Auten Financial Group
Complaint 27289 Details

I went online to apply for a personal loan. I hit upon the Auten Financial Group website. Very impressive website. They were located in Columbus, Ohio and the address was legit as far as it was an actual office complex in Easton. I filled out the online application and submitted my request. Several days later I received an e-mail stating that I had been approved for a personal loan of $32,000.00. If I was interested in pursuing that loan, I had five days in which to contact them. I replied to the e-mail stating that I was interested in finding out more about the loan. The monthly payments, length of the loan and the interest rate were all stated in their e-mail. It looked reasonable and fit into my budget. The next day I received a phone call from Amber Wright, a loan specialist who was assigned to my loan. She told me that she would fax the loan documents to me so that I could read them over and see if I still wanted to go through with the loan. Because of the amount of the loan and because it was a personal, unsecured loan, they required that I purchase an insurance policy to secure the loan. The cost of the insurance was $1,642.30. This would cover disability, death, unemployment, etc. and would stay in force until the loan was paid in full. At that time, I would qualify for a refund of about 75% of the cost of the insurance. I signed the documents and faxed them back to Amber. The next day she called me to tell me how to purchase the insurance policy. I had to go to a CVS, Walgreen's or Wal-Mart store and purchase Green Dot Money Pak cards, enough to cover the $1,642.30. Each card cost $4.95, but I was told that the company would reimburse the fees to me when my loan funds were deposited into my checking account. I was instructed to fax a copy of my last several pay stubs to prove my employment and take-home pay, and a copy of my Driver's License, and a voided check for the checking account in which the funds were to be sent. After I purchased the Green Dot money cards, I was told to scratch off the silver coating to reveal the numbers on the back of each card and fax a picture of each of the cards to her so that they could cash in the cards. I had to purchase four cards because each one held a maximun of $500.00. I did all of this, and then Amber called and said that she had received everything, and that she would be mailing a packet to me with the final loan documents. Then, we would discuss how I wanted to make the monthly payments, and she said that they gave their customers a 60 day period before the first payment was due. Also, the funds would be deposited into my checking account within the next 24 - 48 hours. WELL, I waited 5 days for the money to appear in my checking account. On Tuesday, October 11, I started calling Amber at 1-888-407-2612 to find out what was going on. She has never returned my calls. I only get her voice mail when I call. When you call this number, a recorded message asks who is calling, and for you to state your name. I have never received the mailed documents. Then I noticed online there was a site which started out with "Is Auten Financial Group a scam?" I then called the Ohio Secretary of State, and they had them listed as an LLC in Ohio. I then called the address in Columbus listed on their website and spoke to a lady there who said that the company had never actually inhabited an office there. She gave me the name of the attorney who procured the lease for them, and his name is John E. McCormick. He practices law in Columbus, and so I called him and he said that he had never heard of the company. Then, I called the Ohio Department of Commerce. A lady there told me that they are not licensed in the state of Ohio as a financial institution. She said they also have an address in Ontario, Canada. Therefore, if they are NOT an American company, then the State Dept of Commerce cannot go after them for fraud. That will have to be handled by the Federal Trade Commission. I sent copies of everything that I had from Auten Financial Group, including the copies of what I had faxed to them, to the Ohio Department of Commerce with a letter relating all of the events. I will see what happens. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THIS BOGUS COMPANY!!!! It all looks good and sounds good - they are slick. I'm not a stupid person, but I was suckered in.