Bank customers were last night warned to watch out for tiny unauthorised payments to iTunes as it emerged crooks are using the music website to check credit card details.

Bank customers were last night warned to watch out for tiny unauthorised payments to iTunes as it emerged crooks are using the music website to check credit card details.

The Herald understands the "iTunes card con", first identified in England last year, has now crossed the border with several victims recorded over the last month, their accounts emptied after a few "test" payments were processed for music downloads.

Criminals find it relatively easy to get hold of credit card numbers - either by "skimming" them in garages, shops or restaurants or by buying them online - but cannot always find out the card's three-digit security code.

They can do so, however, by making multiple attempts to carry out small transactions, like buying some iTunes tracks, until they hit the right number. Once they have all the details they need they go on to make bigger purchases, usually of easily fenced items like jewellery or electronics. The websites used to check information - including Apple's iTunes - have nothing to do with the scam.

"The criminals are just checking to make sure your details are current," explained Mark Bowerman of Apacs, the body that represents the UK payments industry. "They'll make any small purchase of low value. Customers should check their account information regularly."

Several cardholders in and around Dumfries have been hit by the scam. One, a 51-year-old woman who works in financial services, had her entire account emptied a day after a £1.60 bill for iTunes was paid.

"I was absolutely sick," she said. "This makes it all the more important for people to check their accounts as often as possible. I do it every day - which is how I spotted the money had gone."

Banks routinely cover losses from such frauds, provided customers were not negligent. Last month, The Herald revealed that a £1m gang of credit card criminals had been uncovered in Scotland. The group, with links to international terrorism, had bribed or tried to bribe staff at petrol stations in return for access to their card-reading technology.