Second Mortgage

When you need money, you are an easy prey for these false lenders.

But since you probably don’t have the time to do a thorough research in order to get the best deal for you, following are some tips on how to make sure you are not facing a scam.

You are being asked money in order to close a deal on a loan and you can’t understand why you should pay them in order to approve a loan for you? No one does understand that, because it makes no sense. In the loan industry, the only ones that charge money are those who act as intermediaries. And they do not charge you for getting you a loan but for putting you in contact with the right lender that can approve your loan.

If the service they claim to provide is the loan itself, you need to suspect. No one will ask money to lend you money. Some loans have closing costs and administrative costs but those costs can always be included in the overall loan amount. So if you are asked to pay money upfront by someone who claims to be a lender (not an intermediary) then, chances are that you are facing a scam.

What these false lenders do is quite simple, they get in touch with you and state that your loan is approved, that you just need to send a money order to a specific address and that you’ll receive loan documentation to complete and sign at an address you’ll provide.

When asked for money sent by money order you should begin to suspect. Money orders are harder to track than payments made with a credit card or online payments services. After they receive payment, they’ll keep the money and do nothing at all.

For some time you may call and they’ll say the documentation is on its way, but after a couple of weeks no one will answer the phone anymore.

If you wonder how you can make sure an online lending company or intermediary is not a scam, you should know that, as stated above, the payment options are the most important clue.

If the only payment options available are money orders, or wire transfers services, you should suspect. Instead, if they offer the option of paying with credit card or a trustworthy online payment service like Paypal, you can be sure that the online company is most likely legit because credit cards and online payment services like Paypal offer customer protection programs for online transactions that will let you void the payment if don’t get what you paid for.