Bank of Valletta has denied that its ATM at Preluna Towers has been hacked, as claimed in an e-mail currently being circulated. It confirmed, however, that a number of counterfeit cards were used at that ATM last week. They included counterfeit BOV Cards as well as counterfeits of cards issued by other local and foreign banks.

"Not only has the BOV ATM at Preluna not been hacked but, for that matter, none of the BOV ATMs nor any of the Bank’s systems have ever been hacked," BOV said.

It said that all BOV customers who were affected by the use of the counterfeit cards had been contacted and their cards had been replaced.

The bank said that it was cooperating with the police authorities and continued to put in place mechanisms in order to mitigate the effects of such attacks by fraudsters.

It stressed that the use of cards was as safe as other payment methods provided that basic safety precautions are observed by the cardholder. These safety precautions are available on the Bank’s website – www.bov.com