Dave
New Westminster,#2Consumer Suggestion
Sat, December 30, 2006
Google "advance fee loan" -- there's lots of info about how such a thing is illegal. The best article, IMO, is the one on the FTC website. File a complaint at ic3.gov. With enough complaints, they do go after these people. There have been two recent high profile arrests in Canada -- one in Vancouver and a boiler room bust in Montreal. Without complaints, the authorities don't even look for these people. Western Union is at the root of all these scams. The only people who should be asking you to send them money via wire are close relatives who are somehow in a spot of trouble. Anyone else asking for a money wire is trying to steal. Ask why a company would want to have an employee walk down the street to pick up a wad of cash from Western Union, when it would be simpler, faster, and more secure to have the money deposited directly into their bank account (VISA, EFT, check).