A PIONEERING crook got away with 30,150 euros (US$39,755) after 3-D printing fake cashpoints facades, only to be caught because he used his own card to test them out.

    The thief, named Hamid P., used the printer to make fake fronts for ATM machines so he could clone hundreds of people’s bank cards.

    When unsuspecting members of the public put their cards into the cashpoints in Nimes and Saint-Ambroix, southern France, they also put them through a “skimmer,” which was hidden by the 34-year-old fraudster.

    Skimmers register card details and were found behind the fake machine fronts that Hamid P. had secretly installed.

    The machine would then dispense cash as normal, leaving the user completely unaware that their details had been stolen.

    A police source told Le Parisien: “The fake fronts were of a good quality and were different to those we normally see.”

    Hamid P. was on the run with 30,150 euros of stolen money before the scam came to light when the bank discovered the false fronts.

    Police tracked him down as he had used his own credit card in the machine to test whether it worked.

    He was arrested in Marseille early this month.

    When police found the 3-D printer at his home he admitted to the scam and has been charged with fraud.

    In September 2011, an American gang were prosecuted after stealing more than US$399,200 by using the same 3-D-printed fake ATM fronts scam.

    A gang in Australia were also caught out after scamming US$92,760 from card users with a similar ploy.

    (SD-Agencies)