Illinois consumers have been getting hit by pay day debt collection scams. Stolen personal information has reached the hands of con artists. These con artists then use personal details and data from current and previous paydayloans borrowers to make a scam. Lawsuits and jail time are the typical threats con artists for payday loan collectors use. They call on the phone to get a hold of the consumers. The paydayloans debt collection scam has proliferated to the point that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has issued a consumer alert.
Debt collection scammers like to threaten and intimidate
Recently, there has been a lot more complaints about bogus paydayloans debt collectors. These came into the Illinois attorney general’s office. Recpients of pay day loan scam calls used online payday loans direct lender before. Consumer Affairs reports that they had all paid the debt already by the time they got the call. They say the scammers know their names, social security numbers, employer and bank account numbers. Victims think the scammers are real because of all the details the caller has. To get money out of the victims’ bank accounts, the scammers just have to use threats and intimidation, such as lawsuits or jail. Lawsuits or jail are just two of the threats and intimidation, that are used by the scammers. They use this to get withdraw! als made from victims’ bank accounts. Sometimes, consumers are tricked to sign promissory notes and fax them to the bogus collectors.
Payday lenders lose business
More individuals are getting hurt by debt collection scammers. Illinois payday loans no faxing customers aren’t the only ones. Wallet Pop reports the payday loan scam calls have surfaced in Ohio, Colorado, Florida, Indiana and other states around the nation. Madigan said the scammers say they’re from a variety of bogus companies, such as Morgan and Associates, Federal Bureau of Investigators, DNR Recovery, DNI Recovery, Legal Accounts Association, Department of Law and Enforcement, CashNet USA, America Legal Services, Instant money and ACS. The names are all fake, well, for probably the most part. There is a real one coming from CashNet USA. It is one of the only real ones. Scam warnings are on the site for CashNet USA right now.
Illegal to harass with debt collection
Debt collectors can’t call between 8 am and 9 pm as outlined by the FTC’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. They also can’t demand more money than what is owed, reveal a consumer’s debt to a third party or threaten lawsuits or arrest. The payday loan scam made it so victims had to pay hundreds of dollars. These reports came in to the Madigan office in numerous reports. Madigan gave some advice for everyone contacted by scammers via an Illinois TV station, WIFR.
People don’t go to jail for failing to pay a debt in this country.
Never give out any personal information over the telephone, especially bank account numbers or credit card numbers.
When in doubt, ask the debt collector to produce documentation that qualifies the debt they seek to collect.
Contact the original creditor to confirm if the debt has been paid. If not, confirm that the debt was sold to a third party collector before making a payment.
Further reading
Consumer Affairs
consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/08/il_payday_lending.html
Wallet Pop
walletpop.com/blog/2010/08/26/warning-issued-over-bogus-payday-loan-debt-collector-calls/
WIFR
wifr.com/news/headlines/101497999.html?ref=999
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