Scams, especially concerning online Payday loans are not rare. And when you really need emergency money it's important to find a legal company which will help you solve your financial problems and not make you suffer from more misfortunes.
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What is Scams?
Scams are those companies that pose as legitimate direct lenders in order to get access to your personal, financial information or your money. They can reach you online, on the phone, via e-mail, etc. That’s why it’s very important to be able to identify scams.
Watch out for:
- Any phone calls from overseas or phone numbers very similar to yours
- Callers which can’t answer your questions about some specific information
- Anyone who claims you to pay some money in advance, make some pre-payment or pay off a debt which is not proven by any documents
- A company assistant behaves rude or threatens you
- E-mails threatening to seize your wages or contact your employer
- Accusations with fake amounts of debt
In case you’ve faced any of these incidents, don’t wait to report a scam. Follow our expert advice on how to identify and avoid loan scams.
Types of scams
Nowadays, it’s very easy and convenient to use online services, including Payday Loans Online. But the Internet has its downsides – it’s a good chance for scams to take advantage of not very responsible and careful borrowers.
When you badly need the money and look for a quick loan, you apply for instant cash advance online and get the response asking to provide your personal and financial information. They say, they need your banking account details to deposit the money, but often it can be a scam who is just trying to get the necessary information and use it for his own sake or sell it to third parties.
There’re various types of scams. For example:
- Сounterfeit payments scams – They deposit bogus checks into your account to make you transfer the money. They may use your personal information which you fill in a loan application. It’s called identity theft. And it may lead to threatening phone calls from scammers impersonating debt collectors.
- Payday Loan debt collecting scams – They will try to call you and make you pay the debt immediately. You may even be screamed at in a foul language, or threatened with arrest
Loan scams
Any time you apply for a loan online you share your personal information. Whether it’s a direct lender or a broker, they keep record of your data and if it’s not a legitimate company, can sell it to third parties or use for some other purpose. Your information can easily be purchased by scammers.
Loan scams can make you pay the debt you have never even owned. They introduce themselves as representatives of some lending companies or lawyers or even government financial organizations. They are going to call you and threaten to make you pay under pressure. Don’t give in. Check all the details at first. Or report to the authorities.
Advance-Fee Loan Scams
Advance fee loan scams will request you make some pre-payment or will charge some additional fees. In most cases legit direct lenders don’t require any upfront payments. And all the additional financial charges are to be stated in your agreement which you signed before submitting a loan.
Debt collector scams
If you get a call from a debt collecting company trying to make you pay some debt, at first ask them for your loan agreement or history. Don’t pay attention to any of their threats or violent rude arguments. Contact your lender and make sure it’s a real debt that you owe and the company has the legitimate rights to collect it.
Phone scams
Many loan scams use phone calls to make you pay the money. It’s rather easy to identify them:
- They make different promises to give you the money if you pay just a little fee;
- They threaten to arrest you in case you don’t pay;
- They make you provide an immediate decision or pay at once;
- They persuade you to use such a payment method which won’t let you get your money back – gift cards, for example;
- They try to get your financial or social security information pretending to be Government service representatives;
Email scams
Mail is one more way to threaten you and get your money illegally. Be careful not to send your passwords, account numbers, or Social Security numbers by e-mail or in text messages. If the scammers get this information, they may access your accounts. To identify a mail scam you should be cautious to:
- Signs, logos, TMs used in the letter to make it look like it was sent from an official organization;
- Long stories told you in the message to make you follow some links or open attachments;
- Some offers of gifts, discounts, coupons, etc.
Customer protection experts recommend to follow this advice not to get a victim of e-mail scams:
- Use security software on your computer;
- Update your mobile software automatically;
- Install multi-factor authentication to your mobile;
- Back up all your data regularly.
How to report scams
If you’ve identified a scam, first you need to do is to stop any communication with them. Don’t take the phone, delete e-mails or voice messages, never call them back. Then you are to report the scam. How shall you do it?
File a scam report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as soon as you can. Besides you can contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and to your state Attorney General’s office.
Follow these steps to protect your information or money from scams:
- Call the police by emergency number and file them a report.
- Contact your bank to warn them to track any unusual activity on your account.
- Contact the SSA as soon as possible to prevent identity theft in case you’ve given your social security number to any unknown company.
- Ask the major credit bureaus to freeze your credit report if you suspect any scam.
- Complain to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prevent any frauds in the future.
- Contact your State Attorney General to file a complaint and investigate the case.
How to report phone scams
If you’ve become a victim to a phone scam, report it at ftc.gov/complaint.
If you just want to report a scam call, fill out a form on donotcall.gov. You’ll need to state the number you got the call from.It will be analyzed and identified. If you have any additional information such as names, numbers, you should also report them to help track down the scammer.
Where to report phone scams
Phone scams are to be reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), or your state Attorney General’s office.
How to avoid scams?
Now when you know what scams are and how to identify them, it is going to be easier not to become a victim of these illegal companies. To avoid scammers, follow these steps:
- Always request a written confirmation of any claim they make.
- Get detailed information about the company and the caller – name, address, phone number, etc.
- Never provide any personal or financial information to unknown people.
- Any time you suspect a scam report it to the authorities.
- Apply only for legal Payday Loans online from legitimate direct lenders. Read the verified reviews at first, check their website, contact the state’s authorities to see if the company is included in the database, etc.
How to apply for real loans with no scams?
Before applying for a Payday Loan or any other Personal Loan online or in a store near you consider these factors:
- Read the loan agreement carefully paying attention to the fine print before signing it.
- Consider the cost of the loan together with the interest and plan your budget to make sure you can afford it.
- Check out for any additional fees or finance charges so that you could calculate the total cost of the loan in advance.
- Never make any upfront payments, especially on the phone.
- Hang up any time you hear threats.
- Don’t sent your personal information in response to suspicious e-mails.
- Check your account and your credit history regularly.
- Before providing any information always verify the company or the person contacting you.
Follow this useful advice and you’ll be able to borrow emergency cash advance safe from legitimate direct lenders and avoid any scams.
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