Loan scam fleeces unwary

The scammers appear to be operating from overseas and have impersonated genuine Australian companies and Australian Credit Licence holders, said the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

After making a loan enquiry online, the victims generally receive a telephone call or email from the scammers advising they have qualified for the loan, sometimes for a larger amount than they asked for.

Victims are provided with fake loan contracts which look legitimate and are often misled by the use of an Australian credit licence number or Australian company number belonging to a genuine business that has no connection to the scam and the scammers reroute the phone calls to make them look as though they come from Australia.

The scammers then tell the victims they must pay insurance or fees upfront often in the thousands of dollars, for the loan before it can be provided, usually to Australian bank accounts.

After making the payments the victims never see the loan money.

ASIC advises that legitimate lenders under the credit laws of Australia will not request that any fees be paid upfront as these establishment costs are usually included in the loan and repaid over time.

"If you are asked to contribute fees or insurance costs before you are advanced any money under the loan, you should treat the proposed transaction with a great deal of suspicion. this is the classic warning sign of a scam," said ASIC Deputy chairman Peter Kell.

He warned that consumers also put themselves at risk of identity theft by giving out personal information (like copies of identification documents) to parties they don't know or can't contact through publicly available contact details.

www.moneysmart.gov.au