Have you been scammed by a company or person offering loans? We want to hear your story!
If you have been scammed by some type of loan lender and you want to warn others please use the comment form below to submit your story. Be as descriptive as possible about what happened during the process. Things like business names used, personal names used, email address, phone numbers, physical address, P.O boxes and anything else you can think of that can help protect the public.
I can’t remember a lot of the details but I was scammed big time. I should have know better but at least I do know and I hope this helps someone else.
I posted a question of Yahoo Answers asking how to get a loan if I have bad credit. Received a couple replies and one was from some guy who pretended to be a loan lender. He listed his business name, name, email and contact phone number. I don’t have any of these details now because it was a couple years ago.
Anyway I contacted him like a dummy and he offered me a 6000.00 dollar loan. I didn’t give him any of my financial information so I felt pretty safe. He told me I would have to pay a 275.00 dollar approval fee up front. That should have been a big red flag right there but all I saw was 6k.
The guy faxed the terms of the loan and I sent him a money order for 275.00 dollars. Well, big surprise I never heard back from him and I chalked it up to a lesson learned. I see these scams all the time online now and I can’t believe I ever fell for it.
That’s my story and I hope it saves at least one other person. Just wanted to say I think it’s cool that you guys are doing something like this, wish you did it a couple years ago lol.
I was approved for what I thought was a $5,000 loan to help me get caught up with my bills and some debt consolidation. I knew I had some credit issues so I was surprised a company was willing to work with me. Well, low and behold I was sooooo stupid.
I filled out an application online and received a call from Jonathon, with Lawrence Park Financial Services. After receiving a contract by fax, signing and sending back, Jonathon informed me that because I had no security for the loan, and my credit score was low the lender was requiring 10 months worth of secured payments. THIS SHOULD OF STOPPED ME DEAD IN MY TRACKS!!!!!!
I thought I had researched enough and believed I was ok with sending the down payment. I thought this would be my chance to get caught up and I was just happy someone was willing to work with me. Thursday, February 4th like an idiot, I sent the required payments totaling $1690.00 and Friday the 5th, Douglas with Lawrence Park Financial Services called and said the lender back out and supposedly they cannot refund my money until March.
I am sure they are having a good laugh, while I am now struggling to figure out how to make my house payment this month, and I will never see the money again.
BEWARE OF: LAWRENCE PARK FINANCIAL SERVICES
347 5TH AVENUE
NEW YORK, NY 10016
877-852-3662
lawrenceparkfinancial.com
I have bad credit and was behind on bills due to payday loans. I was contacted by Century Financial with a promise of 7000 and was so happy that now I would get ahead. I was told that I needed to pay 4 months in advance and have a “insurance policy” incase I defaulted, I fell for it hook line and sinker. I spoke with the “legal department” and my “loan consultant” several times. I sent in a total of 1166.00 for the advance and the insurance and have not heard from the people since nor do they take my phone calls, it is just a recording now. Please everyone beware of Century Financial
Century Financial
89 Broad St.
Boston, MA
877-424-6889
I would like to no if Lawrence Park Financial really do exsist. i Dont want to be scammed for 1200.00 dollars . They to me to send the money to A Susan Brown in Ontario Canada can anyone answer before I send the money?
Yes of course Lawrence Park Financial is a scam did you read the post above? You should NEVER have to give someone money to get a loan, what kind of sense does that make?
OMG,this same thing happen to me on January 25,2010.
Lawrence Park Financial Services
347 5TH AVENUE
NEW YORK, NY 1016
Same thing I filled out a credit application online like a ( big ass dummy ). Anyways a guy named James Gaston contacted me with an EXTOF ( 201 ) and ( 0 ) for a Mr. Fisher who they claim is the big dawg there. Mr. James Gaston said I was approved for a $5000 loan and he said in order to get the loan I need to send money to their outside lender in Canada who is a lending agency.
