Meridian National Trust Loan Fraud, Rip-Off Artists Internet
Meridian National Trust ripped- me off. I didn't realize it until I just now when I saw the other reports. Too late because none were out there when I was researching the company...and that's the leverag they used to convince me that they were legit.
Doug Alexanders said......"If we weren't a reputable company that delivered what we said, don't you think you'd find a bunch of negative reviews and complaints. We wouldn't be allowed to operate." He had a good point, because I couldn't find any. Not 1. Now here they come.....all at the same time.
I filled out an online application, and was contacted by Doug Alexander who said I had been approved for a $5,000 loan. but since I was considered high risk, they shopped me around to their international lenders and I had received two approvals...one from Canada and one from Barcelona Spain. I could pick which one I wanted to deal with, but he said they work with the Barcelona lender a lot and have several accounts with him....so I went with that one.
To make a long story short... The loan required the 1st 4 payments to be made up front which would be applied directly to the principal of the loan and would not be applied to any fees per the laws of NY. I wired the money. Then Stephen Cohen called me back and said the insurance company did a second look and decided they would require an additional 4 payments to secure the loan which would be applied the same way and I wouldn't have to make my first paymrnt until April 2012.
I have two separate contracts that state all of this. Daniel S. Carter is the so-called CEO signing the contract. Both Doug Alexander and Stephen Cohen said the contract was legally binding so they would transmitt my loan once the requirements are met. I sent the 2nd $900 payment on 8/13 to the so-called lender in Barcelona. And Western Union even sent me a text when it was picked up.
My loan was supposed to be in my account on Monday, but needless to say...no loan. I'm out $1800 and I don't know how I'm going to pay my rent or any of the other obligations I have. I am desperately seeking justice. I am a single mother and my desire to try to help my family and make things better has made me foolish and I actually made everything 10 times worse for myself and more importantly...my daughter.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Robert
Irvine,California,
U.S.A.
Future Advise
#2Consumer Comment
Tue, August 16, 2011
It's not really going to help you now, but if you take a few things from this scam take these..
- A scammer is not going to tell you that they are a scam. These people change their name more often than you change your socks. So of course there will be no negative comments about them because they keep that name for a few days to weeks and then move on.
- You fell victim to the "Advanced Loan Fee" scam. It is illegal for a lender to ask for fees up front, any legitimate lender will take the fees out of the money they give you, regardless of what laws they "tell" you. The reason these people can do this is because everything they give you is fake, they are not even in the US. Yes they may have a US number, but that is just because they bought a "throw-away" cell phone with a stolen credit card. So tracking them down is next to impossible.
- There are many scams out there. Any one that requires you to send money by Western Union or Money Orders need to instantly raise red-flags in your mind. Another common one is for people to send you a legitimately looking check and telling you to cash it, then send them some of the money. Well in a few days the check comes back as bad and you are responsible to pay the bank back.