Police are searching for two male suspects after ATMs were tampered with across the north-east.
Officers have received reports of three different incidents involving ATMS, which they are treating as linked.
These took place in Kingswells, Stonehaven and Portlethen on Monday.
At about 8.15pm, a “suspicious device” was found attached to an ATM outside the Co-op on Kingswood Drive in Kingswells.
This device resembles an iPod Nano which is understood to have been hollowed out and used as a shell to hide illegal hardware for skimming.
The discovery was also shared with a local online community group to make the public aware of what to look out for.
They added: “The device was attached to the underside of the top of the ATM.
“Luckily, a local Kingswells resident spotted it, removed it, and reported it to both the police and our Kingswells Facebook page.”
Earlier that day, at around 3.45pm, police were made aware the ATM at The Green, off Berrymuir Road in Portlethen, had also been “tampered with”.
This machine is located outside the Morrisons Daily store.
A further incident involving a woman not having her card returned after trying to withdraw cash took place at the Co-op ATM on Redcloak Drive in Stonehaven.
Police searching for suspects after device added to Kingswells ATM
Police are now appealing for information from the public as part of their investigation into the incidents.
They are also looking for two male suspects believed to have been driving a dark-coloured vehicle.
Detective Constable Andy Yule said: “Extensive inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.
“As inquiries continue, we ask anyone who may have witnessed anything suspicious to contact us.
“We also ask anyone with dashcam footage of the areas at the time to come forward.
“We urge anyone who has used any of these ATMs and has noticed any unusual activity on their bank accounts to report this to police.
“Also, we encourage the public to be vigilant when using cash machines and look out for any equipment attached.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting incident number 0647 of May 6.