After reading the consumer complaints on Camidor Consolidation Group, my heart sank because I knew that my brother had been taken by this group of scammers. It seems they are true to form when it comes to their routine. We did not check them out before applying for an "unsecured" loan through their website.
After applying, my brother received a phone call from Ms. Christine Jackson from Camidor, the next day, stating that he had been approved for his loan request of $10,000.00 but because his credit rating was not high enough he would have to put up a security deposit of $1,000.00 to protect the lender in the case of default. But that once his deposit has been received, they would deposit the $10,000.00 into his bank account within 6 to 24 hours.
Ms. Jackson emailed the loan documents for my brother to sign and return to her by fax. While reading these documents, the "Promissory Note" showed a security deposit of $1,450.00 instead of $1,000.00 and when my brother called about it, Ms. Jackson told him that $1,450.00 was the correct amount that he needed to wire. As he explained to her that he did not have the extra money since he had to borrow the $1,000.00 to deposit, in the first place. Being as accomodating as she was, she agreed to deduct the extra $450.00 from his actual loan proceeds, therefore depositing $9,550.00 into his bank account.
Ms. Christine Jackson then told my borther that he needed to wire the $1,000.00 by Western Union to a Mr. Dejean Williams in Toronto, Ontario Canada and that he needed to call her as soon as he has sent the funds to give her the 10 digit Western Union receipt number and upon verification of his "security deposit", she will then have his loan proceeds deposited directly into his bank account within the next 6 to 24 hours. When my brother asked Ms. Jackson why he was sending the money to an individual in Canada and not to her company, he was told that Camidor is not a lender but they work directly with private lenders who actually fund the loans but the administrative work was handled by Camidor Consulting Group. She also explained that my brother would be reimbursed, by certified check, for the Western Union fees he would have to pay when sending the money.
After wiring the $1,000.00 to Mr. Dejean Williams, in Canada, (1/15/10) my brother called Ms. Jackson to give her the Western Union receipt number. He also asked about the $86.00 it cost to wire the money and she requested that he fax a copy of the receipt to her and she will send him a certified check for the $86.00. She continued to be encouraging to him about his loan proceeds being deposited into his account within the next 6 to 24 hours. On the way back from Western Union, I realized that he had not yet given them any of his banking information, nor had they asked for it, not even on the loan documents, how could they deposit the loan proceeds into his bank account?
So, he called Ms. Jackson back and told her that his sister had some questions and asked if she would mind explaining things to his sister. When I asked her how were they going to deposit the money into his account, without his account information, she explained that in the email cover letter for the loan documents, it tells the customer to send in their banking information but if they don't, the company automatically just sends the loan proceeds by certified check. She went on to explain that sometimes customers don't feel comfortable sending in their banking information and she understands that. So, if the company does not have the banking information, they will just issue a check within 48 hours, but once she received my brothers account information, she would make sure the funds were direct deposited the same day.
The actual email sent to my brother, omitting his name:
"Dear Mr...
Here are the final documents that are required to complete your loan transaction. You will need to review and send these documents back in order to successfully complete the final step in your loan process.include 2 pieces of identification, proof of employment, and verification of account information with your submission.
Please contact your designated loan agent Ms. Christine Jackson at 1-877-212-1464 Ext. 392 upon receipt of this email.
Sincerely,
Client Support Division
Toll free: 1-877-212-1464
Fax: 216-916-4393"
He faxed a copy of the Western Union receipt and a copy of his banking information to Ms. Christine Jackson the same day. The next morning, after checking his bank account and seeing that the funds were not there, I called Camidor, (on 1/16/10) and this time spoke to Katherine Macbeth as Ms. Jackson was not in. Katherine proceeded to tell me that my brother's loan had been placed on hold because the lender is requiring him to purchase the insurance, which was "optional" in the loan documents. The reason given was because of his income.
By this time, I had read usacomplaints.com contained here and I knew what was coming next! When I asked Katherine how much was the insurance, I was told $1,950.00 and that as soon as he wired that amount, he could have the loan deposited in about 3 hours. She further stated that there was someone at the bank right now waiting to make the deposit.
When I informed her that we could not afford to do that and that we had to borrow the $1,000.00, she said that without it, she would have to refund his security deposit and Western Union fees paid. I asked how long it would take to receive the refund, and she said the process usually takes about 30 days but she would see what she could do so that he received it within one to two weeks and that he will receive a certified check in the amount of $1,086.00. I called Katherine back a few minutes later to ask if they could possibly wire all or some of the money back to him and she explained that they could not because of the refund process but that she has already put his refund request in and that he should be receiving an email from Christine letting him know when his refund has been processed.
That was our experience with Camidor Consolidation Group from beginning to end. However the fight is just beginning. I am in the process now of reporting them to every agency available, in addition to the Ohio Attorney General's office, the Cleveland Police Department, the Better Business Bureau, and Western Union's Fraud Department, they will also be reported to the FTC, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), Consumer Fraud Reporting, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Internet Fraud complaint Center of the FBI.
These scammers are very professional sounding and friendly, especially when they know you're about to wire them some money! Don't be taken in like we were. Another thing, on their webiste, they state they have been helping people for 15 years however, the actual domain name of "camidorconsolidationgroup.com" was just recently created on 1/3/10 from GoDaddy and is privately registered by Domains by Proxy, Inc. This domain name has an IP address of: 72.167.232.204
The CEO of Camidor Consolidation Group is listed on the loan documents as Justin Graham and the Insurance Adjuster is listed on the loan documents as David Murray.
If a refund is actually received and cashed, I will then update this report, but not until then.
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