Loan Scam or not?

One last question. I hate to wear out the goodness of strangers since it's so limited these days. The aforementioned friend (with the advance fee loan scam). Also applied at like 4 other places for "loans" two I tracked down and are also store front PDL companies so i'm not really concerned about those, but what about http://www.firstamericacredit.com/ is that another scam setup like the other? She said no money up front and I told her, i bet that will change soon ....

I just had a quick look and from what I have seen it looks ok

I will have a closer look and see if I can dig anything else up but I need to mention, Fake sites are not my area of expertise.

You as well as your friend now know the warning signs so please stay vigilant

One last thing, we dont limit our visitors to how many questions they can ask, feel free to ask as many as you need to

Here is a whois record for the site

Whois Record
Registrant:
Domain Discreet
ATTN: firstamericacredit.com
Rua Dr. Brito Camara, n 20, 1
Funchal, Madeira 9000-039
PT
Email:

Registrar Name....: REGISTER.COM, INC.
Registrar Whois...: whois.register.com
Registrar Homepage: http://www.register.com

Domain Name: firstamericacredit.com

Created on..............: Fri, Apr 25, 2008 Note the site was set up over a year ago so it is a relatively new company for a legitimate bank but scam companies dont normally last that long
Expires on..............: Thu, Apr 25, 2013 then note the expiry date, fake banks rarely have more than a 1 year expiry, they dont pay any more than they need to because they dont expect them to stay open that long
Record last updated on..: Mon, Feb 16, 2009

Administrative Contact:
Domain Discreet
ATTN: firstamericacredit.com
Rua Dr. Brito Camara, n 20, 1
Funchal, Madeira 9000-039
PT
Phone: 1-902-7495331
Email:

Technical Contact:
Domain Discreet
ATTN: firstamericacredit.com
Rua Dr. Brito Camara, n 20, 1
Funchal, Madeira 9000-039
PT
Phone: 1-902-7495331
Email:

DNS Servers:

dns249.d.register.com
dns220.c.register.com
dns245.b.register.com
dns137.a.register.com

Adding to my note above within the Whois info,

As scammers evolve, so do their scams and they are always trying to seem more legitimate, some fake sites do have longer expiry dates so they can seem more legitimate so please dont see a longer expiry date as being proof the site is legitimate as that is not always the case

I'm doing some digging.

Does your friend realise that interest is charged at 10% per month - which equates to at least 120% per annum ?

From the website

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the practices of this web site, please contact us by sending a letter to:

First America Credit SA
Attn: Privacy Officer
Suite 11730
APDO 0832-1235
World Trade Center
Rep. De Panama

I am pretty familiar with fake loan sites but I am not really sure with this one. Most fake sites are only registered for one year and this one is a 5 year registration, which could indicate that it is legitimate. However, this site has no contact information other than the telephone number. There is no indication of where it is located, so we can't check to see if it is a legally registered company in any specific country. I suspect that it is not in the US, as Gomer pointed out the Privacy policy suggests a tie to Panama. It might not be a scam, but it is certainly shadey. I personally would not do business with them.

Your friend should also be aware of the potential for identity theft.

I am writing a paper on the evils of No Child Left Behind, and long story short, firstamerica.com shares the same address as leedsequity.com and leedsglobalpartners.com. Take a look at their websites and tell me that they aren't PACs.

Hello all
i think the are scammers from Africa,,,
i had received call from 2 different women saying that work with forex and the want me to make investment with them confusing me with stock price etc... i've made whois for the domain name and it's registered couple of month ago ))) so she is saying that she is from UK lol )) then when i google the owner of the website company ))) i come over to this forum
ATTN: royalallianceuk.com
Rua Dr. Brito Camara, n 20, 1
Funchal, Madeira 9000-039
PT
Phone: 1-902-7495331

Domain Name: royalallianceuk.com
Created on..............: 2011-05-17
Expires on..............: 2012-05-17
and sounds this guys has anther scamming website offering lean Hehe sounds Nigerian crew working here

First America Credit is a HUGE SCAM RIP OFF DISHONEST LIARS THIEVES BEWARE

I applied for a loan, went through the whole process, set up an allotment through my employment so they would get paid before I did, then they call back and say they can't give me as much as they had originally promised. They could only give me half, I said that was dishonest to change their mind after I had already set up the allotment when they knew they were going to get paid and I couldn't stop the allotment. The rep they gave me began to call me at work and harass me and said that if I didn't talk to her when she wanted she would cancel my loan. I hung up the phone because I didn't want to lose my job and she canceled the loan, knowing that I couldn't stop her from getting at least one payment of $200.

