So last week I go to this website on-line looking for a personal loan to rebuild my credit. I'm trying to find the site again. A few days go by and I hear nothing. Then Yesterday I get this call from a woman named Shelly Rowe. She asks me if I want an unsecured personal loan. She asks me a few questions and says she will call me back. She calls me back today (tuesday). She says she cannot get me an unsecured loan due to my credit rating (sub-700). But she can get me a $6,000 loan for 48 months at 6.75%. The loan is secured, she says, by an insurance policy I will have to take out. The premium for the policy is $750 and must be paid in advance. If I make every payment on time then the $750 will be refunded to me after the loan is repaid. She asks me to fax some information including a opy of my latest paystub, two personal references, picture ID, utility bill, proof of social security number. She then said the documents will be faxed to me, which I fax back, and six grand will be deposited to my account within a few days. I was curious as to how I could get a cash loan at that rate when I can't even get a CAR loan at that rate. I did a reverse search for her number and could not find anything, although the area code and exchange point to Toronto, Canada. The fax number she gave me comes up to Staples in Toronto, Canada. WTF. Staples?! She said the lender is Birk & Birk Financial Services. I cannot find any mention of this company anwhere on Google. I tried Superpages US and Canada and get nothing. I am hesitant because the information she is requesting from me is everything needed to steal a person's identity. Then again, my credit is crap so what could she possibly gain? I also figured I could pay the $750 and the *poof* she's gone. This is setting of red flags left and right. I haven't seen the agreement yet, and won't until after I send the requested information. Anyone else by chance hear of this company or Ms. Rowe? Theories?
If you can't review the contract terms before signing on the dotted line, there's a reason: it's too good to be true. You'll be out $750 and your information could be sold as duplicate SSN for an undocumented worker. Your credit may not always be in the dumpster and when your situation has improved - your info is out there. Hold on to your $750.
Sounds like another version of the advance fee loan scam, just packaged a little differently. Many of these scams have been based in Canada, and in particular the Toronto area. The agreement isn't worth the paper it is written on if it is a scam. What are you going to do, fly to Canada over $750 and try to sue them there?
Birk & Birk Financial Services: BBB has little information on their site but includes a warning. Strange, but their last complaint might have fallen off after 36 months. http://search.bbb.org/ "File Open Date: February 2006 " "Advance Fee Brokers We reccomend that you proceed with caution when dealing with any unfamiliar loan company requesting an upfront fee, you may wish to contact Project Phonebusters for additional information. They can be reached at 1-888-495-8501 or by email at info@phonebusters.com Free Cash Grants are Too Good to Be True Consumers Beware of Advance Fee Loans Canadian Scams Alert: Canadian-Based Loan Scams Are Blanketing The U.S." Same M.O. Looks like they used to use a New York address: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff30707.htm http://kuws.fm/newsarchive_2.html "Superior family scammed/have no money for Christmas presents Police warn others to beware 12/20/2003 A phony loan agency has already taken one Superior familyââ?¬â?¢s holiday money, and Ashland police say to be wary. Kate Houlihan has the story. Frederick Vandevenner of Superior answered an ad in the Superior Daily Telegram from Burks Financial that said they would pre-approve him for a loan. Burks asked for driverââ?¬â?¢s license numbers, social security numbers, and bank account information. All Vandevenner had to do was wire $900 to Canada. The loan would show up in his bank account in five days. Instead, over $1400 was removed. Ashland police department investigator Jim Gregoire says theyââ?¬â?¢re investigating, but companies like Burks are hard to nab. ââ?¬Å?Generally what these companies do is pay for advertisements through the local papers using stolen credit cards. Once the money is wired out of the country, thereââ?¬â?¢s not a whole lot local agencies can do. So I forwarded my report to the FBI in Eau Claire, who is forwarding it to their connections in Canada.ââ?¬Â Gregoire says an almost identical case happened in Price County in October. The victimââ?¬â?¢s money was not recovered in that case. Gregoire says people need to be wary. ââ?¬Å?Burks Financial was actually on the Better Business Bureau website as a red flag, as being a scam. And if they ask for money, and especially if they ask for personal information, bank accounts, that kind of thing, donââ?¬â?¢t give them information like that ââ?¬â?? they shouldnââ?¬â?¢t need it.ââ?¬Â For the Vandenner family, step-daughter Tashina Hoff says they have no money for Christmas presents. Police say itââ?¬â?¢s best to remember if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." There appears to be an apparently unrelated "Burks Financial" mortgage broker in California, and an apparently unrelated title company/attorneys in Indiana, which appear legitimate.