There supposedly fund them to a Amber Clark in the amount of $887 through Western Union so I did and that should have thrown all kinds of red flags in my face but in the back of my mind everything seemed to check out. I had a gut instinct telling me not to do it but in this economy and in tough times I thought they could help you ( lol ) from them as I see the same thing happen to you guys. We all need to get together and this this crap stopped and get them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
I don’t know about yall but I’m going to work hard to get my money from they by any means necessary. So if you have been scammed please reply to me here and send me an email to scott_fsu_22@yahoo.com with Lawrence Park Scam in the title so we can talk and get something done.
Thanks
I got this from some one trying to offer me a loan today. It’s an obvious scam and I wanted to make sure no one else falls for it.
“Hello
Thanks for your E-mail regarding my Financial Advert, Before we
proceed, I will like to Introduce my self to you shortly,my name’s are
Mr.JOHN.MERRICK,I am the Managing Director (MD) of Johnt Loan Firm,i
give out Loan at a low interest rate of 5%,I give out Personal
Loans,Business Expansion Loans, Business Start-up Loans ,Education
Loans, Debt Consolidation Loans,Venture Capital,Hard Money Loans,even
to those with Bad Credit, ETC,We offer Loan Ranging from a Minimum
Amount of Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00USD) and to a Maximum Rang
of Ten Million Dollars ($10,000,000.00USD)..So i want you to state how
much you intend to get as a Loan and your Suitable duration for this
Loan so that we can send you the Loan Terms Re-payment Schedule to
this effect…
if you are interested contact via johnmerrick01@gmail.com
FILL THE BORROWER’S INFORMATION
Your Name:______________________
Your Address:____________________
Your Country:____________________
Your Occupation:__________________
Loan Amount Needed:______________
Loan Duration:____________________
Monthly Income:__________________
Cell phone Number:________________
Have a nice day and God Bless you.
Warm Regards
Mr.John.merrick
JOHN loan Finance Plc”
Scam Recap Cliff Notes: This guy is supposedly a lender who offers low interest loans at the rate of 5%. The minimum loan he supposedly offers is 3000.00 dollars with a maximum of 10,000,000.00 dollars, this made me laugh.
If you send this guy your details the next step would be he contacts you and says he is setting up the loan. He will request personal information so he can steal your identity and asks for a loan down payment.
Name: Mr. John Merrick
Position: Managing Director
Company: John Loan Finance Firm
Email: johnmerrick01@gmail.com
I am like most people out there just trying to get a loan so I can get caught up with the bills. I am very skeptical about gettting a loan from a private lender, much less a company that claims they can guarantee a loan for a fee. Never fall for anything like that because you will find yourself in a very bad situation.
My advice is to borrow the money you need from family or friends OR check with BBB first if the company is legit. Most of the time they are not registered with BBB or they just don’t exist.
My husband and I fell for the Lawrence Park Financial scam as well. Our contact was David Bell. After sending in 2 payments and never seeing a loan we told them to forget it and were told our money would be refunded in March.
We filed a claim with our local police, the Federal Trade commission and an organization in Canada called Phone Busters. They are a part of a police station that is investigating these scams. I don’t expect we will see our money, but hope we can save someone else from making the same costly mistake!
Same thing happend here I just got off the phone with the F.B.I they told me to let you guys know to fill out a complaint at http://WWW.IC3.GOV do this as soon as possible ty.
I was scamed as well. I looked it all up and referenced all of everthing from Jonathon Moore. It semed legit so I proceeded with the transfer.
I should have known I wish I could just get my money back cause I am on fixed an income of 873 a month and that was all I gave him. So I was out and negative in my bank acccount for february now my march money is gone because of all the bills and negative transactions that were made from the bank. I need help im a senior citizen i should know better.
The same thing happend to me with lawrence park financial. Mr tillman and robert churchill were my contacts. I filled out a application for a private student loan to finish school. 20,000 dollars and was told I was aproved but I would have to make a colletral payment of 1700 and change to get the loan released.
Sent the money and then was told due to the lenders insurance I would have to make another payment of the same thing for it to be relased or wate untill march 1st to get a refund. So I waited and when the first came no money… The phone was disconected and the web site down. Now I’m stuck out of school can any one help?
