Complaint Review: Universal Lending Associates - Evans Colorado

Hi David, I have a friend who recently experienced a situation almost identical to what you describe. The company name used is different by one word, and the website address is very similar to the one you list, but I'd be willing to bet this is the same person/people. My friend sought a small loan and googled a few terms leading her to the website at issue. She filled out an application and was contacted by an agent of the firm to discuss a $10K loan. She was asked to provide a copy of her DL and proof of income (a pay stub) and was approved for the loan within an hour, and without a credit check or offer of proof of collateral. The loan rate quoted was insanely low which raised suspicions for my friend. She was emailed a document described to her as a loan agreement, instructed to sign the forms and fax them to a given number. Once the forms were received, the agent of this company stated she would give my friend a Western Union account, and that my friend would be required to send approximately $700 to the account. This was described verbally and in the 'loan agreement' as a means of the firm to protect themselves should the borrower default. There was no mention of this fee being used as loan insurance. According to the agent, once they received the fee, they would distribute the $10K either by direct deposit or via courier. I reviewed the 'loan agreement' sent to my friend and several red flags were raised as there were no specific terms, but vague references to amortizations and payments. There was no information stating whether this vendor is the actual loan provider (i.e. financial institution) or the provider of a loan seeking service. If this agency is merely providing loan seeking and processing, they should be identifying the financial institution they use as their lending source. As a good example of a legitimate loan service provider, see http://www.thinkcash.com/ In addition to the above details raising suspicions, my initial research has only added to the suspicions that this agency is not legitimate. Here's what I found thus far: The website lists an address for the firm, but a search of the Secretary of State website's registered businesses does not list any such firm, or any firm with a remotely similar name. Upon calling the toll free number given on the website, the greeting gives the name of a credit union allegedly affiliated with the agency. However, no such credit union is registered with the federal or any state credit union regulatory agency. Googling the name of the company produced results showing the company website, links to this report, and a yahoo answers question by a user asking if anyone had heard of this firm. That is fairly strange for a legitimate business, and very odd for a business dealing with loans. Googling the listed address does not turn up a reference to this agency. IT does however indicate the address is likely in a stripmall as other businesses are listed. One is a law office, and I intend to phone them in the A.M. and ask if they are familiar with the agency in question. Googling the toll free number provides the same reference over and over. It is a listing for a strip club in Florida! My hunch is that the strip club previously used the number but cancelled the subscription and the number was recently re-issued to this alleged lender. A WHOIS search on the domain name indicates the site was created in May 2009, and is registered to a company who offers the service of protecting the identity of the true owner of a website. In other words, you pay them a fee, and they register the domain in their name. Thus there is no public record of the actual owner. This is very suspicious, as a legitimate business would not need to hide their identity. Any organization dealing with loans is highly regulated by the government and subject to providing loan customers with a plethora of information. Hiding behind a domain registrant is very inconsistent with the nature of the financial industry. I have been vague to this point for a reason. I fear if I give specifics and this is truly a scam, the scammer will realize they are about to be busted and shut down and move on, only to continue to take advantage of people and commit more crime. My plan is to initiate a federal complaint during business hours (its 2:30am right now, yikes!) and then phone the agency with my friend and pose questions that a prudent potential customer might ask, such as a way to verify the business (tax ID, state of registration, credit union charter number). There is a chance, although its probably less likely than winning the lottery, that this is a legitimate business. If they are, they will be able to provide answers to my questions that can be verified. If not, they will most likely realize their scam is being exposed and attempt to shut down and hide. By omitting details right now, we have a better chance of catching this criminal before they can disappear. I think this is the same person as the date of your complaint, the registration information for the website you listed, and the details of the procedure are so similar it seems more than coincidence. If you'd like to compare notes, lets communicate outside the forum. If an investigation is initiated by law enforcement, I'm sure your information will be very helpful in catching these people if this is a scam. Let me know and I'll give you contact information. Either way, I'll post again tomorrow with the results of our follow up phone call to the agency. Thanks!! G.M.