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Detective Inspector John Folan, head of the DCPCU said: “We are sending a very clear warning to fraudsters that these crimes will not be tolerated, and that we will continue to target them and disrupt their fraudulent activity,” he said.

Police want to hear from any retailer who has had chip-and-pin readers stolen or believe their machines have been tampered with.

Monday’s raid followed the launch of an investigation into how shoppers at an Asda store in Gosport near Portsmouth, Hampshire, lost thousands of pounds from their accounts.

Customers reported money being withdrawn from their accounts in Canada and China. Around 20 people have so far reported fraudulent withdrawals.

Margaret Galea, 66, a Barclays account holder from Gosport, said: “I did my shopping at Asda then received a letter from Barclays saying there had been some suspicious withdrawals from my account.

“I checked and there had been five cash withdrawals from the Royal Bank of Canada of about £1,000 in total.

“It’s odd to think it’s happening so far away and it’s awful because I’m a pensioner and I don’t have a lot of money - they have just wiped me out.”

An Apacs spokeswoman said it was too soon to link the Gosport incident to the new wave of card-skimming attacks.

Spokeswoman Sandra Quinn added that inquiries were continuing into exactly how the criminals downloaded the information from the hacked chip-and-pin machines.

She said that chip-and-pin remains the safest method of payment for goods and services. The Banking Code should ensure that any victims are refunded for any losses.

She said: “Whereas fraudsters used to put pinhole cameras above the chip and pin device to get hold of the pin number, they now manipulate the chip and pin terminal to get that basic data.

“They steal readers from retailers, cracking them open, and try to recreate one and then put it back in a shop.

“We have been aware that this has been going on because police have been getting reports that terminals are being stolen.”

She added: “Fighting fraud is a shared responsibility and we continue to work with law enforcement and the retailers to tackle the organised criminal gangs responsible.

Jane Milne, of the British Retail Consortium, said: “Customers should be assured that UK retailers always take the protection of cardholder data seriously and are continuing to invest millions of pounds to enhance existing security measures.”

Two people have been charged with conspiracy to defraud after the Edgbaston, Birmingham, raid.

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