Lenders-scammers: deceptions when trying to borrow or borrow money

[Lord777]

Cheating when trying to borrow money is a dangerous fraud scheme. The borrower, as a rule, does not expect a trick. It seems to him that only those who lend money are at risk. In fact, everyone who participates in a financial transaction is at risk, and there are not always ways to protect themselves from fraud when taking out a loan.

How to cheat when trying to take out a loan or loan?​

There are two types of fraud when applying for loans.

The first is misseling, the unfair provision of services by a legitimate financial institution. The manager does not tell the client about the subtleties of the transaction that the client wants to conclude, the wording of the contract is blurred, and optional paid services are imposed. As a result, the borrower receives unfavorable or unexpected loan terms. You can also apply to the court.

Misseling is not a crime, and it is quite easy to find a court for a bank or an MFI. To do this, you need to file a complaint with the organization itself. If the issue is not resolved immediately, the Central Bank or the financial commissioner will help if the claim amount is up to $ 8000. If the amount is higher, then you need to go to court.

Much worse is the second type-obvious fraud. This is done by black lenders-illegal participants in the financial market. They are not controlled by the Central Bank and operate outside the legal framework. Turning to illegal creditors is dangerous for the loss of property, including the only housing.

Who is at risk of taking a loan from scammers​

Clients who are not familiar with the financial services market, or those who are refused by banks and even MFIs, come to illegal scammers for money.

These are people:

• older people who are rarely approved by banks for loans, especially long-term ones;
• with a large number of existing credit obligations;
• with a high marginal debt burden (PD, percentage of income used to pay off debt obligations);
• overdue on at least one of the existing loans;
• no confirmed income;
• with a bad credit history;
• bankrupts.

Failure of banks in such cases is not just a reduction in their own risks. Many rules (for example, the level of acceptable personal data) are set by the Central Bank. These are measures to protect borrowers – in fact, from themselves. After all, if a person does not have enough money to service debts, a new loan will not help him. Especially if the loan is taken at a high interest rate.

How do black lenders work?​

Illegal lenders:

• they give money at a percentage higher than the maximum set by the law,
• illegal commissions are required,
• they steal personal data and pass it on to other attackers,
• in case of delays, the client is intimidated, threatened with physical violence, damages property, including housing, or takes it away;
• they cheat on contracts.

The most difficult situations after contacting fraudulent lenders arise if the borrower's housing appears in the transaction. The only housing due to debt can not be taken away by law, but fraudsters cleverly circumvent this norm.

How black lenders take away housing, including the only one​

One of the most common fraudulent schemes is the repurchase of apartments.

• Fraudsters demand a receipt from the borrower that he received the amount in which his housing is valued on the market.
• The borrower is given a much smaller amount on hand.

In fact, the attackers can only arrange a purchase and sale transaction, the apartment is already theirs. But they are simultaneously making extra profits and stalling for time while the victim pays them what they consider to be a loan. During this time, the apartment has time to resell, possibly more than once.

The second option is loans secured by real estate. The demand for collateral does not surprise anyone: the lender must have some guarantees (in fact, they should not; legal financial organizations have interest-bearing risks, so loans secured by collateral are cheaper).

The only housing under the law can not act as a pledge. Fraudsters take advantage of the fact that victims do not understand that they are outside the legal field.

In this case, the lender is not a legal financial institution; its contract with the borrower is of a civil nature. This means that the conditions can be any.

For example, the contract specifies that one or two days of delay lead to the alienation of collateral. Careful calculations will not help the victim: scammers will make sure that the payment is overdue in any case.

Another option is to replace the contract. Under the guise of securities on the transfer of housing as collateral, fraudsters offer to sign a donation or a purchase and sale agreement. A warning sign is a contract that is signed only on the last sheet, and not on each page.

Sometimes, to achieve a similar effect, scammers suggest putting a signature on a blank sheet. The reasons are called different: allegedly "their banking details may change", "it may be necessary to add something, do not call you because of this". In fact, they are going to make an additional agreement to the contract, under which the terms will change dramatically in their favor.

The result of such interaction will be the loss of housing, which will be extremely difficult to challenge in court: everything is legal on the papers, the transaction was made voluntarily.

Other ways to influence black lenders​

Those scammers who are not engaged in real estate, too, can greatly spoil the life of the borrower. They work in groups in which, in addition to the pseudo-credit organization, black collectors participate. These are, in fact, robbers who act on the tip of accomplices.

Black collectors have all the personal data of victims of illegal creditors. They know the amount owed. And they begin to simply beat money out of victims – with much higher interest rates than it was laid down even in the initially predatory contract with black creditors.

The victim is intimidated, property is damaged, vandalized in the entrance, her personal data is disclosed, and physical violence is promised.

Such actions are a good reason to write a statement to the police. Actions of black collectors are criminally punishable. But if these people are found and convicted, this will not save the victim from the debt to fraudulent creditors.

How to recognize scammers when you take out a loan​

1. Check the Bank of Russia license with the credit institution. If it is not available, you can not take out a loan, these are scammers. To do this, go to the website of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and use the database search by registration number or OGRN. You can search by name, but there are a lot of companies with similar names, and you can get confused.
2. Check if a potential lender is on the Central Bank's" black list". To do this, you just need to know its name, website address, or TIN.
3. Always read the contract carefully and sign it on every page.
4. Don't rush to sign papers if in doubt. It is better to take the document with you and show it to a lawyer.
5. If they start rushing you or don't allow you to read the document carefully, then leave, they are trying to deceive you.
6. For the security of both parties, contracts are signed on each page or at the end, but then the document is stitched andsealed in the presence of both parties. You can use both methods at once, but this is not prohibited. If you are convinced that signatures only at the end are enough and do not go to your proposals to issue papers in a more secure way, it is better not to agree to the deal. And, of course, you can not leave a signature on a blank sheet.