Messages like the one below are another common type of scam that you will find posted all over the Internet.
” Do you need finance in your business (trade), or at your offices, or do you want to clear off debt? i am a reliable lender who gives out loan to people of any working class, have financial difficulties, our services are reliable and affordable. For loan application form contact this email via: richardgreg_loan@sify.com “
Question: Is there any legit “Bad Credit Lenders” that do specialize in helping good people with not so good credit get loans? I am wanting to buy a used doublewide, its nice and all but I am going to need $20,000 and can’t let this opportunity pass me by. I don’t want to get jipped and just need a few places to check out with the BBB.
Note to others: Some advice to all is if anyone sends you an e-mail or has a web site that is full of typos (not sure how to spell that LMAO how funny) then there is NO WAY it is legit. Any professional would spell check at the least, and an educated professional would proof read a dozen times. There should be no lower case i’s. No slang or run-on sentences, etc. Just remember this.
TO SCAMMERS: GET A REAL JOB LAZY BUMS AND QUIT SCREWING AMERICA OUT OF ITS GOOD HARD EARNED MONEY. YOU WOULDN’T WANT YOUR MOM SCAMMED BY US SO QUIT TRYING TO SCAM OTHERS!!!!
To the commenter above the lenders we work with do offer bad credit loans https://secure.badcreditloancenter.com/ but as of this post they are only lending up to 1500.00 dollars per loan.
You do make some valid points about checking simple things like the spelling and overall design of a website. You can also just type the name of the business into Google like this for example minus the quotes “badcreditloancenter.com scam” or “badcreditloancenter.com review”. You can also check websites like Yahoo Answers when people generally leave reviews about lenders.
Generally people will leave a negative review about a business or website if they have one. As far as checking with the BBB or Better Business Bureau that is a crap shoot. The BBB only accounts for a VERY small percentage of business’s online and offline.
You have to remember that people generally only leave a review about a business when they have a bad experience not when they have a good one. So if you search the BBB for a business the odds are you will find negative reviews.
Here is another scam that I found today:
“ATN:
Here comes a new day for all who are in need of financial assistance to improve their financial needs. I Mrs.Marry Johnson, a private money lender. I am here to introduce a loan program that allow us to help those in need of financial assistance.
We offer loans of all types, such as personal loans, co-operative loans, loan company etc., if you’re interested in getting us some credit for its financial strength can contact us via e-mail: marryjohnsonloan@xnmsn.cn
Thanks
Mrs.Marry Johnson.
Marry Loan Company
E-mail: marryjohnsonloan@xnmsn.cn”
These idiots are all over the Internet posting this crap and sending emails. If you need a small loan I would just use this website. If you need a large loan I would go to your bank.
I was approved for a $300,000 loan from century financial located in 89 Broad St. Boston Ma. and all I had to do was send them 3 payments in advance via western union. Before I could get the money together a company by the name of Dominion Financial said they had bought out or merge with century financial.
I sent it to a guy/private lender in Canada. His name is Matthew Davis. They have done severe damage to me financially and emotionally. They are snakes. Please no matter how desperate you are do not send money , for any kind of loan. I had to borrower the money to send them from a friend and it destroyed our friendship.
I Pray in the name of Jesus Christ that no one else falls for this scam. Let me drop some other names involved american domion financial phone # 1-866-282-3323 out of Baltimore. Patricia Mcswain, Robert Young, I am out $3,500 and a friend!
Beware do not let happen to you – Century Financial Jennifer Armstrong phone number 1-877-422-6889 number no longer exists. Trust Western Union they have a fraud department.They tried to warn me by putting a hold on the funds. There are other companies out there doing this scam. Its like a network.
They will also tell you to send the money to yourself Western Union and just give them a tracking number, all they want do verify the funds. According to Western Union that is all they need to retrieve the funds.
