how to report payday loan scams
In response to many questions I have seen regarding this subject, and many calls I have taken, I felt it was appropriate to provide a guide to help spot potential payday loan collection scams. These tips should be used together, rather than individually, when weeding out illegitimate collectors.
how to recognize payday loan scams
Please listen to me, b/c i have no time to write this & would hate to think i wasted the effort!im an asst dist atty & see fraud day in and out. im amazed when these stories get to me. what kills me,is when victims fail to immediately close that account...the 1st time it ever happens! open a new account, then. with the new different account number & debit card, the thief has no access! it is not your name or phone number that matters...all that matters, is: the bank #, car #s, date of birth,soc. sec. #, etc. +go to the bank in person, if you are able. it is good to show a real live person whats going on. bring id!(&dont waste time w/ a big story to the teller. just say, "who do i speak with, now, about faudulent activity in my acount?...then, you'll get someone behind a desk.)you need nobodys permission, but your own, to do this. & dont feel like you have to "get them to believe you", either. just state it as fact. then...make it real, by filing charges, which gives you tons of financial protection-&you need nobodys permission to do so. you dont need to know who broke in your house, exactly, do you, before you go tell the police you were robbed and they better catch the robbers!, right? the law is different in some states about who and how you report it to the law, so the easiest way to cut to that chase is to tell(not ask)the person who is helping you close the old and open the new acount...this: "i already know, that, of course, you guys help out with any law enforcement dealing with fraud - but i want to also make a report of the theft, myself, personally. will you please find out the best contact name for who i should call, and their number from your corporate office? or, at least get me in touch with them to get some guidance. i do not want to just wander into a police departmment & have it be ignored. not enough people bother to prosecute - or even ask the police to investigate and follow-up, but i definitely will be." the bank person will tell you all sorts of things and excuses - cuz in truth, they do not want you make a report of theft of income or property claim, and file harges (make ertain you do this)...because -- the bank knows they will probably not catch the guys who did this - and would rather have you to blame for it, if necessary.**make certain your old account is completely closed & withdraw every penny. you may have to take it in cash. thats ok. just hold it in your hand for the 5 min it takes her to open the new one, and then deposit it all. tell her that you want high security & wont accept any automatic charges w/out a call to you 1st. if you have reoccurring monthly bills or debits, call them w/ the new account info, because they wont be able to find it, from the old one (which is the point, right!)be very very careful what number you are calling to set up the new auto debits! do not call the numbers you already have, instead, look up a main switchboard number, even if you have to wait. if you cant find one - then when you get the person you need to talk to...tell the your prob, and have them call or email you back, as confirmation that they are who they say they are!!! lastly--at the bank.. just the facts. you are not asking them to do you a favor. this is business, and you are the customer. be very polite, to the point, formal and serious. do not take no for an answer when they try to discourage you from filing charges. politely. with a smile. you do not need to sound like youre "trying," at --either convincing them that it is true (or of anything) or like you want to explain and explain so you can "hope" they let you "get out" of paying for the charges and withdrawals made...this is your truth: it does not matter if it shows that you did give these people permission to get in your account or use your debit card - because any "permission" they have from you, was obtained by fraud. in other words: yes, you probably were tricked into giving someone access to your debit card...beause it is very difficult to just "make" a charge on one of those. ***so it is critical, that you say: they were only able to make that charge by stone cold fraud as representing themselves and what company they were with, as one that i would recognize doing business with. tell them: it would be the same thing, as hearing a daughter ask from the next room, "can i get ?" its ok, since she's your daughter, so: you give your permission & tell her where your wallet is, and how to open the tricky clasp to it. but, if you had known it was actually some nasty thug playing a recording of your daughter's voice...then...you wouldnt have given "permission/authorization," would you have? so... ***you did not, in reality, at all, in any way...authorize or give permission to the people who took that money from you. they are criminals, and you should follow-thru. we have caught a few...and forced them to pay their victims back!!! they rely on most people not going to thetrouble to press harges and filea policew report. so do it!!!I was looking online for a loan i could get without having to use a physical check since i do online banking that was set up with my college a few years ago. i got a call from someone stating i needed to finish my loan application and i needed to pay to a site that would give me my credit score from 3 companies. i didn't do that, but then i kept getting calls from various numbers such as 888-980-1520, 750-432-1533, 643-928-7900, 673-684-4346, and the list just continues. they finally stopped calling once i had my phone's auto block feature turned on to block all calls unless they were in my address book. i left that one for a few days then turned it off and i haven't received anymore calls, except for one. this guy claims that i am being sued by someone, but the guy wouldn't tell me what i was being sued for. when i asked what kind of situations his "law firm" handles, he