For a while I have been looking for a lender who could provide a personal loan to someone with not the best credit. The answer I kept getting was "no." So, as I was browsing the web, desperately looking for a personal loan to rid me of my debt and help me pay for my school books, etc., I found this generic website (I can't remember the name) and it said they would forward my information to different lenders and that someone would be sure to give me a response. Therefore, I waited until a lender contacted me. Soon, I received an e-mail from [email protected], and it read the following:
"Your online application has been forwarded to Choicepoint Funding Financial Group for consideration on this approval.
We are now pleased to inform you, that after a great deal of assessment; we were able to facilitate your request for a $10,000.00 approval. For your convience, one of our registered loan officers, Ms. Cassandra Powell has been assigned your file. You can contact your loan officer directly at 1-888-524-1114 ext 173 to discuss the loan process.
Congratulations and we look forward to doing business with you!"
Needless to say, I called Cassandra immediately. She was very nice and explained the process very well. She quoted me an interest rate of 9.25% for a 6-year term. She did go on to say it was a secured loan and therefore I would need to pay a deposit of $920.60, which represents the first 5 months of payments. She said I would go 5 months without payments and this deposit would be returned to me before my first payment, which would be due on the 6th month. This sounded wonderful of course and I didn't want this opportunity to pass and then said yes. What a fool I would be...
I received all the loan documents via e-mail, read through everything carefully to make sure it wasn't too good to be true. It all looked really legit. I signed everything, gave them copies of my driver's license, a voided check, and my social security card. BIG MISTAKE! But let's keep this story going and I will tell you why this was a big mistake later.
At the moment I didn't have the $920.60 to secure my loan and therefore needed to borrow it from my partner. I told him I would pay him back (afterall, I would be $10,000.00 richer), and he agreed to help me. I called Cassandra back to let her know I would be able to make the payment so she could secure my loan. She explained that I would need to visit a MoneyGram center in order to make the payment. She urged that I do it quickly as the loan would soon expire if I didn't act do it right away. She instructed me to send the payment to "William Montgomery" in "Springfield, IL." William Montgomery was the name of my "lender" and that they were working together to provide me this loan.
So I processed the payment and waited the 24 hours it would take for the money to be funded into my account. Nothing. Then, after calling Cassandra several times, I finally got through to her. She explained that there was a discrepancy with my loan terms. She explained that the company had a software upgrade and that the technician made an error that affected the drop-down menu that specified whether I was an existing customer or a new one. She stated that this makes a big difference to what my contract terms would be. She said the interest rate would be higher for a new customer and the terms would be different. Existing customers are generally in good standing in the eyes of the company. She told me she would have a meeting with her Supervisor and Mr. Montgomery later that day and then call me back. She never called me back that day.
The next day I receive a call from Cassandra apologizing for not returning my call the previous day. Her excuse: there was a fire drill and everyone was evacuated from the building. Ok, fire drill happen, so I let it go. She then went on to tell me the outcome of the meeting. She told me that the new terms would include an interest rate of 19.75% and shortened to 5 years (which required a larger deposit than I originally gave) and a $1000.00 insurance plan, but after a long discussion with her Sup. And William, they were able to negotiate for me to keep my old terms; however, since I am a new customer I would still need to pay insurance on my loan (to protect my loan if anything were to happen to me physically or if I lost my job). She helped me get the most basic insurance which would cover me up to 2 years. This insurance would cost $600.00. She recommended that I send this payment as soon as possible.
Again, I don't have any money. So, that same day I talked to my sister who would agree to help me pay for the insurance. Keep in mind she just gave birth to her 3rd child the week before and the money she gave me was her rent money. I told her there would be no problem paying her back and I thanked her. She told me, "that's what family is for."
After making my second payment, I contacted Cassandra to let her know. She told me that she would expedite the funding to my account and that I should receive the money within 6-8 hours. She said she would not leave the office until this was resolved. I felt guilty for making her stay, but she said, "don't worry, I don't mind." I thanked for all her help and told her how much this all meant to me. I told her how wonderful she was and how much I appreciated her service. Ha!
I'm sure you would guess what happened next... Well, it gets better. Obviously, I did not get the money that night. I get a call the next day from "Eric Cohen" from ChoicePoint customer service. I immediately tell him I would rather speak to Cassandra since she was helping me from the beginning. He told me that my file was already out of her hands and turned over to customer service. So, naturally I inquired as to why the money was not funded into my account. He told me that the money was ready to be funded, the only problem was that they never received their "in-house-fee" payment. I was confused as I didn't receive any notice that this was a fee I had to pay. It was nowhere in my loan documents nor do I ever remember being told this. Out of curiosity, I asked for the amount owed. He said $400.00. I was shocked!
This was the last step I would need to take to secure my loan. I didn't want to risk losing all the hard work and money I spent into getting this loan, so I called my mom and she agreed to help me, as long as I pay her back immediately. Eric told me that once the money was paid to them, I would instantly receive the funds to my account within 1-2 hours. I agreed to pay the loan. How NAIVE CAN I BE!?!?!?
I made the 3rd MoneyGram order to "Eric Cohen" in "New York, New York." Also, please keep in mind everytime I made a MoneyGram order I also had to pay the MoneyGram processing fee. ChoicePoint said they would reimburse this fee, as long as I faxed over the receipts. I put in a LOT of time and effort into this loan, it is UNBELIEVABLE how gullible I would be.
1 hour passed, 2 hours, 3... No money. My heart rate was climbing. I called them back... No one picked up. I must've called 10 times until finally when I called, the phone didn't even ring anymore. When I dialed, it took me to a recording that said, "Goodbye" and then disconnected the line each time. I instantly knew I had been scammed. I began hyperventilating and had a panic attack. What was I going to do?
I called MoneyGram. It turns out the first and third time I sent them payment it was received. The 2nd payment, however, was NOT received for $600.00. I reported what happened and MoneyGram was able to refund my $600.00 payment since it was never collected for whatever unknown reason. Still, I was still out of pocket over $1300.
A weird thing about the collected money, was that although this company is supposed to be located in New York, New York, the money was collected both times from a MoneyGram center in Austell, Georgia.
When searching the phone number (1-888-524-1114) in Google, I found that this is supposedly linked to fake "Canadian" banks associated with fraud. Another thing I forgot to mention is that Cassandra Powell had a Canadian accent. Who knows where these people really are.
They really played me and I can't believe how easy I fell into their web. This has been the most challenging experience of my life and it's affected my family and relationship. Why would someone do this to another person, it's just wrong! It's cruel and heartless!
I filed a Police Report. The officer said there's not much that is going to happen, as the odds of tracing this are very slim. The officer also told me that if it was indeed originated in Canada, they would not be able to do anything, since the US does not have any jurisdiction in Canada. So, basically I am SOL.
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