Beaware of a company called Libert Prime Financial it is a total scam . They offer large sums of money and the only thing they ask you to do is pay 3 months in advance, that is the time to put up the alert button, because once you send them the money the company can no longer be reached.
Those bastards don’t have anything else to do but try and steal money.
I hope god strike all of them dead, because most of us got in debt or trouble because of some real bad matter, loss of job, family illness, divorce, death in family, etc. but we don’t need anyone taking advantage of that. Now to all you scammers, get a real job and leave us the heck alone. Your day will come when you will need help and someone will do the same to you, if you don’t die and go to hell first.
God bless all of you that have been scammed.
Be careful of Laconia Loan Services too. Just talked to Alex Cooke who told me to send the 7 payments upfront of 146.11 totaling 1022.77 as collateral. I looked on the Internet and there is a bank by that name so I put in the phone number using Google and it said they are a scam. Thank god I didn’t send the money first for a loan of 7000.00!
Yeah I just want to say thank you for all the comments cause I too almost fell for Laconia Loan Services deception. They told me i was approved for 5000. I asked if this is for real, he then said i was approved for 8000.
He couldnt even remember the amount he told me a second ago. He said if i didnt have the 1264 for the first 8 payments as collateral, he told me that most people use their rent money, car payment, or bill money and just get it back the next day when the loan goes thru. No financial services would ever tell someone that.
Beware of a George Morgan.
laconialoanservices.com
Number is 1-877-897-3244 Ext 184.
If they call you, the number shows up as out of area. There is a website that doesnt say much about them. Supposedly they have private lenders, yeah right!
I am sorry to hear your stories. Be aware of Laconia Loan Services. They are also a scam. I wonder if they are all together. Sounds like the same cause for all. I also hope and pray that some day, they will pay for what they are doing.
We applied for a loan and was surprised to learn we would be given a loan for 5,000 with a 7% APR. With bad credit we thought it wouldn’t happen. Well, red flags started coming up. My husband couldn’t find anything online for the supposed lender (Lincoln Metro Financial). The lender asked for nearly $900 up front because of our credit situation.
The money needed to be wired via Western Union. The lender faxed over paperwork. Well, the so-called address was on the paper. I called BBB in Wichita, KS. I mentioned the name of the company and the address and was told BBB was trying to catch up with them for awhile. Apparently there have been quite a few complaints about them.
The agent was even able to look up the IP address for the website (traced to a company overseas). Bottom line….no loan and still need to figure out how to get out of our financial situation. But, at least we’re not out of money we couldn’t afford to lose. We’ll need to do the necessary precautions to protect our identity, but, it’s better than being out of money AND suffering from identity fraud.
These loan scammers use fake addresses and have untraceable IP addresses. Don’t ever give any money upfront to someone for a loan or investment. Always do your due diligence BEFORE you do any business with anyone of a financial nature. I learned the hard way. Don’t want anyone else scammed.
I was scammed by Laconialoanservices. They are fake. I sent them $1600.. Learned my lesson
LINCOLN METRO FINANCIAL SCAM.
Promises Big Money in exchange for a couple of months of down payment. They weren’t interested in taking real collateral they just wanted cash to steal. Hope you get locked up John Wyatt! Someone will get you always look over your shoulder fool.
SCAM BLOG COMMENT WE RECENTLY RECEIVED…
THE ABOVE IS A SCAM
These people are dumb enough to post their scams in the comment section of this website.
Another Scammer trying to post here..
..guess they will never learn.
Im still trying to find out for sure if this is a scam – Mcgarvey & co.new york . They want to loan me 15,000 at 9% which equals 359.00 dollars a month for4 years. They want me to send 1400$ insurance. BBB had them listed as financial salutation and address was good they seem legit but still checking contact name was Tracy Chapman.
