Some red flags can tip you off to scam artists’ tricks. For example:
A lender who isn’t interested in your credit history. A lender may offer loans or credit cards for many purposes — for example, so you can start a business or consolidate your bills. But one who doesn’t care about your credit record should worry you. Ads that say “Bad credit? No problem” or “We don’t care about your past. You deserve a loan” or “Get money fast” or even “No hassle — guaranteed” often indicate a scam.
Banks and other legitimate lenders generally evaluate creditworthiness and confirm the information in an application before they grant firm offers of credit to anyone.
Fees that aren't disclosed clearly or prominently. Scam lenders may say you’ve been approved for a loan, then call or email demanding a fee before you can get the money. Any up-front fee that the lender wants to collect before granting the loan is a cue to walk away, especially if you’re told it’s for “insurance,” “processing,” or just “paperwork.”
Legitimate lenders often charge application, appraisal, or credit report fees. The differences? They disclose their fees clearly and prominently; they take their fees from the amount you borrow; and the fees usually are paid to the lender or broker after the loan is approved.
And if a lender says they won’t check your credit history, but wants your personal information, like your Social Security number or bank account number? Go somewhere else. They may use your information to debit your bank account to pay a fee they’re hiding.
A loan that is offered by phone. It is illegal for companies doing business by phone in the U.S. to promise you a loan or credit card and ask you to pay for it before they deliver.
A lender who uses a copy-cat or wanna-be name. Crooks give their companies names that sound like well-known or respected organizations and create websites that look professional. Some scam artists have pretended to be the Better Business Bureau, a major bank, or another reputable organization; some even produce forged paperwork or pay people to pretend to be references. Always get a company’s phone number from the phone book or directory assistance, and call to check they are who they say they are. Get a physical address, too: a company that advertises a PO Box as its address is one to check out with the appropriate authorities.
A lender who is not registered in your state. Lenders and loan brokers are required to register in the states where they do business. To check registration, call your state Attorney General’s office or your state’s Department of Banking or Financial Regulation. Checking registration does not guarantee that you will be happy with a lender, but it helps weed out the crooks.
A lender who asks you to wire money or pay an individual. Don’t make a payment for a loan or credit card directly to an individual; legitimate lenders don’t ask anyone to do that. In addition, don’t use a wire transfer service or send money orders for a loan. You have little recourse if there’s a problem with a wire transaction, and legitimate lenders don’t pressure their customers to wire money.
Finally, just because you’ve received a slick promotion, seen an ad for a loan or credit card in a prominent place in your neighborhood or in your newspaper, on television or on the Internet, or heard one on the radio, don’t assume it’s a good deal — or even legitimate. Scam artists work hard to make you think they're legitimate, so it’s really important to do your homework.
Dealing with Debt
If you have debt problems, try to solve them with your creditors as soon as you realize you won’t be able to make your payments. If you can’t resolve the problems yourself or you need help to do it, you may want to contact a credit counseling service. Nonprofit organizations in every state counsel and educate people and families on debt problems, budgeting, and using credit wisely. Often, these services are free or low-cost. Universities, military bases, credit unions, and housing authorities also may offer low- or no-cost credit counseling programs.
Someone from this number keeps calling my cell phone about an approved loan. I never asked for a loan. Has a foreign accent and the message they leave is to ask for Derrick Foster Appears the number is in ILLINOIS. I am on the Do Not call list. Which is totally a waste of time with all the election things. My mother is 90 years old on hospice and she is constantly getting these stupid calls until 9PM sometimes as early as 6AM. There has to be some way to get these people to stop!
I had applied for an auto loan, and have started receiving 10-20 calls daily from them. They offered me a too good to be true rate and amount, when I asked about details I was told that I would have to purchase a "government approved pre-paid card" from Wal-Mart, Walgreens or CVS and put a minimum of $150 on the card to pay them over the phone prior to receiving the money that they would lend me. I was on my lunch break and told him that I would have to call back later, but he insisted that I should take extra time and go do it immediately. After making it clear that this was not going to happen, he asked if I could call back within 2 hours to make sure the transfer could be completed today.