told me he couldn't tell me and that i would need to talk to his partner and they would give me the information. the day before i actually talked to the guy he left a voicemail stating that i needed to contact him at this number 785-433-4070. after searching for the number i found that it was a scam that other people had encountered and on one of the websites, it gave me a map of the location of the call. after talking to the guy for a couple of minutes, i hung up on him and he called me right back and left a voicemail saying that me hanging up was not appreciated and just for that i would be going to jail the following day at 11am. he said that i would need to have an attorney to represent me and that because i hung up on him that it was not a smart idea since he had my dl number (which i don't have a dl), my address, phone number, email address, social security number, and bank account information. now when i applied for an online loan, i never entered my bank account information, i'm not exactly sure how or whom i would inform about my ssn possibly being stolen from this guy, if he really does have it. so i waited a few minutes before my husband called the same number, pretended to be my attorney and asked if he was located on street, such and such, in this city and state, the guy claimed he couldn't hear my husband and started blowing into the phone before hanging up. my husband waited 5 minutes then tried calling back only to not be able to get through because his cell phone number was blocked.Strapped for cash? you might think an online payday loan is a quick and easy way to help stretch your money. but before you enter your bank account or any other personal information on a payday loan website, back away from the keyboard! that online payday loan might be a window to a scam.a federal court has granted the ftc an order for contempt in the matter of suntasia marketing, inc., a company previously involved in a telemarketing scheme that bilked consumers out of millions of dollars. this time around, the scammers took advantage of people looking for online payday loans by tricking them into completing an online application. the catch? the website and application were a pretense – an attempt to get people’s bank account information. once the company had their account numbers, they enrolled unaware consumers in an ongoing membership program for an online mall. but because the terms of the program were obscure and buried deep in the website, there was no way for the consumers to know. and the company took their silence and failure to cancel as acceptance and permission to regularly debit money from their accounts on a regular basis. so how can you avoid a scam like this one? it can be tough. but knowing how some scam operators work can make you think twice about the sites you visit and what you do when you get there. keep a close hold on your personal information. whether your visit to an online payday loan site results in a loan, simply entering information on the site may come back to haunt you. even if you never hit "submit" to complete the transaction, your information can be captured through keystroke logging – a program used to see and store everything you enter on application. scammers can use this information to commit identity theft, or debit money from your accounts.read the fine print. if the details of any online transaction, application or membership program aren’t apparent and understandable, don’t follow through. incomprehensible or hard to find details could be warning signs of a scam.review your bank account and billing statements for unauthorized charges. regularly reading all your account statements can help you see where your money is going, and help you flag unauthorized billing charges. if you suspect an unauthorized charge, ask your bank or the merchant about it, and dispute it.if you suspect a scam, file a complaint with the ftc. for more information, check out our payday loans and online payday loans article.It started for me in may 2014, i applied online payday loan. and with the legit, for lack of a better term, payday loan lenders, i received calls from these guys with indian/pakistani accents. they had very american names and used bank names like ge capital, citibank and the likes. they get hyped and u think you are about to have loan deposited in your bank account. then they drop the bomb, my credit score was below 640 and need to prove i can repay the loan. now comes the rub, get a green dot card or some other prepaid card to load the 1st months payment. call them with the card info and they will verify the funds are there. now comes the moment of truth, i advise them, no one pays for loan in this country upfront. explained as loan operations banker, me, that this is a scam. they become belligerent, offended and still try to sell the deal, never bit. the become abusive, threatening and the hate being made fun of, they would hang up and call back repeatedly. i have had hundreds of these calls and i too report them to the ftc. seems like everyone on this forum shares their experience whether they were scammed or were close to being scammed. the ftc and fbi tells us the do's and don'ts but here's my concern, what are law enforcement doing about these scammers. this has been an issue for more than seven(7) years at a cost of million a year unsuspecting distressed americans. and it's not just us, uk, australia, ireland and amongst a few others. but the theme is the same, we share our experiences, we report and file complaints with the appropriate law enforcement and regulatory agencies. but it appears that's as far as it goes, no arrest, no pressure from the state department to lean on the indian government and crack down on these practices. they log our complaints and that is it, seems to me it's not something that our government wants to deal with. we talk about national security, but we don't see this as a threat considering these scammers have purchased lists from the loan referral sites, at, get this .20 a pop. they have our drivers license numbers, our ss#, addresses, phone numbers and so on. they may not be able to get credit using our info but they use our identities for other neferious activities.