Then i got another one from Canada for 8000$ at 9% 180.00 dollars a month for 4 years. Then send 420$ for insurance or 1080$ for 6 months payments name is( loan lending tree)–dont think its like( the lending tree) need to check them more but 420 $ doesnt seem like much for a scam doesnt seem like it would be worth the trouble anyway still checking
The following is a SCAM. I live in Canada, and since have discovered people from all over Canada and the U.S. who have been scammed by this company, aka ‘Lee’. The website is wonderful, very convincing…he talks a great game, even will go so far as to send ‘papers’ – and that’s the last you’ll hear from him. Thats all after, of course, you send him anywhere from $75 and upwards.
Website :southcapitalbank.com
SOUTH CAPITAL
55 CEDARCROFT BOULEVARD UNIT 17
TORONTO – CANADA
M2R 3Y1
Phone: 647-345-2115
Email: INFO@SOUTHCAPITALBANK.COM
McGarvey and Co of New York scammed my co-workers husband of $700.00.
My co-worker and her husband are smart people, who would not normally fall for something like this. I guess they wanted to have a nice vacation, and get their bills caught up. The company promised to loan them $5000,, for a $700 payment up front. the husband sent the $700.00, did not receive the $5000, and now the family can not go on their normal summer vacation, they no money for vacation, let alone monthly bills. the husband has tried to contact the lending company McGarvey and Co, but they do not answer the phone anymore.
I feel so bad for my co-worker and her husband.
BEWARE of Reliant Capital Investment.
They offer loans, but you have to pay money up front to a “private lender”. I’m here to tell you it is a Scam. I have checked it out and checked multiple websites. If you have a question about a lender you can check at greatloansforbadcredit.com. They can tell you about most of the scams going on with phony lenders.
I was checking out McGarvey and company on the BBB they are no longer in business. IT IS A SCAM… DO NOT SEND THEM ANY MONEY! Loans do not require money up front thats why they are loans.
They may require your title to your car or house as colateral, not cash and not even ask for colateral. the lady helping me was Amanda Johnson and she wanted the money western unioned to a Kimberly Wheeler in Richmond Hill Ontario, Canada. Do not send them money.
Got this email scam today:
The horrible English and shady nature of the email was a dead giveaway.
I recieved this email yesterday, and contacted them, but luckily i have read all the posts, and i wont wait for a response because im sure that they will ask for a down payment. Thank you for all your posts, I cant afford to give someone money and lose it. Thanks again.
LOAN AT 2% ONLY
Do you need 100% Finance?? MS. KATHERINE BROWN a financial lender and consultant, CEO Of CENTURY FINANCIAL AGENCY,
For Debt Consolidation Loans, Business Loans, Private loans, Home Refinancing Loans..
If interested, Please provide the following:
Full Name/Address/Tel Number/Amount Required/Loan Terms/Loan Duration
Please all replies should be forwarded to the
Company’s E-mail: gfinancials034@gmail.com
The following is a SCAM. I was scammed out of $350.
Website :southcapitalbank.com
SOUTH CAPITAL
55 CEDARCROFT BOULEVARD UNIT 17
TORONTO – CANADA
M2R 3Y1
Phone: 647-345-2115
Email: INFO@SOUTHCAPITALBANK.COM
If you have been scammed by South Capital – 55 Cedarcroft Blvd, I urge to report this to the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or on-line at http://www.anti-fraudcentre.ca.
If you do not report these incidents, the police cannot stop these types of criminals.
Again….REPORT IT, REPORT IT, REPORT IT!
If you have scammed by any company please I urde all of you to report these scams to the authorities!
http://www.antifraudcentre.ca
http://www.ftc.gov – Consumer Sentinel
Has anyone reported these scams to the FBI and if so has there been any information or correspondence from them as to what type of investigation they are going to do? I also was scammed by Lawrence Park in February for $10,000 my downpayment on a house that I will never own now. I filled out the form at http://www.ic3.gov back in Feb to make my comlaint and have never heard anything since then. I hate the fact that they have just gotten away with this and would like to know that someone is at least trying to track them down.
My husband had received a call from a Loan Company and the name of that company is Citi View Financial Services , Inc. The is 1-800-761-8460 0 for Customer Service and the man’s name is Steven Johnson ext. 302 , Charles Houston ext. 309 and the Supervisor’s name is Robert last name unknown. These people will tell you to send money to a man by the name of Jeff Johnson in Halifax , Canada.
