WESTFIELD – Residents struggling to meet their financial needs will naturally explore all avenues for funding but those enticed by offers of easy Internet loans may find that path a treacherous – and expensive – dead end.
The Internet offers a vast array of worthwhile destinations but the savvy net surfers have learned that not all sites are what they seem to be and the Internet also offers a lucrative opportunity for scam artists whose sites are not at all what they purport to be.
For those clutching at straws for fiscal relief, a website which offers approval of a loan may appear to be a godsend.
Det. Todd Edwards of the financial crimes unit of the city’s Detective Bureau said in a recent interview that criminals intent on defrauding hopeful applicants can build a website and a company with a company name that sounds similar to an established and legitimate loan company in order to draw in hopeful applicants when they use a search engine to search the Internet for lenders. When complaints about the company mount, the website can disappear, leaving little trail for victims to follow
In a recent fraud case that has landed on his desk, a local man seeking a loan was bilked three times by a lending ‘club’ before he lost hope of getting the $3,500 loan which had been approved for by the alleged online lender.
The man came to the police station Thursday to complain that he had been scammed and told Officer John Blascak that he had been told that he had to pay a $355.95 fee to process his loan.
The victim said that he was told to go to a local drugstore to buy a money transfer card in the required amount and, when he complied, was instructed how to transfer the card’s credit balance to the lending club.
Then, he was told that he could pick up the money loaned to him at the local Walmart store and he sent a friend there to get the funds.
When his friend called him to say that the money was not waiting for him at the store, the victim again called the his contact from the website, Alex Brown, and was told that since his loan was actually two $2,000 transactions he had to buy two more money transfer cards, valued at $154.64 each.
When the victim again complied, called Brown again and again transferred the cards’ credit balances he was again told to pick up his check at Walmart.
Again, there was no money at Walmart for him.
Kayla Whaling, a Walmart corporate spokeswoman, said that the store chain has absolutely no agreements to provide delivery – or any other – services to the customers of any outside companies. She said that pickup service is only provided to customers of walmart.com, the company’s online sales platform.
The victim said that he arranged for a conference call between himself, Brown and a representative of the money transfer company he had been told to use to transfer the lending club’s fees.
Blascak reports the victim said that Brown told him to disregard the money transfer company’s representative because he said they are “liars.”
The victim said that he has not been reimbursed by the lending club for the funds he gave them. He said he subsequently checked online reviews of the company and found others have lodged complaints about the company.
Edwards said that he will investigate the scam but the money trail will probably end at the nation’s border.
“Usually when you follow the money, when you follow the bouncing ball, you bounce around and end up out of the country”, often in an African nation,” Edwards said.
He said that although he can often work effectively with other U.S. law enforcement agencies once the money leaves the nation it becomes virtually impossible to recover.
