HSBC Horror Stories

A flurry of advance-fee loan scams is victimizing consumers across the USA and Canada, the Council of Better Business Bureaus warns. Consumers who respond to phone calls or ads that purportedly guarantee loans to those with poor credit instead lose hundreds of dollars or more in fees demanded by the suspected scammers. The frauds follow a typical pattern. Consumers call a toll-free number and are told to submit credit information over the phone or fill out paperwork to be mailed later. In exchange for a $5,000 to $100,000 loan, they are told to wire or mail a money order for $500 or more to pay processing fees or other charges. The applicants never get the loan, and they lose what they paid in fees. They also risk having their identity stolen if they provided a Social Security number or other personal data to the scammers. “People with the poorest finances are being victimized,” said Steve Cole, CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. Although the group had no data on the number of victims, spokesman Stephen Cox said workers in the council’s 129 local bureaus have fielded a rise in complaints about the alleged scam.