Westbury Leigh man’s dismay as cash taken

Chris Trinder, who lives with his partner in the village of Westbury Leigh, receives £150 disability living benefit a month as he suffers from depression and anxiety.

The trouble began when Mr Trinder received an email from E-Credit Plus stating he had paid £99.95 for membership to the credit shopping club, and would have to pay £4.95 a month from then on for his new E-Credit Plus credit card.

Mr Trinder, who wants to warn others to take care with their cash, said: “I went into the bank to check my benefits had been paid and they said I only had about £30 left in my account.

“They said some money had been taken out by a company called E-Credit Plus.

“I sent some emails to the firm asking what the payment was for but it keeps coming back saying the email is invalid.

“I don’t know how they’ve got my bank details. I would never sign up to anything like this because I am very careful with my money.

“Something needs to be done about this company because they seem to be hammering people.”

Mr Trinder’s financial problems worsened when another firm took money from his Barclays account, which meant his phone was cut off because he couldn’t pay his bill. The money has now been refunded by Barclays. “It’s come at a bad time with Christmas coming. I was hoping to enjoy it with my partner and her children but now I can’t afford any presents,” Mr Trinder said.

Trading Standards have confirmed they are investigating Mr Trinder’s complaint with regards to E-Credit Plus.

Barclays spokesman Julia Husband said: “If someone suspects their account has been the target of fraud they have to fill in a form and send it off to the bank.

“If they are found to be an innocent victim of fraud Barclays will refund the money. An investigation usually takes about 10 days. Customers should be vigilant when using their debit or credit cards, especially at this time of year and should be wary about who they give their card details to.”