Your bank account is close to zero and your next pay date is not for a few more days. You need to fill up the truck with gas, buy some groceries, pay the water bill, and who knows what else. We have all been there. You think it’s too embarrassing to borrow money from a friend or a family member so the first thing that you think of is a pay-day loan. You wonder if there are any online options so you hop on to a search engine to find out.
One Stop Shop
One of the first sites you find promises to show you the best online lenders on one convenient site. All you have to do is fill out a small form providing some basic information, your name, home address, phone number, and e-mail. Next, you’re presented with a list of “great” online lenders in your state who will help you out. You select one of them and again are asked to fill out a form. But this time they ask for more. To make sure you are “approved,” you need to share your social security number, maybe a few personal references, and your checking account information. No problem, right?
Wrong. Chances are the website is nothing more than a front to get your personal information. They claim they need your social security number to run a credit check, but it’s doubtful they will actually do that. They say they need your checking account information so they can deposit the funds into your account, but they probably will not do that either. What they will likely do is charge your checking account $99.49.
Stop Payment
While getting your money back might be a difficult task, by coming together you can help put a stop to these scams. Because the pay-day loan provider had you provide your checking account information instead of a credit card, initiating a charge back is not an option. Your bank also will likely not lend a hand because you voluntarily provided the pay-day loaner with the details of your checking account. The only recourse for this type of scam is to try to contact the pay-day lender who took the money and to request a refund. However, this will be very difficult to do. What you can do is post your experience on Scambook.com. Sharing your post will ensure that other people are informed and prevented from being scammed like this in the future. And with less victims, you can help put an end to these scammers.
Risky Business
How can you tell if this lender is legit or not?
1. If the loan provider says that credit scores don’t matter, be careful. Credit scores are one of the biggest ways reputable financial institutions make decisions on who to loan money to. By working with a lender who ignores credit scores you are running a couple of risks. First, it might be scam and there might not be any loan. Second, you might be signing up for a loan with an exorbitant interest rate.
2. Make sure the lender is actually registered to do business in your state by checking your state’s attorney general’s website. Pay-day lending is a highly regulated industry, if they aren’t registered then it is likely a scam.
3. Finally, there are certain rules lenders must follow. They must show you how much the loan will cost you, the annual percentage rate, and it must be presented all in one place before you sign and accept the terms of the loan. If an online lender is missing any one of those requirements then watch out.
Lend Me an Ear
So what should you do if you need cash now? While the terms are usually not very good, pay-day loan providers do offer a service that some people need. Be sure to check to make sure the lender isn’t a scammer by visiting Scambook.com to see if anyone else has posted about this specific lender.
The Federal Trade Commission has a great article discussing the dangers of online pay-day loans. They also have useful advice for finding low-cost help for credit problems. If you anticipate that you will be unable to make a payment on an existing loan, you should contact the lender as soon as possible. Your creditors might be able to change the terms of the loan or let you defer a payment.
Of course, it is also a good idea to set a budget and try to stick with it, to plan for the future and to save for emergencies. But if you are in a bind, at least research the lender first at Scambook.com to make sure you’re not getting the short end of the deal.
See Also
Don’t Let Payday Loans Trap You in a Vicious Cycle of Debt
Scambook Insights: Money Plus Saver Complaint Overview
Debt Collection Scams: Warning Signs & Safety Tips
first scam for me and glad to find this place to vent. see where many of us are here, got me for $930, p/offed
i am sorry for u, too!
Cool details! I have been browsing for anything like this for some time currently. Excellent!
Great Articles guys; fortunately I was able to contact the “lenders” through a 1-800 number it took some time to find, but I did get a refund on $99.49 deducted from my account. Do shop around for reputable lenders (they are out there). It may take some time, but it is worth the time.
Can you send me that 1-800 number because i need to get my $99.49 back also, I could not find which one took this same amount out of my account.
Thanks,
IF SOMEONE IS CORRESPONDING WITH ANOTHER PERSON OUT OF THE COUNTRY AND THEY HAVE AN ACCOUNT IN A BANK IN THAT COUNTRY, WITH A ROUTING NUMBER AND BANK ACCOUNT AND ARE GOING TO TRANSFER MONEY TO YOUR ACCOUNT, IS THIS LEGITIMATE AND OK TO DO.
No this is a BIG Scam. they will drain your account. Why couldn’t they open their own account?
A great article about pay-day loans. I also was a victim, but learned a good lesson.
