$re = '/(?<=[^\W0]\w{3,14})\w(?=\w{4})/m';
$str = '0001113033AA55608981 → 0001113*********8981
23456237472347823923 → 2345************3923
00000000090000000000 → 0000000009000***0000
09008000800060050000 → 09008***********0000
AAAABBBBCCCCDDDDEEEE → AAAA************EEEE
0000BBBBCCCCDDDDEEEE → 0000BBBB********EEEE';
$subst = "*";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php