Portsmouth men arrested after dodgy giftcards used in pub and shops
![Two men from Portsmouth have been arrested](https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/webimg/legacy_oak_111273926.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65&enable=upscale)
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The Vanilla Mastercards, a type of prepaid gift card, were used on four occasions early this month.
On February 1, two men used an invalid card for a meal worth over £100 at a pub in Chichester.
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Hide AdThen on February 6 similar cards were used at four shops in East Sussex - including at the Pontins and NISA in Camber as well as at the Salts Farm shop in Rye, where meat, tobacco and scratch cards were taken.
![Two men from Portsmouth have been arrested](https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/webimg/legacy_oak_111273926.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65)
![Two men from Portsmouth have been arrested](/img/placeholder.png)
An unsuccessful attempt to use the cards was made at a Tesco shop in Little Common, Bexhill and again unsuccessfully at Costcutter in Fishmarket Road, Rye.
At that shop, staff raised the alarm and officers stopped a car with two men nearby.
A large quantity of fresh meat, along with tobacco, lottery scratch cards and some prepaid Vanilla cards were seized.
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Hide AdA 41-year-old and 22-year-old, both from Portsmouth, were arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation.
After being interviewed they were released under investigation until May 7.
Detective Constable Shelley Campbell said: ‘If any shop or pub staff or managers recall such attempts that they have not yet reported to us, we ask them to contact us online or by calling 101, quoting serial 315 of 06/02.’