I know that people always say you should never trust them as far as you can throw them... And those of us smart people who fall for such a scam suddenly feel more depressed and stressed then before but only this time feel like the biggest idiots on the face of the planet. My boyfriend and I too fell for the same scam at Parkwood Lending. I was contacted on June 5th by "Lauren Steadman" a senoir loan rep from the lending agency, saying that I was approved for a 16,000.00 loan. Let me tell you how excited I was. I am an idependent contractor at a hair salon and have been drowning in bills for quit some time. I also have thyroid cancer and at the current time I do not have medical insurance, so alone that is making life hard. So when she said I was going to be getting this loan I was happy. She faxed over the papers and I looked them over. I was a little leary of this because she was asking for 1880.00 upfront as collateral, to secure the loan. Yes, I did think it was weird, but on the other hand I was thinking well, I have gotten a loan before and I used my car as the collateral. So I had my boyfriend look it over and he thought it was ligit too. So the next step was finding 1880.00. Which took a week. I called Lauren back on June 12th and said that I was pretty sure I would be able to do this, but I was a little worried about getting screwed out of money. She assured me this was not a scam and came up with some story about how her mom always asks her what she does and that the company she works for is ligit and 100% safe and you will receive your money no later then Monday June 16th.
I had my reservastions at this point. It was not my money and If I was being scammed I didn't want it on my head. My boyfriend, whom I borrowed money, is doing this big stone job on a house and got a 1/3 payment from it. So thats where the money came from. I told him that he needed to call her before I went through with this because it wasn't my money and I wanted him to feel safe and secure in doing so. She said all is well and we went for it. I sent my money off on Friday June 13th. I was standing in line and the cashier had a worried look on her face and asked if I knew what I was doing and that there are scams out there. Her initial concern was because I was sending the Money Gram to Canada, I grew worried so I called Lauren. She calmed my every nerve. The funny thing looking back on it now, I was so concerned and worried about bringing in 2,000.00 into Wal Mart being worried it would get stolen... And look what happened.
So Finally my dream of 16,000.00 ends on Monday June 16th when I receive a voicemail from "Stanley Moore" stating that I had to call him back asap because something went wrong with my loan. I called back and left a message. I then called Lauren Steadman back, she answered. I had told her I was concerned and she again assured me that I had nothing to worry about, he probably just wanted to confirm my account numbers... He finally called back, this time saying that I had to give them 7 more payments totalling 1880.00 and would not have to make a payment for 14 months on the principal of my loan. What the hell, my stomach sank to the ground and I just wanted to either start crying or throw up. I told Stanley I needed time to think. I immediatly called my boyfriend, who was working. And I said I don't know what to do, without this loan I am screwed. So he told me to call Lauren. And I did when I told her what Stanley said she replied, WHAT? Let me tell you she did sound surprised. She then put me on hold and came back on the phone and said I needed to call Stanley back to get things figured out. I did so and he was very very rude to me, I did call him out on it, I told him I was uncomfortable talking to him and that I wanted to talk to Lauren, he said I could not because she no longer had my file, he did. So from this point on I had to deal with him. He again asked if I was going to send more money or get a refund, I said I needed to think.
That whole time, my brain was numb and I just felt so sick. How could I or anybody else do something so stupid. But let me tell you, those people over there at "Parkwood Lending" sure know how to ease your mind. Anyways, I had to confide in my boyfriends mom, I just kept thinking how am I going to get his monet back... So we called Stanley, Right away I told him who I was and I did want a refund, he said I wouldn't get it until July 11th. I threw the phone to him mom and they got into a huge arquement and he hung up. I then called back and left a pretty nasty message stating something like stop playing the victim you are not in any place for that... Then I came on here and read similar stories. It was then that it sunk in that... No we will not see that money ever again. I did call Stanley again later last night and asked him... So when can I expect my money and he said well Ms... And I said what I'm so and so. Can you believe it he called me the wrong name! I did talk to Lauren again too. This time Lauren was not so nice... Imagine that.
So after my ordeal with Parkwood Lending, I have decided to do all I can to get these people. I know it will be hard but I think if we do it together we can. Look if they can find us, we can find them... I did contact the BBB, IC3, Office of Attorney General in MN, and the FTC. I really do not know what to do with my accounts and my SSN as they do have that. I do hope to get in conact with someone that has gone through the same thing. Maybe we can find a way. And I am serious, we HAVE to stop this.
When I left Wal mart last Friday, I told Lauren again about the fraud the cashier was telling me about, she replied "Don't worry I wouldn't do that to you, the people who do that are evil and one day in the end they will get what is coming to them." Stated by Lauren Steadman of Parkwood Lending
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