Can you help identify this man?

Police have issued CCTV images of a man they would like to interview in connection with a distraction theft in Great Notley.

At around 12.15pm on Tuesday November 22, 2011, an unidentified man seen in the CCTV images approached a woman in her fifties in the car park of Tesco Stores in The Square, Great Notley, and asked for directions to Luton.

Whilst the woman was distracted, a second unidentified suspect (not seen in the CCTV images) stole credit cards from her handbag, which was on the passenger seat of her car.

Unidentified suspects then used the stolen cards fraudulently to withdraw £750 from the woman’s account before she realised they had been stolen.

The woman had earlier used her card at the checkout of Tesco Stores, and officers believe that she may have been watched entering her PIN during this process.

Stephen Armson-Smith, Crime Reduction Advisor for Braintree district, said: "We suspect that the criminals may be watching people using ATMs and checkouts, to try to read their PIN numbers as they type them in.

"I would ask members of the public to be aware and alert whenever they use their cards, whether paying for a transaction or withdrawing cash from an ATM. Try and make sure that your PIN number is kept private when entering it into the keypad and be swift to remove both the card and the money when they are returned to you.”

If you are the man in the CCTV images, or if you know his identity, please contact Pc Simon Faraday at Braintree police station on 101, or by calling Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.