Payday loan and cash advance scams exposed. I expose the truth behind online payday loans, and find the best lenders online.
How to avoid online payday loan scams. Posted 9 It's hard to miss all the signs for the payday loan
If you are receiving payday loan scam calls, They claim to be collecting debts for companies such as
In the latest scam focusing payday loan collection, scammers call and threaten arrest for unpaid payday loans. Read about this scam and why payday loans may not be worth the costs and risks involved.
Updated: April 19, 2016 Originally Posted: October 31, 2013 Also Doing Business As: Cash Advance US Cash Advance Cash Advance Inc and other entities using variations of the name “Cash Advance” “Cash Advance, Cash Advance Group, US Cash Advance, Cash Advance Inc., and other entities using variations of the name ‘Cash Advance” SHOULD NOT BE CONFUSED WITH ADVANCE AMERICA, CASH ADVANCE CENTERS OF WASHINGTON, LLC D/B/A CASH ADVANCE CENTERS, A CURRENTLY LICENSED COMPANY IN WASHINGTON STATE.
I have been receiving calls off and on for about a year. its always the same thing "i've taken out a payday loan in 2011" they have an old bank name i used to have several years prior and the last 4 digits of my social. they call from various numbers and sometimes multiple times a day. the call and leave an 844 or 855 number but i always redial and get the same person each time. they say there are 2 charges pending against me. each time i ask for the company name, address, phone number and fax number. sometimes they will give me the company name they are calling for and the name of the company they are calling about but always refuse contact information.it always ends in them accusing me of refusing to pay and "obviously not wanting to take care of my debts" and threats of reporting me for legal action. last time i was able to get enough information from the woman to look up a tiny little building operating under an business name. i took it upon myself to send them a certified letter requesting they not call, to verify the debt, and threaten suit if they take further action without verifying the debt. i've hear nothing for a very long time until this week. same voicemail leaving charge number and 855 number but calling from an instate number. i redial and get a man that claims to be a mediation specialist on behalf of a company trying to collect on a payday loan from 2011. he gives me last 4 of my social, old bank name and an email address that was semi-similar to one i used to have but all the address after the @ part was way off. i explained that i have been through this before and had requested verification in writing as permitted under the fair debt collection act. he says they sent me an email with the information several times and refused to give it in writing as they are not a collection agency and do not fall under the ftc laws. he begins to get loud and accuses me of "not wanting to take care of my debts obviously and he will report i am refusing to do so". i explain i did not refuse but that i dispute it and wish it to be verified. i eventually hung up. i've made complaints before but its always someone different, some new company and it never stops. at one point they called my father about me and then he even started getting calls telling him he did the same thing.you block one number and another one pops up. surely someone can stop this from going on and on and on.Pay-day loan debt scammer, i believe. automated recording, female voice stating i'm a "person of interest" and to call this number if i'd like to "give a statement" or something like that. called the number to ask to take off their phone number list, that i already knew they were going to say i took a payday loan out, and said that i can say with absolute certainty that i have never once taken out a payday loan. the man who answered wanted me to verify my personal info, address in particular, so he could verify he had the right person and he'd be happy to share with me the information about the debt i owe which he said he had three files connected to my phone number. i told him i will not confirm one bit of info and to please take my phone number off his list. he kept on. i told him if he has an address for me to mail the debt info to me. he then said they did mail it to me and i never responded (which i'm pretty sure was bs - never got any such thing in the mail) i asked to speak to his supervisor, what do you know? he is the supervisor, how convenient. i asked for agency name and address. he said the name of his agency was highpoint asset and they were located at 437 franklin st. in buffalo, ny 14202. i have found this address linked with other toll-free numbers and an agency called concord resolution inc. seems like they change up their number and try calling you again a few weeks after the last attempts didn't work. they seem to get very irate when you refuse to