Robbing the Poor
By Bob McDonnellShe said her name was Michelle Dees and that she was a loan officer in Richmond.
The person on the other end of the phone, Stephen Johnson, didn’t believe her.
Little did she know that Johnson owned the office that “Michelle” claimed to be in, which is actually a vacant suite.
After getting calls from folks trying to track down “The Bramwell Institute,” Johnson alerted our office.
It’s the latest “advance-fee loan” scam.
The con artists are in Canada, but their loan documents claim they’re based in Richmond, an address that happens to be Johnson’s empty office.
“It scares me that somebody is going to be financially ruined and they’re going to show up here with a shot gun,” he said.
Preying on those with poor credit, they say they’ll loan you the money you need if you just pay a fee up front. Then they disappear – after never legitimately existing in the first place.
By the time you read this, the company in question may have already packed up shop and changed its name. The names sound credible – The Bramwell Institute, West Wing Advisors, St. Patrick’s Investments – but these are deceptive thieves.
Legitimate offers of credit do not require an up-front payment. Although lenders may charge application, appraisal or credit report fees, the fees generally are taken from the amount borrowed.
Our office is looking into this scam, assisting victims and trying to get the word out. (We worked with a web server to disable The Bramwell Institute’s Web site and are tracing the company.) But nothing replaces proactively protecting yourself from similar advance-fee loan scams.
To report a scam, contact our consumer hotline at 1-800-451-1525 or complete our contact form. If you have fallen victim to a scam advertised in the press, contact the source that advertised the bogus offer to let them know of the scam. Because most advance-fee loan scams involve a victim in one state and a scam artist in another, reporting the problem to the Federal Trade Commission also is wise: www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 877-FTC-HELP.
Consumer protection is an important statutory duty of the Office of the Attorney General, and our staff can help. In an age of increased consumer scams, we must all continue to be educated and vigilant.
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