Robert
Irvine,#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.