Complaint Review: Unionbay Financial Group - Newport Rhode Island

I'm sorry to hear this happened to you, but please be aware, in these horrible economic times, there are a lot of phony companies who are preying on the desperation of people. Your first red flag should have been that they wanted $1500 from you. You should NEVER have to send a large amount of money in order to BORROW a large amount of money. If you're hard up for cash, go to your local bank and talk with a registered representative who can help you find solutions; maybe a home equity line of credit, or some other type of loan. But simply googling the word 'loans' is like walking around a gas station with a lit match. You are going to attract the worst of the worst; the unscrupulous people out there (and there are a TON of them) who will tell you what you want to hear, take your money and run. It's an expensive lesson; in my opinoin, you probably will never get your money back. But please, in the futue, be more careful who you deal with. It's a rotten world out there.

Please ALSO report your story IMMEDIATELY to Canadian Phone Busters, badcreditloanwarning, and Canadian Money Advisor. This report has been generated as the result of a financial fraud that was committed against me by Avenue Financial Group (AFG) which actually does not exist but the address they provide on their letterhead is 595 Stewart Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530. The telephone number that was used during all communications is 866.403.6662 and the fax number that was used is 516.977.1030. Their website is www.avenuefinancial.net. The names of the two people that I spoke with are Brenda Olsen (x384) and Dennis Crown (x0). On December 5, 2008 I conducted an online search for a long term personal loan. Mind you, I had never applied for a loan in my life with the exception of my two college degrees and my automobile. I immediately recognized that name Lending Tree, LLC at www.lendingtree.com and decided to check further into the process required to obtain a loan. All that was required was that I fill out an application consisting of personal information such as my social security number and address. On December 9, 2008 I was contacted by Brenda Olsen who left a voicemail message stating that I had been approved for a $5,000 loan through Avenue Financial Group based out of New York. After searching for the company name online, I found multiple companies throughout the United States and Canada with the same name, checked the BBB which didn't have any positive or negative information, and researched their website @ www.avenuefinancial.net. I returned Brenda's phone call on December 9, 2008. Brenda congratulated me on being approved for the $5,000 loan. She explained that because this was a secured loan that I would need to provide collateral for insurance purposes as stated in the faxed agreement. The collateral required consisted of and was equal to 5 monthly payments totaling $1,107.20 and since I was making such a large payment upfront that I would not need to begin repaying the loan until June of 2009 for two years at $221.00 per month. I reviewed the documents numerous times. Everything appeared to be completely legitimate. I borrowed money against my 401K account in order to pay for the collateral. On December 15, 2008 I contacted Brenda Olsen to inform her that I had the collateral payment required to secure the loan. Brenda explained that the lender was located in Canada and that I needed to wire the funds directly to them. I asked Brenda how to wire the money since I had zero knowledge or experience wiring money. She told me to go to Walmart and ask for a red and white form called a Money Gram. I was to send the collateral payment to the Canadian lender, Christine Osborne in Thompson, MB, Canada. Since the fee was going to be $22.00 Brenda told me to simply send $1,100 and the remaining monies would be credited to my loan. I followed all of these instructions and contacted Brenda to provide her with the reference number as requested. Brenda stated that the $5,000 loan would be directly deposited into my account on December 16, 2008. On the morning of December 16, 2009 I received a voicemail message from Dennis Crown who identified himself as the customer service manager of AFG. Dennis stated in this message that there had been a slight problem with my loan and needed to contact him immediately. Upon contacting Dennis, I learned that the lender after reassessing my loan needed to purchase an additional $1,100 in insurance to secure the loan. My other option was to receive a full refund but that I would not be able to receive this refund until January 5, 2009. I contacted Brenda Olsen who appeared to be completely unaware of the situation and stated that Dennis was a good man and would take good care of me. Brenda also stated that Dennis needed to speak with me again. I contacted Dennis once again who stated that he had spoken with the lender and that they would work something out with me for an additional $800 instead of the original $1,100 to secure the loan. I wired an additional $800 to Christine Osborne in Thompson, MB, Canada through a Money Gram at Walmart. Because the amount wired was less than $800, I was only required to pay $14.16 for the Money Gram fee. I shared this information with a friend who began to research the company online. She found reports posted by others on www.ripoffreport.com that were identical to my experience with the same exact company as well as similar stories with different companies. These individuals stated that their loans were never deposited into their checking accounts after making two collateral payments. I knew at that point that I had been deceived. I contacted my local police department who filed a report with Financial Crimes. The following day I closed my checking account because they had my checking account number in order to transfer the loan. I also contacted all three credit bureaus to prevent identity theft since these criminals had all of my