A woman said she “felt sick” after a thief stole hundreds of pounds from her, lifting her credit card out her purse.

The woman who asked to remain anonymous was in the carpark in Lidl at Station Road, Maldon when she was approached by a suspect, holding a £5 note.

She said: “He came up to me waving the £5 note, intimating I had dropped it on the floor.

“I took my purse out to see if any money was dropped and told him to go away.”

The man walked back into the supermarket, returning to imply he instead needed change for the note to get a trolley.

The victim helped the man and then brushed him aside.

After getting into her car, she checked her purse and found her card had been stolen.

She rushed back into Lidl, told the staff and they helped her to cancel her credit card.

Within just ten minutes of the incident, the woman found a total of £740 had been taken from her bank account.

She said: “How he did it I do know.

“He was like a conjurer, I did not know he had even done anything.

“I felt sick and cross after I realised what he had done.

“I was trying to be helpful to this person and as a result I have a crime committed against me.”

During the investigation into the incident, the victim found a suspect had been peering through a window inside the store, watching as she used a card machine in the store.

It was there she says the thief learned her pin number and was able to take the cash.

The suspect again tried to use the card for a transaction in Barking, but the card had already been cancelled.

Thankfully she received all the money back after the incident, however, she still feels people need to be more aware in protecting themselves from thieves.

She said: “People should be covering their pin numbers completely when they use a cash machine.

“I hope that nobody else will have to experience what I experienced.

“It is so stressful to lose that kind of money as you never know if you are going to get it back.”

A spokesman for Essex Police confirmed that an investigation is taking place into the incident, and the suspect is currently unknown.

The credit card was used three times to steal the cash from the same location.

If you have any information that could help Essex Police in their investigation, call 101 quoting crime reference, 42/146770/18.

Alternatively, you can contact the crime fighting charity, Crimestoppers UK 100 per cent anonymously by calling 0800 555 111 or reporting it online at crimestoppers-uk.org.