Birchmount Financial Services Suspected organized PHISHING ploy Oklahoma City Oklahoma
This company contacted me over the telephone. The caller id listed the number as private. I had applied for a loan on a few websites online but not with this company. On the initial contact I was told that the loan had been approved but a collateral payment would be in order to secure the loan. I asked for written information and the "loan officer" faxed over a loan agreement. On the loan agreement there was no local number but there was a toll free number listed. I did a reverse lookup of this number and it came back as private/unlisted. I did a reverse lookup of the fax number and it came back as private/unlisted but the lookup confirmed that it was registered through a wireless/cellular company.
I googled the company name and nothing came up. I googled the website address and nothing came up. I googled the address and nothing came up under Birchmount Financial Services but a few matches for a company named United Lending Corporation popped up and one of them was a link to this website(www.ripoffreport.com). The linked report lists the same type of activity by United Lending Corporation I have encountered with Birchmount Financial Services. It seems like too much of a coincidence that the address is the same.
When asked how the collateral payment would be processed I was told either through cashiers check or Western Union. No personal checks, credit cards or paypal payments are accepted. They have to be the only online business that doesn't accept Paypal.
When I voiced my concerns to the "loan officer" over not having a way to verify that I was dealing with a legitimate and reputable business, the "loan officer" became offended instead of being understanding and attempting to ease my concerns.
I can not prove that this company is phishing but there are a lot of Red Flags.
There is also no record on file with the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce or Better Business Bureau for this company.
It appears they are going to great lengths to conceal their location and identity, ie. private numbers, toll free numbers, cellular fax lines.
The fact that their website is not listed with any search engine is a red flag. You literally can not find their website unless you know the exact url. A legitimate online business would try to be as visible as possible.
Caveat Emptor.
Fletch
Chesapeake, Virginia
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Fletch
Chesapeake,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Whois database search confirms original suspicions.
#3Author of original report
Thu, August 06, 2009
After completing a "Whois" search on the web site I was able to conclude that the ip address for www.Birchmountfinancial.com, 66.49.214.28, is hosted by a server in Canada! The registrant information confirms that the server is run by Canaca-com Inc., 1650 Dundas St East, unit 203, Mississsauga, Ontario, L4X-2Z3.
The telephone number for Birchmount Financial Services listed in the whois query is the wireless fax line mentioned above in the original post. The whois query confirms that the web site was registered and went online on 7-30-2009.
A inquiry with the Oklahoma Secretary of State revealed that the CEO or Birchmount Financial Services, Mark Thomson, is not a registered agent. The same inquiry also revealed that Birchmount Financial Services is not a registered Corporation in the State of Oklahoma.
A complaint has been filed with the FTC.
Fletch
Chesapeake,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Galaxy Funding copycat? Maybe the same people!!
#3Author of original report
Wed, August 05, 2009
There are two other reports on this website of a scam virtually identical to the Birchmount Financial Services scam reported under a company called Galaxy Funding Inc.
The Artists behind the Birchmount Financial Services scam explained to me that the "collateral security payment" would buy an insurance policy for the lender incase the loan was defaulted on and the excess funds would be applied to principal.
The "loan officer" told me that the insurance was the reason they could offer a much lower interest rate than I had expected.
It is too much of a coincidence that the "private lender" in the Galaxy Funding Inc. scam was located in Canada with a listed address of 2821 Birchmount Rd., Toronto, Canada , and one of the few google results returned for Birchmount Financial Services shows a company named Birchmount Financial Inc. with an address in Canada.
It seems that its very possible that the same scum behind the "Canadian Pharmacy" online scams, may have branched out.