Burglars have been stealing cheques from the middle of their victims' cheque books so they can get away with cashing them un-noticed.

A warning about the scam has been circulated to staff at the Bank of Butterfield, asking them to be on the look-out.

"We have been advised that there is an increase of forged cheques on the Island.

"The Bermuda Police have said that with recent increases in house break-ins they have discovered that these thieves are stealing cheques from the homeowners. However, the thieves are only taking a few cheques from the middle of the homeowner's cheque book, so they do not immediately discover the cheques are missing," said the memo.

Butterfield staff were warned to be careful when accepting personal cheques from individuals who are not bank customers. They were also advised that customers who report their bank cards have been stolen in a break- in should be told to make sure no cheques are missing from their book.

Commenting on the news, Detective Sergeant David Geraghty of the Police Fraud Unit told The Royal Gazette: "Burglars have always been doing that.

"Usually what you will find is that one person is doing a number of break-ins in a certain area with the same M.O (modus operandi) so this might have been the same person."

He explained that thieves commonly pull out the last cheque and stub from company cheque books so the crime goes un-noticed, or take some but not all the cash from a purse or wallet.

"In one recent case a burglar took just one out of a number of credit cards owned by the victim.

"This meant the victim did not immediately notice the card was missing.

"If someone is burgled, they should check their credit cards and their cheque books and all their financials as well. If they think their identity has been compromised, they should contact their bank," he advised.