Loan seekers sucked in by scammer
Scammed loan seekers have sounded a warning about a rort in which they lost thousands in so-called insurance payments.
The victims were looking for small loans and made applications online during the last fortnight.
A man with an Indian-sounding accent then contacted them offering them a loan with no security and required only rudimentary details. He purported to work for Christchurch company Credit C.R.E.W Ltd and provided a company incorporation document.
To get the loan, the borrowers had to deposit amounts to specified bank accounts for insurance costs, he said.
Dunedin labourer Cameron Fleming said he applied for loans online to get his car repaired. A man calling himself Jason Thomas contacted him offering a $3000 loan.
Before the loan could go through, Fleming would have to pay a $280 insurance fee to a TSB bank account in the name of Vera Pakau.
‘‘The loan money never came. This guy is sucking people in and needs to be stopped,’’ he said. Fleming said he had made a complaint to police.
Credit C.R.E.W Ltd director, Christchurch businessman Max Allfrey, said the company had not conducted business for years and its name was being used in a blatant scam.
‘‘This guy is targeting people who really can’t afford to lose any money,’’ he said.
He hoped police would investigate quickly.
Nelson car groomer Cindy Clements, who has two young children, said she applied for loans online to cover some bills and Thomas approached her offering $5000.
She paid $640 in different amounts to three separate bank accounts as ‘‘insurance payments’’, but the loan money had not arrived.
‘‘I rang him and he admitted he had spent the money. He said I would have to open a Kiwibank account and an ASB account if I wanted the money back. I said ‘you’re an arsehole’ and since then no more emails.’’
Clements said she realised she was stupid, but since she had been applying for loans, the approach seemed legitimate.
She and her partner put it down to experience and were not sure if it was worth making a full police complaint.
‘‘I’m not going to get my money back so I might as well drop it. But . . . he is getting solo mums and the elderly and he seems to think it’s OK to do it,’’ she said.
A Wellington family with seven children was stung in the scam losing $420.
Renee Marwood said she applied for loans online and thought Thomas represented one of the loan companies when he offered a loan of $6000.
‘‘We just wanted to clear some bills. I rang him after the money didn’t arrive and he just went quiet when I told him he had ripped off a family with seven children to feed,’’ she said.
Thomas said he was based in Auckland and said the loan money was provided.
He hung up when pressed and did not respond to emails.