All together my husband had sent them a total of $880.00 and both times the money was sent by Western Union. The loan amount was for $5,000.00 and the money never hit my account and was all said and done on 08-06-2010 and my husband was told it would only take about 15 minutes. Well as you can see that 15 minutes expired a long time ago and this is now 08-10-2010 and still nothing in the account. I went to my bank that my accounts with and had to change my checking account . I want everyone out there to know about these people and the name of the company.
I also found out today 08-10-2010 that Citi View Finance Services , Inc has been out of business for about 6 months. I found a number that wasn’t listed on the web site page on google and called it and spoke with a young man named Eric. It just so happens he worked for this company at one time when it was a legit , he worked for them clean up until they went out of business, he’s helping me to see if we can find out information to get us closer to closing in on these people. He told me that the web page should of came down when they went out of business and I told him it’s still up apparently because my husband fell for it.
I told him I wasn’t saying that this web page was the people he worked for doing this. It’s someone else using it to they’re advantage to scam on others. So whoever these people are they are using a closed businesses web page to lure people in and then making the loan sound promising. The $880.00 my husband sent was to secure the loan due to not having any collateral or a co-signer , it was for full coverage insurance towards the loan. If you receive a call from any of these people stay away or try to get as much information out of them as you can like direct number’s , email addresses , a physical address if possible if your able to get any of this information turn them in ASAP.
Once they get to know your name and you call they will hang up on you quickly and avoid your calls and then at other times answer the phone. I’ve had to *67 our number’s out and use my friends cell phones just to get them to answer the phone. I hope these guys get caught for what they are doing to people and put away for a long time. I want my story shared with others to keep this from happening again. Unless it’s a bank from your home town / city where you live or an actual loan office where you live don’t do this online.
While my situation is exactly like those I see on this website, it’s good to know I’m not the lone ranger. It appears we all are intelligent people but in a bad situation with less than perfect credit and in need of money. This economy has done that to a lot of us.
I spoke with this lady from Gateway Debt Solutions named Nicole Ross located in Dover, DE who said I was approved for $10,000. Everything seemed to check out with it. I had this feeling but my dad was in need of money and was like, I’ll put the money up most of the money to get this loan and I get half of the money and we’ll pay it back together. Seemed okay and so I went along with it. Same situations as I see with others in this blog, came back needed more money because the lender got cold feet on the credit.
I said no way and asked for the cancellation. There was even an agreement, wire transfer slip sent to me. I called and emailed asking for a cancellation agreement and nothing. Claims it would take 14 to 21 days to get the refund. From what I’m reading, I’m pretty sure I’m out of this money. It is pretty sad that people work so hard to scam you and prey on people (especially in this economy) have fallen on hard times and are just looking for a way to get their head above water. I haven’t told my dad this yeat but I know we’re out of this money. It was his bill money.
Why is there no way to catch these people and get your money back?
Am thor financial, Mr. Bryan Kyser is a scam!!! 1800 330 5530
They offer 5,000 dollars at 4 years for 6.3%, BUT they ask you to submit the first 5 months payments up front!!! NO WAY!!!!! DO NOT DEAL WITH THEM!!! You should never have to pay money to recieve a loan!
National CitiZens Lending is indeed a scam. I was scammed $490 and I’m trying to get my money back I don’t think I ever will. They are in the process of closing down their website and phone numbers. The website is always having problems and is down. The answering service no longer says “National Citizens Lending”. The phone number that is listed on their use to be website hasn’t been in service for a month. This company is a total scam!
I have reported this company to the BBB, the FTC, the three major credit berueas, and the attorney enerals office of Conneticut and in my state. And of corse this site. That’s all that can be done.
That’s all that needs to be said.
National Citizens Lending.
250 Constitution Plaza
Hartford, CT 06103.
info@nationalcitizenslending.com
1-800-767-4950