Credit.com - March 2009 Newsletter

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Quick Tip

According to a recent study, identity fraud cases have skyrocketed. With 10 million cases reported last year, the numbers are expected to rise even more given the economic turmoil and rising crime rates.
http://www.credit.com/r/tidbits_news_10m_fraud_study

Protect yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft with the Equifax Credit Watch Gold™ 3-in-1 Monitoring & Free FICO® Score service.

Sign up for your free 30 day trial:
http://www.credit.com/r/tidbits_efx_monitoring

Stop Loan Fraud

National Consumer Protection Week
March 1-7, 2009

Credit.com is fighting advanced-fee loan fraud for National Consumer Protection Week 2009.

What is advanced-fee loan fraud?

With this scam, fake lenders offer a too-good-to-be-true loan to a desperate borrower. People with bad credit are more at risk for a loan scam because they aren't able to qualify for a loan through standard banks. Currently, you need a credit score well over 580 to get approved for most loans.

Funds are wire transferred by the victim – usually to Canada – and the loan never appears. There is no way to recover the lost money after it has been sent to the scam lender.

How widespread is loan fraud?

In 2008, the BBB received 2,300 complaints from victims, a 21% increase from the year before. According to the National Consumers League Fraud Center, advanced fee loan scams increased to account for 3% of complaints in 2007, up from 1% in 2005. They estimate the average loss to be $1,310.

With the credit crisis making legitimate loans harder to find, the volume of complaints has increased significantly. Credit.com receives several reports from victims and near victims of this scam each week.

What can be done to stop loan fraud?

Credit.com recommends that all loan fraud victims report their cases to the police, their state attorney general and the FTC. Reporting the incident to these agencies doesn't usually result in direct action for the victim, but it can help build awareness for the extent of these crimes.

What has Credit.com done?

Our team of personal finance experts investigates reports of loan fraud and posts warnings to consumers online.

Credit.com has identified scammers going by names like Brookfield Lending, Affinity Financial Trust, American Reliance Financial, Triple Touch Financial, Loan Union Financial, Special Loan Services, Pine Tree Lending and Berkley Lending Group. We have worked with numerous victims who have lost between $600 and $4,500 to advanced-fee loan fraud.

Credit.com has also created a section in our forum where loan scam victims can share their story and work together.
http://www.credit.com/r/forum_loan_scams

Where can I get more information on loan scams?

The FTC has information about advanced fee loan fraud. The FDIC and Western Union also have information about the scam.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/telemarketing/tel16.shtm
http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/specialalert/2008/sa08058.html
http://www.westernunion.com/WUCOMWEB/staticMid.do?method=load&countryCode=US&languageCode=en
&pagename=fraudIndex&pid=fraud00016

Where can I get a legitimate loan?

Credit.com works with authentic, national lenders to provide personal loans online. These lenders will never ask you to send a deposit or insurance payment in order to obtain financing.
http://www.credit.com/r/per_loan

Have you been a victim of a lending scheme? Send your stories to our team of credit experts at tidbits@credit.com or join the forums to share your story and talk to other victims. Together we can help spread the word and put a stop to loan fraud.
http://www.credit.com/r/forum_main

Announcement!

The Credit.com Community Forums are live! Come share your stories and get answers about credit cards, credit reports, credit scores, loans, debt and more!

Rumee had a question about her husband's account being added to her credit report and found everything she needed in the Credit.com Community Forums.
http://www.credit.com/r/forum_post

Ask John

Everyone knows that bankruptcy can be detrimental to your credit reports and credit scores but what happens if the bankruptcy is dismissed?

Get the real story from John Ulzheimer:
http://www.credit.com/r/tidbits-vol42

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