I called Debt Free Ventures whose number was in my local paper under "finacial services", advertising, "do you need money for houses, cars, or debt consolidation?".
The lady whom I spoke with told me that I could go to their website and apply for a loan, which I did at www.debtfreeventures.com. I received an email back telling me that a representative would soon be in touch with me.
I never got a call from the representative, so after two days I called them, I spoke to Steven Shaw, who claimed to have looked up my information, and told me that I was pre-approved for a $15,000. He told me that he would need a 5% of the loan as a deposit in case I filed for bankruptcy, and that this was just a means to protect their investors. I was told that I would get the money back after a year, as long as I was current on making my loan payments.
Steven faxed over the documents I had to sign, and I faxed over my necessary documents. I still felt funny about putting money up front for a loan that was not yet delivered, so I called Steven, and told him about my feelings. I even told him that it was illegal to ask for money upfront before a loan was delivered.
He assured me that he understood my concerns, and then reiterated that it was not a fee, but just a security deposit for the investors, and that I would get the money back after one year of on time payments. He stated that they deal with very high risk loans, and that out of about a 1,000 people, they usually only lose about 60 as "bad loans". He told me that they loan amount up to $300,000, because they also do house loans.
I was still a little unsettled, so I asked him if I could only borrow $1,500, so that way I would not feel so bad if I lost the money. He told me that the smallest loan amount that he could lend was $5000 because they don't loan anything less than that.
I finally agreed. I was told to send the money Western Union ($250... 5% of $5000) to Howard Fleming in Atlanta, Georgia. This man was supposed to be some representative from their corporate office, supposedly in Atlanta, Georgia.
After, I sent the money via Western Union, I called Debt Free back, and Steven took the money order number, he then told me to fax over a copy of a voided check, and to speak to Mary. I spoke with Mary, and she told me that I would get my money in 3 business days.
Well, I called to check on why I had not received my money, and their phone message just said "this mail box is full". I went to their website, and the website has been closed down. I am now out of $250, that I need, and I do not know who to turn to to get my hard earned money back.
Laurie Goldstein is listed as the CEO, but since their website is down, and the phone is not working, I don't know who to get in touch with.
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