Previously on Skimmer: on Sunday, your protagonist discovered a suspicious-looking whirring bezel stuck on the hacked-up front of an RBS cash machine and reported it to the operators. On Monday, he observed the same cash machine, now out of order, but continuing to sport the peculiar modification. And now, the continuation …

This evening (Tuesday), I returned to reconnoitre the ATM in question. It’s now back in service, with the funny bezel still in place.

I imagine two possibilities:

1. There is a skimmer, but RBS couldn’t spot it.
2. RBS actually fitted a replacement bezel to their cashpoint by hacking it up with a Stanley knife.

So which is it? Which kind of incompetence?

If banks can’t spot skimmers, then we’re all screwed. On the other hand, if their machines look like they’ve been nobbled even when they haven’t, how is anyone ever supposed to spot a dodgy one? There’s no good answer to this conundrum.

Because a number of people have asked: it’s the ATM on the right in front of Tesco Surrey Quays.