A warning has been issued after a number of incidents of "skimming" at ticket vending machines.

Thieves are using new equipment to record card details and PINs at DART and train stations with at least 3 incidents being reported last week.

One occurred at Booterstown DART station and one at Dun Laoghaire train station both in Dublin. 

The Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigations (GBFI) has  recovered CCTV footage which suggests that a single gang is operating the scam.

'Always cover your PIN'

The Irish Payment Services Organisation (IPSO) is advising cardholders to always hide their PIN.

The body says that while the banks in Ireland have secured ATMs from skimming attacks criminals are now using a new type of skimming equipment at unattended payment machines.

IPSO says it has been working with the machine operators and the card issuers to ensure that any accounts attached to payment cards that may have been compromised in this way are monitored for potential fraud spend.

They are warning cardholders using these machines to simply cover the PIN pad when keying in their PIN so that the criminals cannot see the PIN being entered either through shoulder surfing or when micro-cameras are used.

It is advising cardholders who believe they may have been compromised to check their accounts on a regular basis.