August 29th, 2011
Beware of payday loan collection scams
The latest disaster, hurricane Irene, will cause yet another national expense and will no doubt lead to new and unexpected financial hardships in some areas. As it is, many of us in this tight economy are living from paycheck to paycheck. Payday loans can be a helping hand for people living close to their means when unforeseen expenses occur. As usual the scammers are out there, circling like vultures and ready to take advantage of those already financially stressed people with threatening phone calls, trying to bully them into paying non-existent debts.
Lenders are bound by laws
Legitimate payday loan companies offer small, short-term loans for people who wish to borrow against their next paycheck. However, when collection becomes an issue, these lenders are bound by laws. They are not allowed to harass their debtors, nor can they threaten arrest or jail.
Scammers
In February, Maria Brown of Houston, Texas, contacted authorities reporting scammers. “They contacted me and really had me believe I was going to jail for check fraud,” Brown said. She had taken out payday loans before the calls, and the scammers seemed to have access to those applications. They sounded legitimate because of the information they possessed about her. Brown realized she was being scammed.
Warnings
Consumeraffairs.com warns of a North Carolina caller described as “having a thick accent” who has been harassing North Carolina consumers for “a couple of years now.” The man uses abusive language and threats to frighten consumers into paying phantom debts with their credit cards. Arizona’s Attorney General’s office reported a similar scam in May. Callers claimed to be from fictitious law firms or government agencies and threatened legal action if the victims didn’t pay money owed on payday loans.
Watch out for these companies
Scammers claim they represent real companies that they are not actually affiliated with, or they may use fictitious company names. Beware of callers who say they represent Morgan & Associates, Federal Bureau of Investigators, DNR Recovery, DNI Recovery, Legal Accounts Association, Department of Law and Enforcement, Cash or ACS.
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collectors are not allowed to threaten arrest if you can’t pay. There is no law in the U.S. that allows arrest for unpaid loans. Collectors are also not allowed to harass, annoy or threaten any kind of violence. It is also a crime to falsely represent oneself as a lawyer.
What to do if targeted
Consumers who receive these calls should never verify personal information over the telephone. Ask for written proof of the debt, which is something legitimate collectors are required to supply. Suspicious consumers may also wish to check their credit report to be sure there have been no unauthorized credit card purchases or loans taken out in their name. Report any suspicious or threatening calls to the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureau and your state Attorney General’s office.
April 3rd, 2011
And you thought the picnic was over?
Everyone thought the financial fiasco would end on December 31st, 2008. That’s what the gurus told us. But they were wrong this time. And we all thought that things couldn’t get much worse. Ha ha! The U.S. economy, pillar of strength for the entire world to model itself on, is still crumbling: no jobs; miserable, if any pensions; awful fear of growing old and coming to the end of one’s life in poverty. Employers are still slashing jobs by the thousands. What’s going on?
How’s your job holding out?
My job is still there. I work from home so if the office or the boss wants to talk to me it means an email or a phone call. The emails are okay and I hear the ‘pinnnggg’ of an incoming email. I read the contents without even opening the letter on the screen. It’s the phone calls that I can’t handle. Every time the phone rings I go into a rigor of fear. I am sure it’s the office calling to say come in and collect your pink slip and final check. I’m a nervous wreck.
My next job
I wonder if the boss knows that I am actually unemployable because of my age. I’m not going to tell him, and in fact I will go to great lengths to make sure he never finds out. I’ve been working happily for the past ten years. I took the job when I retired from the previous place at age 65 and I decided that I needed another challenge, another activity to keep me occupied. The focus of the work interested me and there’s nothing wrong with learning a new subject at age 65. I lied my way through the interview and have managed very well ever since. I need the work to remain sane and I need the work to stay alive.
Loans and Payday Loans
I use the Payday Loan system regularly and it helps me out of various prickly situations. In my world there are a lot of ‘old’ things. The house is older than me and it’s showing signs of rapid decay, unlike me. Last month, in the depths of winter, the boiler went. This was rapidly followed by the oven, and now there’s an electrical fault that keeps blowing everything and I can’t find it. The fact that I can’t bend far enough to peer into the belly of the switchboard recess doesn’t help either. I hope the electrician will be reasonable but it’s going to take a Payday Loan to get it fixed. I will not bore you with the details and ailments of my car. Let’s just say that my car now runs on repair money and not fuel. Much of the time it just stands around awaiting reclassification as a collector’s item.
The Payday Loan solution
The AdvanceLoan.net Payday Loan solution is great and very convenient. I don’t even have to get onto my creaky old legs to file an application. I can do the whole thing from my seat in front of the computer. Have I told you about my computer and its incurable virus?

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