Complaint Review: Parkwood Lending Group - Miami Florida

Well, I guess I have to swallow a little crow here and admit I was stupid and gullible. I got scammed out of $2,345.00, despite all of the warnings that I read here on this site, plus the many other red flags thrown in front of me. I mean, we're educated people here. We know what we're doing! This happens to other people, not us! I guess I was so desperate and so hopeful that I was sure this couldn't happen to me. I confronted Tedd Arnott, the supposed Senior Loan Consultant, about all the things that I was reading. He assured me that this was a legitimate company, in business 14 and a half years, and that the people writing all these things were caught falsifying their loan applications. That was why they were asked for additional funds to secure their loan or why the lender backed out at the last minute. He told me that the fee they were asking me to send was actually not a fee since it was being applied to the principal of the loan, therefore they were meeting all legal guidelines. I told this man how important this loan was to me and my husband. I had a double mastectomy last August and we were just trying to recover from all of the medical bills. I also told him how the money that we were scraping together to send him for the first five months payments, was actually money that we had managed to save and scrape together to take our children on a vacation this summer. I told him if he was scamming us that he would be responsible for me not getting to see my children this summer, as they live in Texas with their father. He assured me that he was not that cold hearted and that he was here for me every step of the way. He actually said that he was there to work for me. Ha! He worked for me all right, he worked me right out of the $2,345!

After discussing it with my husband and doing what we thought was enough research to make ourselves feel okay with all of this, we decided to send the money. I was instructed to wire our payment by Money Gram to Cindy Livingston in Novia Scotia, Canada. When I picked up the form to wire the money at Wal-Mart, I saw a notice on it that said I should stop if I was sending money to secure a loan, etc. I almost backed out, but I called Mr. Arnott and he reassured me that everything was fine. He even said that he would have the loan money wired to our bank account by 5:00 that same day, even though he wasn't required to send the money until the next day...but it never happened. All night, I kept thinking about all that cash being counted and recounted by the lady at Wal-Mart. Now, I wish I had just rolled the window down in my car and thrown it to a homeless person -- at least he wouldn't have my social security number, bank information, etc.!!!Today we got a call from a new person in the scheme, Henry Atwood. He told me that our loan had been reevaluated and that the lender now wanted another five months of payment to secure the loan. I told him that I was "promised" and "guaranteed" that I would not be asked for more money by Mr. Arnott. He promised me that several times and assured me that their was no way that could happen. I told Mr. Atwood I just wanted my money back. I told him that I was going to call the FBI. At that point, he screamed at me to Shut Up and that I was going to listen to him and do what he said if I wanted to get my money back. He told me that I better change my attitude because he was the person that was responsible for either giving me my money back or helping me to get another loan. I told him that was not going to happen and he said "Fine, then sue me." Then he hung up on me! I called him back and he told me that I had to apologize to him if I wanted to get my money back. Finally, he agreed to wire my money back to me on July the 10th. I sent them cash and I have to wait almost a month to get my money back??? That money is gone and we'll never see it again.

I called the FBI and the CIA and they told me that this was a Nigerian and West African scam. I now have to close all my accounts, put a fraud alert on my credit report, as well as making multiple reports with multiple agencies. If you got scammed too, this is what I was told to do...contact the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov and the Federal Internet Fraud Division website at www.ic3.gov. This website is managed by the CIA and FBI White Collar Crimes Division. Also go to a wesite called Thumbbusters. He said you can just google it to get the correct web site address. This is a Canadian website monitored and investigated by the Canadian authorities. He said the thumbbusters website is really worked very seriously by the authorities, so definitely do this. Also, contact the BBB even though they are not members. Eventually they will get enough complaints filed against them that they will get a bad rating from them. From what he told me, these people buy software that can make their phone number look like it is calling from anywhere they want to make it look like they are calling from. They can make it look like it's a Florida number, when in actuallity they are in Canada, Nigeria, Africa, etc... He said this scam is so vast and deep that it is virtually impossible to catch them. He said to check their website in a week or two and it will be gone. They will just close up shop and get a new company name, address, phone number and website and start the same scam all over again. This cycle just keeps on and on.

Please don't do like us...read all of this and listen. They will take your money. This will happen to you! Not the old saying that we went by-- "It always happens to others." I promise you will get busted! I told Mr. Arnott everything the people were saying about their company and he still managed to make me believe him over my gut instinct. The names to watch out for are Tedd Arnott, Henry Atwood and Cynthia Livingston and all the other names listed on this site. The CIA officer told me that those are probably all fake names, but just in case... AGAIN, PLEASE LISTEN! DO NOT SEND THEM MONEY! I PROMISE! YOUR SITUATION WILL JUST GET WORSE!! We are in more trouble now now when we started and I don't get to see my kids this summer. Some people just don't have a conscience I guess. Also, when I asked him about the possibilty of them calling me after they got my money and the lender "reevaluating my loan and needing additional funds" or that the "lendar had backed out of the loan at the last minute," he told me that there was "no way that could happen." He said "you and the lender have signed a legally binding contract and that just can't happen. Impossible!" I felt somewhat better when he told me that. I guess I see where my best thinking got me---SCAMMED AND BROKE!

Confused

Deatsville, Alabama

U.S.A.