POLICE fear hundreds of shoppers were left out of pocket by fraudsters who mounted a camera at a supermarket cashpoint.

Officers do not yet known how many people have been affected by the sophisticated con, but the cash plundered could run into thousands.

Police were called to Sainsbury's store in Cricketers Way, Basildon, after the cash machine there stopped working.

Thieves had fitted a camera behind a metal panel on the machine to record people's pin numbers. The information was then fed to the crooks via wireless link to a laptop computer.

Investigating officer PC Michelle Twin, of Pitsea police, said: "We don't know how many people have been affected, so it is going to be a case of people checking their bank accounts to see if they have had money taken out they haven't spent.

"We would also like to hear from anyone who noticed people spending time around the cashpoint or working on the machine, who didn't look like they were engineers or Sainsbury's employees."

It is thought the crooks downloaded the information from the laptop on to temporary cash cards which they then used to withdraw cash from victims' accounts.

Police seized the equipment and it has now been sent away for forensic tests.

PC Terry Wheeler, of Basildon police's fraud and deception team, warned shoppers to be extra-vigilant in the run-up to Christmas.

He added: "People should be wary if they notice anyone hanging around cashpoints, or sitting in cars with laptops.

"If they regularly use a cashpoint and notice anything different they should always be wary. There will be people out there trying to rip them off this Christmas."

The doctored cashpoint was discovered on Wednesday but police think it may have been in use since the day before.

Anyone who thinks they may have been affected can contact the Basildon police on 01268 532212.