Two fraudsters arrested after inserting a bank card cloning device in Kington had the postcodes of 43 post offices in Worcestershire, Herefordshire and four other counties in their possession.
A member of the public suspected a crime had been carried out at the cashpoint housed in the Co-op in Kington.
Police who kept observation then caught two Romanians, Grigore Cornea and Ionut Spiroiu, as they approached the cashpoint at 9.15pm on May 8 this year, said Paul Whitfield, prosecuting. The crooks had glued a false fascia to the machine with a card reading device inside and a camera to record pin numbers.
The information could be sent to any location in the world via a mobile phone, Worcester Crown Court heard on Monday. Mr Whitfield said the pair were part of a much larger criminal enterprise.
Judge Robert Juckes QC said the list of postcodes revealed a plan to target cashpoints in other areas.
The scheme required expert knowledge and training. Both men were highly intelligent and knew what they were doing.
The judge added: “Every one of us lives constantly with the concern that someone is going to steal our identities and empty our bank accounts.” He sentenced both defendants to two years jail.
Cornea, aged 34, of Anthony Road, south-east London, and Spiroiu, 37, of Beechwood Park, east London, pleaded guilty to going equipped for theft under the fraud act.
Michael Aspinall, for Cornea, said the building worker racked up debts on his own credit card and was offered a quick way to make money in a nightclub. He had been promised up to £400 for inserting the skimming device.
He had been in Britain five years and his wife was a data analyst for the NHS.
Siobhan Collins, for Spiroiu, said his client desperately needed cash to pay off a loan he had obtained for his father’s medical treatment in Romania.