confirm the info they already have about you. he flat out told me he already had my social security number. i didn't ask him to say it though. i think next time i will do what another person said and have them tell me the info and then say "oh no, the right number/address/email/etc. is..." and make some fake info up to throw them off, especially if they are trying to get info to pull an identity theft on you...oh and he kept saying the same line over and over again about how they were "fully in compliance with ftc...federal law....entity under which they operate.Today my husband received a phone call (855-259-3725) from a woman who claimed he defaulted on a 14-day payday loan from over 6 years ago. she was able to tell him the last 4 of his social, previous employers, previous addresses, work history and the name of a bank he had previously been a member of. once he told her that he had never once in his life taken out a payday loan, let alone one online, she became very pushy and began to threaten him with legal action. she told him that he would be served with papers and would have to appear in court. once he told me about his phone call mishap, i assured him it was a scam due to having worked in a payday loan business myself for over a year. payday loans normally range anywhere from -0. typically when taking out this particular type of loan, the borrower can either leave a check or bank information with the debtor as payment assurance, but unfortunately more often that not, payment falls through and checks return back to the company that loaned out the money and then they don't receive their payment. of course, there are ways to determine if the loaner is trustworthy or not, but the payday loan company knowingly takes a chance on whether or not they will receive this payment. with that being said, a returned check to a payday loan company cannot be categorized as a "hot check" because when the money was loaned out, the said company was acknowledging the customer had insufficient funds in the first place until the customer's next payday, hence the term "pay-day" loans. once debt is owed at this point, the delinquent balance with a pay day loan company will almost never be extensive enough that hiring a lawyer, or "pursuing legal action" will be worth the money. most companies will just sale this debt to collections at this point, and collection agencies can be very annoying, but efficient when a payday loan company wants their money. one indicator that these phone calls are a scam is that if you truly are being pursued, you will receive no warning. this is to scare you into paying money that you don't owe in the first place. it also helps if you know for sure that you never signed for the debt.I have received a few calls from a local (602) number in the past and then today received a call from a (480) number stating that there are 2 serious charges against me and that i needed to call 866-445-5617 and provide a case number. i called the number and provided the case number and they had me verify my name and provided me with the last 4 of my social, which i would not verify, and they proceeded to tell me they could not provide any information. this was after they harassed my brother telling him all about these bogus charges. they claim i took out a payday loan in 2009 and 2010 which they also claim i did not pay back. they claimed that they received verification from my bank that i received the supposed money and chose to leave my bank account empty so they couldn't get their money. first of all, the bank cannot legally provide any such information unless they are provided a warrant, and second, i never purposely left my bank account empty since there were bills that came out automatically. i also closed said account 2 years ago and left the bank in good standing. i would not have been in good standing had i done what they claimed. also, neither payday loan appears on my credit report and i have not received anything in the mail about it, which they are legally obligated to notify you by mail. they claim they did this and provided me an address that i have not lived in for nearly 8 years, which is a longer duration that from when i supposedly received these payday loans. they are scam artists and they hire third party companies to track you down via phone, harass your family members and friends until you give in and call them with the hopes that with their threat of going to court and being sued that you will pay up. the only problem with them is that they change their numbers so often that the ftc cannot track them down and stop them. all you can do is just continue to file complaint after complaint giving them as much information as you can get.
Learn about how to avoid scams and what type of lenders you can trust. Cash Central is always here to help with your short term lending needs.
Victim Spreads Word on Payday Loan Scam, Don’t Be Next