A paydayloans debt collection scam has been victimizing consumers in Illinois. Stolen personal info has reached the hands of con artists. These con artists then use personal and data from current and former payday loans borrowers to make a scam. Lawsuits and jail time are the typical threats con artists for payday loan collectors use. They call on the phone to get a hold of the consumers. There is enough of a pay day loans collection scam in Illinois that a consumer alert was even given by the Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
Intimidation and threats used by debt collection scammers
Bogus pay day debt collectors have been the main complaint coming to the Illinois attorney general’s office just lately. As outlined by Consumer Affairs, most individuals who have received fraudulent payday loans calls have previously used an online payday lenders and had already paid their debt. The info known by the caller contains social security numbers, employer, bank account numbers and names. Victims think the scammers are real because of all the info the caller has. The scam artists use threats and intimidation, such as lawsuits and jail, to dupe them into authorizing a direct withdrawal from their checking account. Sometimes, consumers are tricked to sign promissory notes and fax them to the bogus collectors.
This stops money lenders from getting business
Scammers hurt more than just Illinois payday loans no fax customers. Wallet Pop reports the pay day loan scam calls have surfaced in Ohio, Colorado, Florida, Indiana and other states around the nation. Bogus companies, such as Morgan and Associates, Federal Bureau of Investigators, DNR Recovery, DNI Recovery, Legal Accounts Association, Department of Law and Enforcement, CashNet USA, America Legal Services, Quick payday and ACS, are where Madigan says the scammers claim to be from. These names tend to be fake. CashNet USA is one of the only real ones. On its website, CashNet USA has posted a warning about the scam.
Illegal to harass with debt collection
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act protects consumers. Debt collectors can’t even call between 8 am and 9 pm. They also can’t demand more money than what is owed, reveal a consumer’s debt to a 3rd party or threaten lawsuits or arrest. The payday loan scam made it so victims had to pay hundreds of dollars. These reports came in to the Madigan office in many reports. WIFR, which is an Illinois TV station, showed advice for if consumers are contacted by scammers that come from Madigan.
People don’t go to jail for failing to pay a debt in this country.
Never give out any personal information over the telephone, especially bank account numbers or credit card numbers.
When in doubt, ask the debt collector to produce documentation that qualifies the debt they seek to collect.
Contact the original creditor to confirm if the debt has been paid. If not, confirm that the debt was sold to a third party collector before making a payment.
Consumer Affairs
consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/08/il_payday_lending.html
Wallet Pop
walletpop.com/blog/2010/08/26/warning-issued-over-bogus-payday-loan-debt-collector-calls/
WIFR
wifr.com/news/headlines/101497999.html?ref=999
