Payday Loan Scams: How They Work + How to Protect Against Them
Looks Legit! What Could Go Wrong? A Lot, Actually
Scammers have a lot of time on their hands to develop and try out new scams, so they are never short on new twists to stay sophisticated in their approach. One such variation that comes up from time-to-time targets users of payday loans. This scam can have ramifications for all consumers, whether they’ve used such entities in the past or not.
In the most recent variation, scammers claim to represent a legitimate (or at least a legitimate-sounding) entity, such as Advance America, Advance America Inc., Cash America, Cash Advance America, Speedy Cash, or Advance America Payday Loans. Scammers present consumers with offers of loans on payday loans Beavercreek Ohio the company’s behalf, despite having no association with them.
They can be very convincing, especially when they use threats or intimidation while appearing to have access to your personal information. Armed with the reputation of a legitimate business, threatening language, and the relative anonymity that exists when using the internet, email, and telephone, they often get what they want from their targets.
HOW THIS PAYDAY SCAM WORKS
The scammer will reach out to you by email or phone call to present a loan offer or to demand repayment on a past debt (one that is most likely nonexistent). Recently, scammers have presented loan offers to supposedly help consumers catch up on their past debts, and they have even packaged these offers as a special form of assistance in return for the consumer doing so well repaying other payday loans.
They will request you transfer money as a “processing fee,” a “good faith deposit,” or as a means of “verifying your identity/trustworthiness” to them. To achieve this, they ask you to wire money or purchase a prepaid debit or gift card from a retail store. You are then asked to provide the card information as proof of trustworthiness. Read More