Epsom residents are losing thousands of pounds in an elaborate credit card cloning scam, the Epsom Guardian can reveal.

Hundreds of people have been stung by the fraudsters in Ewell who are collecting card details and selling them abroad.

One resident, who wants to remain anonymous, first noticed she had been affected after speaking to fellow parents at her children's school, The Mead.

"One lady was contacted by her bank asking if she'd been to Pakistan over the past few days where withdrawals had been made," she said. "I realised we use the same shops and petrol stations in the local area so looked at my receipts.

"I saw that my husband had used our card on June 7 and saw in our current account that there had been six transactions made on June 10 and June 16 of £50 each as well as the ATM charges.

"Everyone at the school either knows someone or has been affected by this. It's absolutely rife. The cards are being used in Australia, Pakistan, Nigeria - all over the world except the UK. It's big money that's been taken. I'm so angry."

Another mother, Ashleigh Finnegan said she had also become a victim of the fraudsters.

"I just got my credit card statement today and saw that there were two transactions for £118 each," she said. "I don't even recognise the currency or what country it's from. I've heard of at least 12 people that have been affected and that's just people I've been speaking to at the school. People around Ewell need to be aware."

Another resident was contacted by her bank telling her that somebody had been trying to withdraw nearly £4,000 in Pakistan but fortunately the bank became suspicious and closed the account.

Surrey Police were unavailable for comment.