I was casually contacted on my cell phone about having been approved for a $5,000 loan. I had indeed requested for a short term loan for the amount of $1,500 and had been receiving several calls from different loan companies. So I did not think any different of this company from the others. So a Ms. Fiona offered me $5k and kindly told her I just needed $1,500. She proceeded to giving me financial repayment instructions. Again, no red flags yet, everything seemed legit. The situation got really awkward when she was calling me every 15 to 30 minutes to ask if I was near a Western Union. Since I was driving from one city to another I wasn't quite sure where one was located. I told her I would call her back whenever I had a chance to locate a Western Union. I asked several times why she needed me to send her money since I was the one requesting a short term loan. She put me on the phone with her manager James who proceeded to giving me instructions on how to send them the money to Dehli, India. I thought this was very odd since they were supposed to be an American company. So, I pulled over in a small town and found a local Western Union. James made sure I was sending the money "in minutes". He told me that once he had confirmed he had received the money then he would give me a "MTCN" and that the money he would post within two to three minutes. I sat there at the grocery store holding up the customer service line waiting for my funds to be available. When i called back I got the run around at first. Then I couldn't even call in to their company any more. I got in my car and continued my trip. When I got to my destination I looked up another Western Union close by and went into that office. Again, no funds were available. I called from that office's land line and connected. They said they would call me right back in seconds. They did and the guy in the office handed me the phone. I asked to speak with a manager and got some guy who seemed to have three different names. First his name was Chris, then Edward, then he changed it to Douglas. He told me all I needed to do is send him $200 more. At this point I know I've been had. He expressed to me that he was an honest Christian and he had NEVER told a lie in his entire life. Then he offered to help me with $50 out of his own pocket to show good faith that he wanted to work with me, in order to complete the additional $200 which he claimed I owed to the IRS. When I informed him that my brother happens to be my CPA and that no taxes were owed on my behalf to the IRS he put me on hold and came back with another lame excuse. Then he said it had to do with FICA taxes from payroll that my employer had not paid. I quickly informed him that I worked for a company where I happened to be the payroll administrator. He once again put me on hold and came back to tell me "to just give it a chance". I asked what exactly I was giving a chance. He replied " ask more friends or family members to loan you some money to send to us to release your funds". I said to him " you have got to be kidding me" If I could have asked friends and family for the loan in the first place i would have done that interest free before I resorted to this. I asked him for my money back and he told me that in order to refund my the $110 they had already collected I would have to pay $210 more as a refunding processing fee. REALLY!!!???
If you get a call from (213) 438-9795... CALL THE COPS!!!
This group has no intention of granting you a loan but do intend in taking from you anything you are actually willing to send to India.
Buyer beware
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