It follows the 14-month prison sentence handed to a Brazilian man, living in the resort, who used skimmed bank cards to withdraw $4700 from the bank accounts of unsuspecting bar patrons.
In a further security boost, the New Zealand Bankers' Association confirmed yesterday all New Zealand banks have plans to progressively roll out credit cards with chip and pin technology to curb skimming operations.
The police message was delivered by Sergeant Blair Duffy, of Queenstown, who headed the investigation which led to the conviction of Marcelo Da Silva Araujo (39), in the Queenstown District Court, on Monday.
Araujo was ordered by Judge Kevin Phillips to pay reparation of the amount he withdrew.
The court heard an associate skimmed the details from the cards of patrons in a Queenstown bar and transferred the details to blank cards, which Araujo used to steal money from patrons' bank accounts via cash machines in Dunedin.
When asked how prevalent bank card skimming was, Sgt Duffy said awareness was the key. Police had dealt with one other incident in the past 12 months when a group of Malaysians used cloned cards.
"It's certainly become more prevalent in New Zealand over the last two years.
"There's been a number of incidents in the North Island. Police up there in Auckland have dealt with Malaysian, Canadian and Romanian crime syndicates."
Sgt Duffy said he had read reports that fraudulent transactions had run into the tens of millions of dollars in Australia. New Zealand had been quite fortunate, until now.
"On a local basis, this is the only incident we've investigated, or had brought to our attention, thus far.
"One would like to think the [prison sentence result] we've just achieved might be deter any other offenders from similar crimes."
Judge Phillips said in court chip technology not being built into domestic credit cards made New Zealand "a soft touch" for skimming operations.
Sgt Duffy agreed.
"These victims were targeted while they were out socialising. There's probably been a level of intoxication. Certainly little to no expectation that security of their bank cards would be jeopardised," he said.
"I would suggest withdrawing cash prior to going out to prevent having to use your credit card.
"There have been incidents where skimming devices have been attached to ATMs as well, so the public need to be aware of that also."
People who suspected their accounts had been subject to unauthorised transactions should contact their bank immediately, which would advise them to speak to police.
There was a "willing and positive relationship" between bank staff and police regarding cloned cards, Sgt Duffy said.
Suspicious cards were discovered by Queenstown ATM contractors last June, but it was October before the first victim contacted the police about account discrepancies.
It had taken the intervening months for Araujo and his partner in crime to perfect the card-cloning device. About a dozen forged cards were seized and stored by police.
Bankers' association chief executive Sarah Mehrtens said introduction of chip and pin technology was aimed at reducing card fraud.
The payment industry was working to have all eftpos terminals able to accept chip cards with PINs by mid-2011.
"Some banks already provide chip cards," Ms Mehrtens said.
"We advise customers who would like a credit card with a chip now to speak to their bank. They may be able to offer one that includes this technology immediately."
