OCEAN PARK FINANCIAL PERSONAL LOAN SCAM!

[ProudMarineWife]

My husband and I were looking through a news paper when we came across this add for a personal loan that deals with people with bad credit. We needed about $5000 So i called and they took some preliminary info, and said a lender would be calling me in 48 hours or so to tell me if I was approved or not. Well a man by the name of Simon Lang called me and told me I was approved for the $5000 that i needed to sign paperwork and fax it back to him, also they needed $500 for insurance on the loan that would be paid back to me after I made my first monthly payment. So I faxed them a copy of my drivers licence, military id, paystub, and my social security card. Then I was told to western union the $500 to a man by the name of Ian Roberts in Toronto Canada. Thinking that this was a real loan and that the $5000 would be in my bank account the next day I sent the money. Stupid of me i know! Well today I called the BBB and Western Union and filed a report with them. Especially when I found out that the address on the paper work was phony! It was a address in Las Vegas. So now my husband and I are out of $500 and all of our bills are going to be late, we just bought a new car and have a payment due soon and I have no clue whats going to happen. I called Simon Lang and asked him where my money was and he said that since I have such bad credit that the lender wants me to send another $500!!! I said some not so nice words to him and demanded he return my $500. He said he would mail me a check... yeah ok so I can be out another $500?? I dont think so! I just wish I would have known about these type of scams before I did what i did. Its off to the police department for me... does anyone want their number??? Wanna call them and tell them what scum they are??? I will gladly give it to you! I just wanted to post here to warn others so no one will have to go through what i just did today. I had to close my bank account, put a fraud alert on with all 3 credit agencies, and I have to do something about my ID. Whats even worse is i sent them a copy of my Military id...and that has my husbands SSN number on it! Has anyone else heard of this scam??? Does anyone have any info on this Simon Lang?? I tried to google it but nothing comes up.

[FW Admin]

It is heartbreaking indeed to hear how you were taken in by this scam, and I have to express my frustration every time I hear of such instances. I sincerely hope that you and your family do not suffer the consequences of this criminal fraud for too long.

Unfortunately, these scamming lowlife are very aware and conscious of which buttons to press, and the offer of cheap and easy loans, is very much an attractive one. It is a scam format that has been in existence for some time, and changes only in minor details with each incarnation.

However, any offers of loans, especially if any transaction crosses international borders, is something that is highly regulated in financial terms, and is never that easy (otherwise the major credit and loan corporations would be the first with such offers).

As soon as mention is made of fees or charges required 'up front' (and much more so when Western Union is involved) then this becomes an "Advanced Fee Fraud" (or Nigerian 419 scam). No legitimate loan company would ever demand up-front fees or charges, irrespective of the loan status. It is also illegal to demand further loan charges for an already agreed loan, so that is always a red flag.

The thing to do now is to make very careful checks against your credit ratings, and scrutinize any bank or credit transactions or requests that may appear against your names. Contact the local social security office and report that your husband's SS number has been stolen and possibly compromised. And report the loss of your funds with all details to both the local police and Western Union. There is little, if any, likelihood fo you obtaining a return of the money, but at least the details of the scam will be recorded.

Regarding the company of "Ocean Park Financial", their domain name has been registered since 2005 and expires in 2009 (they hold a privacy WHOIS registration with GoDaddy, which is very unusual for a business or corporation). Search engine searches only return a very few results, mostly being adverts placed on domain name placeholders. A few results report them as being spammers (i.e. sending out unsolicited commercial email (UCE) to thousands of email addresses) and they have been blacklisted for spamming on several DBL sites in the past. Their privacy policy lists a physical contact address of: 13428 Maxella Ave #306 Marina Del Rey, CA - have you tried to contact them? Without the actual email headers, it is difficult to establish whether in fact they originated from that particular company or business concern. If you can send the original emails as attachments to: scamqueries@fraudwatchers.org then we would be able to analyze the headers to gain more information.

[ProudMarineWife]

I didnt get them off of the internet... it was in a newspaper here in town... Im going to contact the paper and let them know what has happened. Thank you for your response

[jd1172004]

WANTED SAY THANK YOU! I WAS RESEARCHING OCEAN PARK BECAUSE THEY CALL ME AND TOLD ME THAT I WAS APPROVED FOR A $10,000 LOAN. I NEEDED TO FAX MY ID,DRIVER LISCENSE AND SS# TO THEM.THEY ALSO SAID
I NEEDED TO SEND $1000.00 TO COVER A INSURANCE POLICY THAT WOULD SECURE THE LOAN.(LIFE,JOB LOSS,SICKNESS ECT.) GUESS WHO I TALKED TO? SIMON LANG. HE ALSO TOLD ME THAT I ONLY HAD 72 HOURS TO ACCEPT.THE FAX # HE GAVE ME TO SEND THE INFO IS: 1-800-574-4086.THE ADDRESS ON THE FAX SHEET FOR THE COMPANY IS 1306 W. CRAIG ROAD,STE E1306 NORTH LASVEGAS,NV 89032. PLEASE BE AWARE. IF YOU TYPE IN OCEAN PARK FINANCIAL IN WEB BAR YOU WILL GET THEIR WEB SITE.

[steve22]

I read the post.....OCEAN PARK FINANCIAL PERSONAL LOAN SCAM!
Taking out a personal loan could be a "positive move" for those consumers looking to consolidate their debt, an industry expert has revealed.
Thank you for the information.......

[FW Admin]

If it was real, maybe... this, however, is a FRAUD - a SCAM as you quoted yourself.

What is the point of your post?