When I took a break later in the day, I began to do some research and found that this business has no physical location that can be found by the BBB or any other group, although they have a phone number in Algonquin, IL. I chose not to call them back, but have now asked to be removed from their calling list twice. The first time I was told "nope" and immediately got hung up on. The second time, I informed them that I had already gotten my loan needs fulfilled. After this he began to push that I needed to complete my loan. I let him know that there are many scam alerts for the business; at this point he called me stupid and that I didn't know how to do research. I again asked to be removed and he began to rant at me and called me a "[***] idiot."
I'm positive that this is a semi-legitimate predatory lender that is spoofing phone calls through the US to protect themselves from legal ramifications in the US. It is also very suspicious that every person(yes, multiple individuals with very different voices) you speak to is named Derrick Foster, even though they have obvious Indian/Pakistani accents.
Some red flags can tip you off to scam artists’ tricks. For example:
A lender who isn’t interested in your credit history. A lender may offer loans or credit cards for many purposes — for example, so you can start a business or consolidate your bills. But one who doesn’t care about your credit record should worry you. Ads that say “Bad credit? No problem” or “We don’t care about your past. You deserve a loan” or “Get money fast” or even “No hassle — guaranteed” often indicate a scam.
Banks and other legitimate lenders generally evaluate creditworthiness and confirm the information in an application before they grant firm offers of credit to anyone.
Fees that aren't disclosed clearly or prominently. Scam lenders may say you’ve been approved for a loan, then call or email demanding a fee before you can get the money. Any up-front fee that the lender wants to collect before granting the loan is a cue to walk away, especially if you’re told it’s for “insurance,” “processing,” or just “paperwork.”
Legitimate lenders often charge application, appraisal, or credit report fees. The differences? They disclose their fees clearly and prominently; they take their fees from the amount you borrow; and the fees usually are paid to the lender or broker after the loan is approved.
And if a lender says they won’t check your credit history, but wants your personal information, like your Social Security number or bank account number? Go somewhere else. They may use your information to debit your bank account to pay a fee they’re hiding.
A loan that is offered by phone. It is illegal for companies doing business by phone in the U.S. to promise you a loan or credit card and ask you to pay for it before they deliver.
A lender who uses a copy-cat or wanna-be name. Crooks give their companies names that sound like well-known or respected organizations and create websites that look professional. Some scam artists have pretended to be the Better Business Bureau, a major bank, or another reputable organization; some even produce forged paperwork or pay people to pretend to be references. Always get a company’s phone number from the phone book or directory assistance, and call to check they are who they say they are. Get a physical address, too: a company that advertises a PO Box as its address is one to check out with the appropriate authorities.
A lender who is not registered in your state. Lenders and loan brokers are required to register in the states where they do business. To check registration, call your state Attorney General’s office or your state’s Department of Banking or Financial Regulation. Checking registration does not guarantee that you will be happy with a lender, but it helps weed out the crooks.
A lender who asks you to wire money or pay an individual. Don’t make a payment for a loan or credit card directly to an individual; legitimate lenders don’t ask anyone to do that. In addition, don’t use a wire transfer service or send money orders for a loan. You have little recourse if there’s a problem with a wire transaction, and legitimate lenders don’t pressure their customers to wire money.
Finally, just because you’ve received a slick promotion, seen an ad for a loan or credit card in a prominent place in your neighborhood or in your newspaper, on television or on the Internet, or heard one on the radio, don’t assume it’s a good deal — or even legitimate. Scam artists work hard to make you think they're legitimate, so it’s really important to do your homework.
Dealing with Debt
If you have debt problems, try to solve them with your creditors as soon as you realize you won’t be able to make your payments. If you can’t resolve the problems yourself or you need help to do it, you may want to contact a credit counseling service. Nonprofit organizations in every state counsel and educate people and families on debt problems, budgeting, and using credit wisely. Often, these services are free or low-cost. Universities, military bases, credit unions, and housing authorities also may offer low- or no-cost credit counseling programs.