I was fist contacted by phone on May23, saying I had been approved for a $2,000 installment loan and the payback period would be 15 months at $160 a month. To begin the process I had to send them $150 via Western Union to India. This was claimed to be the loan origination fee. Then there was a $400 insurance fee also sent via Western Union to India, in case I was unable to make a payment.
After sending the $550 to this company then I was told that there was a $500 tax fee that again had to be sent via Western Union to India, cover supposed taxes between the U.S. And Indian governments. And, every time I sent these fees it was to a different person. So, after sending them $1,050 and it taking a few days to come up with the money, I was told there was a $400 fee to have the money wired to my bank instead of receiving the funds via Western Union. I was also told numerous times that I would receive my loan of $2,000 plus a refund of all the fees I had sent.
But, because I am retired and live on a fixed income and only get paid at the end of the month I was told if I cancelled my loan, I would lose all of the money that I had sent them. Additionally, because it took me time to come up with the money I had to pay a reinstatement fee and every time I would send them the requested fee, when I called back to check on the status of my loan, there was always an additional fee required to get my funds released.By the time it was all said and done this company I scammed me out of $2,350. And then the supposed company president got on the phone and said I had to send another $500, because my loan was approved for $5,000 not the original $2,000. I informed him that I was not sending another dime to his company and that I had better receive either a full refund of all the fees I sent or my loan with the refund of my fees, he informed me that the deposit would be in my bank account the next day. It wasn't there.
I have contacted my state's Attorney Generals office as well as the Federal Trade Commission, to file reports on this activity. I also contacted a local attorney's office to find out if there was any legal actions I could take against this company. The attorney told me it would be a small claims court action and that it would be impossible to recover any of my money. One other thing, every one that I spoke to from this company had thick Indian accents, but common American names.
Hopefully no one else will get scammed by these people, but if you receive a phone call like I did, you won't make the same stupid mistake I did and send them any money. I do have all of the Western Union receipts and names of the people I spoke with, so if anyone can help me recover my money, it would be greatly appreciated.
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