Don't go to these people. They are liars and thieves. They take your payment after they cancel your loan and then won't give you the money back. I am having trouble getting my money back. They just hang up on you if you call.

Welcome to ScamWarners katclayton. I am sorry to hear about your experience.

Please post the email address and the text of the emails you have exchanged. Did they also have a website? We have members who know how to shut down websites used for scams.

I received a loan from this company over a year ago and have never had any problems. I set up the automatic payment, got the amount they told me and have even had the limit increased. Sorry for those who have had problems but in my opinion they are legit.

Taking a second look at the site it isn't a scam, but it offers loans to people with poor credit records and charges a lot for doing so. Unfortunately those who are least able to keep up the repayments are going to be those applying, and really it just defers the horror until later, and not much later to judge from this article which explains how quickly the charges mount.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_First_America_Credit_a_scam

Gomerpyle I just read that article and I have to tell you that is not true. When you apply for the loan and they tell you how much you are approved for they tell you how much your payment is going to be based on your pay dates. For instance my original loan was for $300 and I had to set up direct payment of $35 every 2 weeks. You are only charged interest once a month so that second payment of $35 goes straight to the principal. I have NEVER had them take out more than the $35 dollars per month as it is set up through my job via direct deposit.

Okay - allow me to quote from the website, bearing in mind that I spent all my working life in a bank.

Line Of Credit Government Platinum
Interest Rate 20.00% per month, on average daily balances
Cash Advance 10.00% of cash advance

Uncompounded, that's an annual rate of 250%. Compounded, it would be significantly higher. Their own example doesn't match your own experience.

You request a cash advance for $500, then your payment is $75.00 per pay period, based on a two week pay cycle.

That's $150 every month on a $500 loan, which represents 30% uncompounded on a monthly basis - 360% uncompounded annually. Based on small loans it doesn't look so bad, but actually the rates are massive, but they are levied on the basis that the loan is being made to someone who is a bad risk.

No problem as long as people understand what they're getting into.

Welcome to ScamWarners BERRILOVE03. I am hoping that you have read a couple of things Gomer Pyle wrote:

Taking a second look at the site it isn't a scam, but it offers loans to people with poor credit records and charges a lot for doing so.

I am wondering why you have taken offense at that statement?

Gomer Pyle also suggested that potential clients read the article he linked to. Gomer Pyle did not write the article, he only used it as a point of reference.

I am wondering how long you had to pay $70 per month to pay off the $300.00 you borrowed. It has been said this is not a scam already. What is being pointed out is that the borrower pays a very high interest rate and it takes a long time to pay off the loan.

Please lets keep this civil and I hope you will answer the questions I have raised. Those answers will help anyone who is following this thread and that is what we are here for.

Bubbles, there seems to be some confusion. I was NOT offended at what Gomerpyle said. I was giving MY personal experience with this company and what I have experienced was different then what people were saying. That is why I gave my own personal dollar amounts as examples. The interest rate is rather high but if your credit is not the best it works for some of us. I was just giving people a positive story on this company as I have been with them over a year and never had any issues. My payments come out biweekly and the 2nd payment all goes toward the prinicpal while the first goes towards interest as well as principal unlike most payday loans. If I offended anyone that was not my intention I was just giving my personal experience. Have a great week

We have similar companies operating in the UK and most usually their business would be classified as the 'payday loan' market. It's unusual for the relationship to last over a period of time and the only type of loan that usually sets aside a specific portion to be set off against the principle, is a mortgage, where interest amounts exceed the regular repayment sums, and if that weren't done it would never be repaid. Hence the only situation where such an arrangement is necessary is where you are potentially entering into a loan that might never be repaid.

I do note that the information required is quite sensitive and in-depth

Why we need your Debit/Credit Card information
We need your Debit/Credit card information to validate your bank account and process periodic payments on your account.

The problem is that this doesn't appear to be an American company, and they don't provide any address or location, though it's most likely Panama based. Why don't they mention this ?

There is some interesting background posted here

http://www.debtorboards.com/index.php?topic=8813.0

In my opinion it would be reckless to hand out sensitive financial information and card details to an unknown foreign company under any circumstance.

I did find a P O Box number in Miami but that's operated by a company in Belize offering offshore services for Panama.

The individual US state regulations pertaining to payday loans can be looked up here

http://www.paydayloanlaws.com/

If you are in a position of having to seek this type of loan, then it is only sensible to use an entity that is governed by your state laws, and make sure that they abide by them.