Okay, so you would think that I learned my lesson, right? Well, I saw an ad in the paper saying all credit types can apply for a loan. I called the number (A Canada number), and a guy named "Michael" Bent answered. He had a heavy Jamaican Accent, but hey it's Canada, so I did not think anything of it. Anyways, I said that I wanted to apply for a loan, so I gave him all my info. He said it would take 2-4 dayds to know if I had been approved or not...
Flash forward to 4 days later. I call back and he says that I have been approved, but before the loan (of $5000) can be issued, I would have to "secure" it with one of three options...
1. If I owned my car, I could use it as collateral to secure the loan.
2. If I could obtain a co-signer with EXCELLENT credit who made $70-80, 000 a year (keep in mind if I knew anyone like that, I would just borrow the money from them).
3. Send $800 to secure the loan by purchasing an insurance policy.
I bet you already know where this is going to go, right? Well, I do not own my car yet, and I do not know anyone that makes $70-80, 000 a year, so I chose the third option. I told Michael of my choice, and he told me I would have to wire the money via Western Union to Malcolm Hamlet in Ontario. Okay, I should have had a red flag up at that point, but he had also faxed me some documents to sign, and they looked legitimate (I had no idea there were such things as portable faxes. Either way, I Western Unioned the money, and guess what, I have not seen any money, and since it did not come out of my checking account, I am pretty much assed out. The bad part is that I really could have used that money, I take care of my two kids by myself, and this really put us in a strain.
Well, now I am $800 in the hole, and guess what, still no money. The phone number still works, and I have filed complaints with the FTC, Phonebusters, and my local police department, but my hcnaces of getting the money back are slim to none, because it was Western Union. To make matters worse, the last wire transfer I did was to Jamaica, in the amount of $280. Do you know what that converted into? Like almost $18, 000 Jamaican dollars. So now saomeone probably owns a mansion and three cars in Jamaica, while I am trying to figure out how to keep my electricity on.
For all you Los Angeles people, the ad is running in the Daily Breeze newspaper under the "Money to Loan" section. For all other areas, watch out, they could be coming to a newspaper near you soon.
There are also other groupd on the web posing as American companies, but with similar terms. The company names are FREEDOM TRUST and UNITED LENDING GROUP.
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