I am one of the many individuals who have been robbed by this company. No character judgements please... I simply want to empathize with the others who have unfortunately been a victim of this same fraud.
In short (as all reports I have read are nearly identical)...
I researched personal loan options online around 12/08 and submitted my information to a search engine. On 12/9, I was contacted by Alan Reeves who claimed to be a representative of Avenue Financial Group. He stated that they had reviewed my online application and explained that they had funding options through private investors who would secure me a loan in the amount of $5000.00 USD after a collateral payment of $1060.00 USD was wired by Money Gram to Julia Polson in Saint John, NB Canada (who by the way has a facebook and does live in Canda). He instructed me to call with the reference number from the Money Gram receipt and insured me that without a problem that the money would be directly deposited into my checking account by 5pm EST the following day (12/16).
The next day I received an emergency phone message from Dennis Crown who identified himself as the manager. He stated that my collateral payment was insufficient and that an additional 1060.00 USD would need to be sent to Julia Polson. He GUARANTEED me that there would be no further problems and that the money would be available the next day by 5pm.
Around 1pm EST on December 17, Dennis Crown called again and said that a problem like this had never occurred before. He stated that the original lender refused my loan after further review which he promised the day before could not possibly happen. "For my inconvenience" he said that they found another lender and that a loan of $10,000.00 USD would be available with an additional collateral payment of $2000.00 USD. I refused this offer and demanded a refund of my money. At this time, he said I would have to wait until January 5 for the funds to be refunded.
The conversation escalated to the point of Dennis Crown interjecting some fine four letter explatives which was the first sigh that this was illegit... Everything (website, loan aggreement, etc.) else seemed official to this point. After this screaming match I had with Dennis Crown, he faxed me a guarantee that the money would be deposited on the 5th of January because that was the next date that fell in line with the company's banking schedule.
Obviously, I had not received payment as of that date and began researching to discover that this was a scam and that so many other individuals have reported identical activity.interesting enough, when I originally researched the company... No scam information came up in my search and now less than a month later that is allI could find! I have contacted phonebusters in Canada who are alerting the police in Canada as well as my local police. I also just discovered that I have 2 messages from Dennis Crown saved in my cell phone voicemailbox... Don't know how good that is?!?
I wish there was some sort of definitive recourse. Money Gram also needs to have a fraud reporting center. Hopefully some justice will come from this. Not only would I like to see my money, but if these criminals are found a lawsuit needs to be filed to compensate myself and the countless other who have fallen victim to this fraud for the mental and physical anguish that has come with this devastating news.
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