As many people are these days, I am in bad shape finacially, I have very bad credit and would need a personal loan to really get myself out of the rut.
So, the other day I get a call from "Carl" from Corporate Alliances, and he states I've been approved for a loan. Everything is going well, he explains the terms, intertest, etc.
Then the hook comes up; I will need to put down 10% of the loan as "security", or some other collateral that equals that. Now, thinking to myself, that sounds feasable, realistically, being such a high risk, I know that even a legit loan would require me to put something behind it; whether it be a good faith insurance policy (some months does seem ok), or other collateral to back the loan.
I was expecting some sort of loan documents, or heck, even a verbal agreement recorded, but as of now, I have gotten nothing. Carl proceeds to tell me, on his very bad phone connection (call forwarding, anyone?) that I need to use Western Union to wire the security deposit. This is where me being me decides something isn't right.
I asked him what financial institution would I be doing this with (even security deposits for renting go to a bank account, not an individual), and he says, I would have to wire the money to an individual becasue it is a private lender loan (they do exist, I know, and are outsourced through matching services), so I said, well, how about you give me his number and I'll call him, be nice to know who I'm goign to be doing business with on the back end.
Silence came, and he stated that would not be possible, since the lender wants to remain annon, so I said, ok, but if I'm wiring him money, he cannot be all that secretive.
As I write this report, I actually have not finished business with him; I am scheduled to goto Western Union soon. I have contacted local authorities and TN BBB to file complaints.
Things to consider with this company:
Their website looks like garbage; A 10 year old with even a remote knowledge of frontpage or html could put together something better.
Address is linked to multiple financial institutions (Green Bank and Cooke County Bank), so by looking at it, you could think, possible another lending or financial institution might be there. Not listed in the yellow pages, suspect.
E-mail address listed on their website is a hotmail — this is really the giveaway. No respectable lender will use a hotmail e-mail; they are free and anyone can get one.
Finally, there is no contact number listed on the website; yet another red flag.
In conclusion, if you are planning on doing business with them, do not fall prey; even if they can produce a binding agreement with the loan, I would still be leary if they ask for any payment to be made especially if it's to an individual and not to a financial institution.
If anyone has done business with them and they are legit, please tell me, but from what I can tell and the research I've done; I doubt they are.
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