713-931-3328

Fake Short Term or Payday Loan Scam

Calls from the following area codes and numbers have all been reported to be scammers.  These scammers use phony number and names to attempt to get potential victims to send in money on fake loans that appear to be from legitimate sources.
 
713-931-3328, 713-931-3690, 713-931-3641, 713-936-3424, 713-893-1051
512-686-4244
210-401-3930, 979-639-7900, 779-400-0010, 817-400-1316

The names vary each time.  These fraudsters have committed company identify theft against a Federal Credit Union.

Consumers targeted by the scam typically are looking for a payday or short term loan and search the Internet for assistance.  They voluntarily place their personal information on these independent sites (not recommended) and then receive an email from one of the aliases. They say that you have been approved for a short term loan that is affiliated with companies that the scammer has no association with whatsoever.

Consumers who respond by telephone to the offer are then told that in order to receive the loan, they have to pay for either an upfront fee, taxes owed, processing fee, etc., in the form of a MoneyPak or Pre-paid credit card including Vanilla Network cards.  Do not pay any upfront fees and hang up on them.  

This Caller represented himself as a agent of the Veterans Administration !!!  
He (Steve Johnson?) Stated I was approved for a V.A Loan for  $ 1,000.00
All I had to do was Purchase a Vanilla Reload Card at A -Walgreens, 7/11,CVS, Walmart
I was instructed to pay  $183.00 for Death & Health Benefits to get the Loan (Loading the Card
I would be called back with further instructions as where to send it !!!!
They wanted My E-mail address, last 4 digits of SS# for confirmation
Called me on My Cell Phone # Knew my name?  New # for me*-T Mobil ? Heavy Accent -India
Tried call VA / Got Run Around for Hour !!!!!!- Lets have a few Goverment . Cutbacks Must have started with VA !! No wonder why their Hospital Adm. is so screwed UP