Look out for the latest payday loan scams

A payday loan or payday cash advance is a short-term, small unsecured loan that often turns up as savior at times of financial emergencies. However, while most of the payday lenders are reputed and carry out their ventures as per law, some do not. I’m afraid but simply filling out an online application to assume a payday loan may subject you to the latest phone collection scam. You never know when your personal information is sold to scammers thus making you victim of a scam play.

What is payday loan scam?

Usually, the payday loan scam involves a telecaller who reaches out to an individual and utters about his/her delinquency on a specific payday loan and which he/she must pay off soon to avoid imprisonment. These scam telecallers often pose as authoritative figures, like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Federal Legislative Department, or a law firm.

These scam artists claim to be representing the interest of companies like United Cash Advance, U.S. Cash Advance, US Cash Net, or any other reputable online payday lenders and in a way, harm their reputation.

These kind of scam practices are strictly prohibited by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Actions like making phone calls before 8 am or after 9 pm, using profane or abusive language, communicating with third parties about the debt have been declared as prohibitory by the FDCPA. Since the scam artists have already violated the federal laws, they hardly pay any heed to the FDCPA and go on with their unscrupulous activities in order to fool out the simpletons.

Ways to protect yourself

If you feel that you have been targeted by a scam group, a payday loan scam, or by any other loan collection scam, there are several methods available to protect yourself. If you feel that the loan might be yours, you have the option to call the lender directly for verification. If a collection agency is working on behalf of your lenders, they won’t try to prevent you from talking to the lender. Only the scam entities will hesitate if you ask them to forward the call to the lender.

You can also get help of your local law enforcement agencies just by informing them that you have been contacted by a scam agency. try to provide them with as much information as you can. Initiating certain actions against the scam agency will be easier, if you can provide important information like the name of the lender, the name of the collection agency and the phone number they used to contact you. Next, contact you banks and other credit card companies to freeze your accounts for the time being as the scam agency may try to access your accounts since they already have your personal details. Similarly, you should also contact all the three major credit bureaus and request to put an alert on your file.

Though credit score can be fixed if you can prove that you have fallen victim of an identity theft scam, it can take a significant amount of time, energy and money of yours. Finally, file a complaint at www.IC3.gov. The IC3 is a joint venture by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center to receive complaints on online criminal activities. The filed complaints are researched by the departments jointly before they are referred to certain federal, state, local or international law enforcement agencies for further investigations.

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