A RADCLIFFE businesswoman claims she fell victim to a £750 credit card fraud despite being assured by her bank that there was nothing ‘dodgy’ about the transaction.

Kelly Rushmore, who runs the Babyguds shop in Stand Lane, rang her bank because of the high value of the purchase in November.

She said that when she asked HSBC if there was anything ‘dodgy’ about the tranaction she was assured there was not.

HSBC has denied this and said that transactions where the credit card is not seen by the retailer are done entirely at their own risk.

Now, Mrs Rushmore faces the loss of the £750.She said: “Someone ordered a £600 pram and other goods which came to £750. I thought it was an unusually high amount and when I put the card’s details in the machine, they went through OK. But because I wanted to double check, I rang the HSBC helpline.”

Mrs Rushmore said she rang on three separate occasions to seek advice and guarantees and at one stage was assured there was nothing ‘dodgy’ and the goods were later collectef from the shop.

She added that she was under the impression that in the event of any fraudulent activity, then she would not be liable to lose the £750 concerned.

But last month, the owner of the card disputed having placed any orders with her shop.

Mrs Rushmore said: “I spoke to the police who advised they should be investigating on behalf of the bank as obviously we had tried our best to verify the transactions. The HSBC told us the police are wrong and should not have advised us of that.

“We are now left out of pocket with the HSBC refusing to discuss the matter further and the police not even investigating. I feel we’ve been totally misled by the so-called helpline and left to take the loss by a large bank in this difficult economic climate.”

A spokesman for HSBC said: “We are aware of this particular case and we are sympathetic with the retailer concerned. However, at no time did we confirm to the customer that the payment would be guaranteed. We cannot do this, simply because we do not hold that specific level of account information. As such, we told her that.

“These types of transactions where the‘card was not present were taken entirely at the retailer’s risk. We are not aware of any police investigation into this matter, but clearly if the police do need any information from us, then we will help them.”