personal information including my social security number. They also had a faxed copy of my passport that I provided for their requirement to provide a type of government ID. The reason I provided this document as opposed to my driver's license is because I was in my office and it was quicker than getting my wallet out of my purse. Dennis Crown had the nerve to contact me a third time. This time he stated that they would provide me with a $10,000 loan but that I needed to pay an additional 10 monthly payments. I told him no and demanded a refund in the amount of $1,900. I pretended that I wasn't aware that they had deceived me. Dennis informed me that a refund would be made on January 5, 2009 but since the company doesn't exist I know that I will never see this money again unless someone finds these criminals and prosecutes them to the fullest extent possible. This experience has been completely and utterly devastating. I have been severely violated and am in complete distress. The website of Avenue Financial was created on 11.05.08 through SiteTiki.com which is a company based out of Singapore. This information can be obtained through the WHOIS database which I discovered on the BBB website. According to http://www.ripoffreport.com/default.asp, there are a series of companies that are potentially being operated by the same people. This inference was derived as a result of the reports filed by other individuals indicating the exact same scam and strategies utilized. I have documented these and am happy to share them with anyone who can help. I pray that there is someone out there that can and is willing to assist me and other victims in finding these individuals who are hacking into Lending Tree's website before they violate and take advantage of other innocent people. I have obviously never applied for a loan other than for my education and automobile. I didn't realize that advanced fees were illegal in our country as well as Canada. Please contact me if you have any information as to what I can do to seek justice and to put an end to their criminal practices. Other Fraudulent Advance Fee Companies 1st International Financial Group Affiliated Funding Online @ http://www.affiliatedfundingonline.com/index.php Allied Capital Finance Corp @ www.allicapfi.com Alpha Star Loans @ http://www.alphastarloans.com/ Alternative Investment Corporation Altimax Financial Amcorp Finance Incorporated America Corporate Financial Group American Community Lending American Liberty Financial Atlantic Capital Resource Center Avalon Lending Services Bayfield Lending Group @ www.bayfieldlending.com Bayview Trust Financial @ www.bayviewtrustfinancial.com Beacon Financial Group Bellwood Financial Group Best West Financial Birchcliff Lending Brennans Group Briarcliff Financial Group Bridgeport Financial Brockville Financial Cadex National Capital Lending Capital Trust Alternative Capital Trust Financial Group Capital Venture Investments Cash Plus Lending @ http://www.cashpluslending.com/ Caswell Financial Group @ http://www.caswellfinancialgroup.com CedarBrook Lending Group Century Capital Funding Charles D. Financial Charter Lending Group Charter Stone Financial CityCom Financial Group Clearview Lending Clearview Lending Group Commercial Capital Group Credit Direct Financial Group Creditview Financial Group Crenton Financial Group DCM Financial Services Elite Consolidation Group Equistar Financial Group Fairway Financial Group Fidelity Trust Financial Fidelity Trust Financial Services First Business Financial Solutions First Canadian Finance First Delta Financial Group First International Finance First International Lending Group First Universal Lending Flemington Trust @ http://www.flemingtontrust.com/ Glendor Financial Group Greenbridge Lending Group @ http://www.greenbridgelending.com/ Greenbridge Lending Services @ http://www.greenbridgelending.com/ Gretchen Fox and Associates Hillsdale Financial Group @ http://www.hillsdalefinancial.net/ Hudson Lending Group Incline Financial Group IMC Financial Services Invesco Lending Group MTS Capital Services @ www.mtscservices.com McLean and Forrester Marrow and Parke Financial Mason Capital Group Metro Lending Group Millwood Financial Group @ http://www.millwoodfinancial.com/ Moneta Lending Group NFG Financial National Trust Financial Group Nationwide Prudential Incorporated New General Financial North American Loans Lenders Recovery Oakdale Lending Group Omega One Loans @ http://www.omegaoneloans.com/ Patriot Loans Financial Parkway Lending Peoples First Financial Pioneer Lending Pioneer Lending Resources Prevathon Lending Group PrimeMax Financing Priority One Financial Group @ http://www.priorityonefinancialgrp.com Providence Financial Prudential Lending Group Remax Financial Richfield Lending Group Rivercrest Financial Group Sinclair Lending Solutions Sinclair Loan Center Standard Lenders Stanford Financial Group Sterling National Lenders Superior Lending Sutherland Lending Trenton Financial Group Trident Solutions Group Unionbay Financial Group United Loan Funding United SBS Financial Universal Financial Ventana Consolidation Group Vision Lending Corporation Watson Financial Group Westbrook Lending @ http://www.westbrooklending.com/ Westdale Finance Group Winchester Lending Group Winfield Lending Group Winslow Hill Financial Services Wittman Capital Services World Financial Solutions World Wide Consulting York Land Lending If you have been a victim please contact your local authorities immediately. In addition, contact all three credit bureaus to protect your identity. You may also need to close your checking account immediately to protect yourself from further damage. Moreover, make sure to file reports with http://www.ftc.gov/index.shtml, http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx, and all other government agencies such as the BBB, attorney general, and FBI as well as any media groups. Please share your story with Scam Warners as well. I'm Jen37 on this site. Please send me a PM. We need all of the support that we can get.