While I never completed loan I got a couple calss threatening me with legal actio for not paying them; foreign accents and offshore return phone numbers – essentially weak but aggrivating extortion attempts.
i recieved a phone call from this number today at 1 347 478 5878 want my id and ask me to fax saying he a atnrney for this cash advancwe company do not sent your information
I thought I needed a loan to help me out. And yes I was stupid and filled in some info AFTER I was told I had the loan. Then I get a call weeks later threatening me with legal action because I had defaulted on a payday loan. Scary that they had all the info I had put in the form. Was funny tho that my son and I had talked about this very scam so when they called and told me they were going to send someone out to give me “the hard copy” of the papers, I asked him with his movie star name when that would be and I would have cake and coffee waiting for that person. Told him I did not have a loan and asked him for the person/loan company he was working for. He told me a group of attornies. What I did find out later was these scam artists buy a call out only number so it shows up as being in the US. They also buy an 800 number with id so when you call back they will know who it is. With every threat I had an answer. Asked him what his real name was since I knew the movie star and he would be glad to find out who was using his name so he could sue them. If you have a voice mail answering machine they will leave you a msg and then at the end will wish you good luck and God Bless IF you don’t call back. DO NOT FALL FOR IT OR SEND THEM ANY MONEY. This will only call for laughter on their end because you fell for their scam. Since I did not fall for it, asked when the person was coming to my house and asked for the person’s real name, I have not gotten any more calls from them. My son did get a call from a woman in NY telling him he had defaulted also the next day. Again, do not fall for it and do not send them any money. If they call you and you can see the number and have a cell phone try calling them back on the number and then tell them it has been changed or disconnected as that is the msg you will get.
This very same thing happened to me, the guys name was jet li and he told me hat he was working with an attorney or several and I owed $800.00 then i asked how much interest and he said hundred and four percent funny. I’ve gotten two phone calls but I know impaid the loan off. I asked the guy if he knows the number to which the money’s were transferred into and he hung uP. At the end of my conversation he told me he was going to have sex with my mom and give me a new brother along with calling me a effin sand nig$&. The bad part was he knew my SOS and my parents name and contacted them to. I still have the number and the message, don’t fall for this…
When dealing with payday loans, it is best not to go on line, I deal with local establishments, start with a small loan, then build it up. It’s better to establish a good relationship with the lender before an emergency arises. That way you are more likely to be able to get the money you need when you need it. Also, if you do go on line, read the small print at the bottom of the page. Most of them will say that they are not the lender and they will “share your info with 3rd parties, in other words, they will sell your info. Deal with local lenders that have brick and morter stores, that way if they scam you, you can throw a brick through thier window,lol not really . don’t do that, but you will have some recourse.
I was THRILLED to find Scambook!!I got take for 149.95 by one of these fake payday loan places. Bank gave me back my money, but the “loan” place could still contest it.
I too was scamed by PDL payday loans they are still bothering me they call me 7 days a week I paid hem off three years ago but they have so many names andcompanys. I even reported them to Better Business Bureau. They would not answer them. They are not accredited. The attorney general stated if they come after me they will take care of it. I have my statments where the loan was paid in fill they asked for my statments so they could get my account. They pray on peole wh need extra mney to pay a debt. They are th biggest scam cmpanys, they have so many na,es.
I applied for a pay day loan with this company,only to have them give my info to a company called Platinum Trust card.They wanted me to buy into there offer.I refused and they took $89.00 out of my account. And they called me on the phone at home.I called them back and told them no.But went into my account anyway.I reported to Scambook and anyone who would liste.I have changed my bank account numbers and my bank has filed a fraud case against them.I also found out more about them Ripoff.com.Do not give up or give in.Tell it tell it tell it.
please dont pay no attorney they call me from this number 1 347 478 5878 want a copy of my id i said no
I adore your wordpress web template, wherever would you download it from?
I took out a Pay-Day loan & have been getting harrassed also, they overdrafted my account by $700.00 & now the bank force closed my account. EverestCashAdvance & UnitedCash loan company are the two to look out for. They call & threaten me with collections & say I will be arrested. But when I ask who is calling & where can I send money they say they don’t receive cash unless its in a bank account? So how do you resolve this when you don’t know where its coming from? Anyways, be Careful getting pay-day loans, there are scammers!!!!
I applied for two pay-day loans & they overdrafted my bank account by $700.00, the bank forced closed my account now & are wanting their money overdrafts re-paid. I am currently unemployed & hurting for money myself. Work is scarce & its hard to get a job in this economy. I have been getting harrassing phone calls from the pay-day companies now & they have been telling me that I’m going to be arrested for default. When I say I would like to work things out & they tell me that it can’t be resolved without a bank account. They won’t accept cash or checks & won’t tell me where they are located. So be Careful who you do business with!!! I don’t know what will come of all this but I will post again, to see what happens. Regards, Joanne P.
Financial issues can occur to anybody and nobody is really safe from them. They could be emergency expenses like medical bills or people with gambling issues. It can be shopping for the wife or going on a vacation. Individuals can never reside within there means and if they do they’re bound to slip every few months.
I liked your article is an interesting technology
thanks to google I found you
I was just seeking this info for a while. After 6 hours of continuous Googleing, at last I got it in your site. I wonder what’s the Google’s issue that doesn’t rank this kind of informative websites closer to the top. Normally the top web sites are full of garbage.
hey I know what ya mean they’ll spend a little to get alot. and under diffrent co names.
It’s scary the amount of personal information that these companies are able to obtain. It’s shocking how some of these people operate, especially considering the industry is ‘regulated’.
I live in the UK, and at present there is very little legislation in this industry so I’m used to hearing horror stories surround PDL companies.
I do know people who have had positive experiences of PDL companies, but there are certainly some highly unscrupulous people operating in this sector. The sooner that they are stopped, the better.