The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions is warning consumers to verify the license of any lending professional they are considering doing business with to avoid becoming victims of potential scams.
Please note that these scammers are frighteningly well informed, very persistent and extremely threatening. Anyone who has been contacted by them should take steps to protect their personal financial information and treat this as a matter of identity theft.
National Payday Loans may be conducting a loan collection scam. National Payday Loans does not have a listed address.
National Payday Loans has provided the following telephone numbers:
1-510-709-4660
National Payday Loans does not appear to have a Web site.
The company is not licensed by the Department of Financial Institutions. The company is not registered to do business in Washington by either the Department of Revenue or the Washington Secretary of State.
How The Potential Scam Works
- Representatives of National Payday Loans make unsolicited telephone calls to consumers at home or at work. The scammers tell consumers that they are being prosecuted for loan fraud, bank fraud or check fraud because they have defaulted on a payday loan
- The scammers may threaten the consumer with immediate arrest
- The scammers usually tell consumers that they received a payday loan of several hundred dollars in 2008, they may tell the consumer that the debt has increased to several thousand dollars
- The scammers have the personal financial information of the consumer, including bank account numbers, social security numbers and the names of relatives
- The scammers demand immediate payment of the debt by wire transfer or by providing a checking account or credit card number
- If a consumer pays the scammers, they will continue to aggressively contact that consumer for even more money
- These scammers are highly persistent and may make dozens of threatening calls in a short period of time
If You Feel You're A Victim
If you feel you have been a victim of a loan scam, please contact the Federal Trade Commission at (1-877-FTC HELP, or online at www.ftc.gov. Because the scammers have access to bank account information and social security numbers, victims should consider themselves victims of identity theft and take appropriate precautions. The Federal Trade Commission has information for victims of identity theft available online at www.ftc.gov.
Consumers should know that Washington state law prohibits threatening or harassing behavior by individuals attempting to collect a payday loan. Only licensed companies are permitted to make payday loans in Washington.