Archive for the 'Financial Scams' Category

Is There Any Way to Know if Someone Has Obtained a Loan Using My Identity?

The last thing you need right now is to find out that your identity has been stolen, and the person that has stolen it has taken out a huge loan in your name. This leaves you responsible not only for finding out who stole your identity and preventing further action on your credit ability, but for paying off the loan that isn’t even yours to begin with in the mean time until someone does figure out who did it.

There are a few things too look for when you think that maybe your identity has been stolen and faulty action has been taken with your credit. Many people can go for months without even realizing that they have been a victim of fraud. However, if you monitor your credit carefully by looking for these warnings, you can catch the identity thief more quickly, or avoid it altogether.

1. Credit card or loan statements will reveal transactions, most likely withdrawals, that you did not make. Criminals will spend money on your credit card or take out a loan in your name that you had absolutely nothing to do with. Watch your mail carefully and be sure to not miss any clues that give you reason to believe that someone else is using your identity to get credit.

2. People may call you from credit card companies or lending agencies to verify information or to tell you that you were approved for a loan that you did not apply for. This is one way that you can easily find out if your personal information has been stolen, and one way it can be easily solved if you simply cancel the application and get someone to help you get rid of this identity theft problem.

It is best to catch it in early stages like this, but many people let it slip by, or simply do not get such a lucky break.
There are several ways in which you can prevent identity theft. Stopping it before it even starts is always the first option. Here are some of the things you can do to keep your identity safe:

1. Keep an eye on your statements

Monitoring your statements and your credit accounts will keep you updated on their activity. It will help if you know what transactions you have made better, so that you can identify things that do not belong more quickly. Frequent monitoring will help you to detect fraud faster.

2. Check your report

Checking your credit report frequently can help you to know if someone has obtained a loan using your identity, or if they have committed any other identity theft related crime. If someone has taken out a loan in your name and has left you to pay it off when you have no idea it even exists, your credit report will be full of marks against you and your credit score will plummet. This will help you if a statement for a loan that was not taken out in your name, obviously, is not sent directly to you.

How Can You Tell Legitimate Loans from Scams?

There are several ways to get a loan out there. For a long time, we have been able to get money for something we need now and pay it all back later. These days, there are hundreds of potential lenders to choose from and apply with to get the money that you need right now, especially guaranteed online personal loans.

Unfortunately, there are several people out there who pretend to be lenders who are actually just trying to get you to give them your money while you innocently assume that you are going to get a fair loan out of it. People like this can be very discrete in their advertisement, making their deals seem like the best you could possibly get, when in all reality, it is all too good to be true. Knowing the warning signs you should look for when searching for a loan is completely necessary if you want to be safe and secure with the lender that you are getting involved with.

With all of these warnings floating around about how there are deceitful lenders, it would be nice to know some of the things to look for and to notice about a potential lender that will give you clues letting you know whether or not they are legitimate. Illegitimate loans can be difficult to spot, but can be revealed if you know what signs to look for. Here are a few tips that will help you, as you search for the right loan, to not get scammed into paying more than you ought to.

1. Payment in Advance

Never give in to “lenders” who tell you that you must make a payment in advance, unless of course you are dealing with your own bank consultant. True and honest lenders will most often not ask for a deposit, because that is not what credit really is. Sure, they may ask for collateral, but that is not necessarily the same thing, so you must be cautious and notice the difference between an attempt to scam you out of your money and the request from a credit card company or loan officer for collateral.

2. Credit Insurance

There are some credit lenders that will give you an agreement that has extra options, like credit insurance. These types of extra options often cost money. By signing the document without reading it, you may be agreeing to pay the fees for extra packages that you do not even need or will not use.

3. Personal Information

Do not give out your personal information, like your driver’s license information and your social security number out to just anyone. Putting this type of trust in someone that you are not absolutely sure is honest and legitimate puts you at risk for identity theft and numerous other types of fraud.

Most legitimate credit card companies or other lending services will not ask for this type of information, so do not settle for a company that asks for this information simply because they have good interest rates. After all, if they are not legitimate, they may end up robbing you blind, so it really won’t matter how low their interest rate offers were.