I went to the internet looking for a lender who would loan me 50000 to consolidate debt, particularly as to credit cards. Fairway Lending Group contacted me by telephone. I referred them to my wife who had the better credit. They contacted her and after a day said they had found a lender who would loan us the amount asked for (Bank of America had refused thus necessitating this action), but i would require us to pay 6 months in advance.
When asked Why, they said that is was a means of them verifying our ability to pay based on our high debt to income ratio. I thought that sounded reasonable, not knowing it was illegal to require advance payments for a loan. Further, my wife looked them up (or thought she had) and found multiple addresses nationwide, which sold me on their legitimacy. We charged our DISCOVER Card the money up front and went to Wal-Mart and used their Western Union hook-up to send the money to a person in Alberta, Canada.
The next day, Friday, the 8th of February, the money didn't show as promised. I got suspicious, but knew that since it was late Friday that the money was paid, that it might not show up until Monday. Well, I got up early Monday, a nagging thought dogging me.
I looked up the group by entering their web address. What i got on my screen was a horror show beyond belief. I said, Oh, no, what have we done? We've been scammed!
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