Get Out of Debt 101 Blog

Yesterday I was talking about scams… what a coincidence. A friend just called me and said that he needed to get a loan for his business and the banks where he had applied rejected his application. So he went with a company in Los Angeles that told him it would be an easy approval, he had good credit, blah blah blah. But he needed to send them $620 so they could start the process.

Three months later, there is no loan and no money back (at least just yet). He cancelled the process over a month ago but the company is not sending the money back because there is always a missing signature or a piece of paper that is not completely filled out or something else. Always an excuse. He went to LA today to talk to them and he had to wait a long time (almost two hours!) until he could actually talk to somebody about his situation. They said the reason he didn’t get the money was because he didn’t fill out “this” piece of paper, so next week he would get it.

I love my friend, but I highly doubt he will get his money back. I hope he does, and I told him he should talk to the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General. He should have done his research before doing business with them (at the bare minimum, a google search to see if other people were complaining about them).

Anyway, the moral of the story is the same as with all the scams you get via email: never, EVER, send money to a company you know NOTHING about and that it promises you something that is too good to be true. Especially, don’t send money before they give you the loan.

See you tomorrow, and be careful with those weird offers. If you didn’t play the lottery in Nigeria lately, don’t send via email your checking account information along with your PIN number…

Remember to stay out of debt!