-advised.”

To contact Surrey Police to make an allegation or report an offence, members of the public should contact 101 or use the online reporting system found at https://report.police.uk/.

For those not wishing to leave a name, the independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111.