A VICTIM of a distraction theft in the town centre is warning others of the scam after he lost £3,000.

At around 3pm on June 19, officers were made aware of reports of a distraction theft at a bank on Sankey Street.

The victim, a man, had withdrawn £3,000 from Nationwide and was taking the money to deposit at a nearby NatWest.

Talking to the Warrington Guardian, the victim said how when making his way over to the bank, he noticed two people were watching him.

They followed him to NatWest where one woman went inside with him.

After they entered, the woman began speaking Spanish and was ‘visibly upset’.

The man told her that he didn’t speak Spanish, and she then went over to a member of staff.

While this was happening, he put his money down on the machine and waved her over with the aim of trying to help her by translating.

Despite his back only being turned for a ‘brief second’, a man then quickly swiped his £3,000 from the counter.

The victim was left ‘absolutely devastated’, and despite the incident happened inside the branch, NatWest and Nationwide refused to help him.

He said how he believes this type of crime is on the rise.

Since the incident, he has changed his approach to using banks and handling money.

He is now scared to visit branches and has decided to avoid handling cash completely.

The victim has stressed the importance of ‘raising awareness of people who scam you’ as he says ‘criminals are getting smarter’.

In relation to the incident, a Cheshire Police spokesperson said: “No arrests have been made at this time and enquiries are ongoing, anyone with any information is asked to contact Cheshire Police at www.cheshire.police.uk/tell-us quoting IML 1850955.”

A NatWest spokesman said: “We are sorry for the distressing experience the customer has been through and will support the police with their enquiries.”