Please advise

[Trina]

I was offered a loan which required me to send a copy of my drivers license, which has my old address, but contained my ssn number on it. I was kinda wanting to know if this has happened before and if so what can I expect from giving out this info. The agency that sent it was
Adams Brown" <adamsloansagent@yahoo.co.uk
Thanks,
Trina

[Trina]

This was the last email recieved, anyone get this before or have any info for me?


ATTN: Trina
Congratulations so Far,


We have gone Through your Informations and You are approved For Your Loan .
This is the Final Step Before we can commence Wiring .
Please Go Through The Instructions Below.

We are now at a very important stage.
This stage is the Final Stage before you get your Loans
1-Attached to this mail is our Agreement Document, This document is very important and please keep it very confidential. It is Proof that you have been approved a loan From this Agency

2--Kindly Sign the Agreement Document and return back to us via email. You are also Required to keep a copy For yourself ...
3-You will be required to pay a refundable Insuring Fee of $452.3. to insure your Loans.
This Payment is usually Deducted From Your Loan Proceeds at the End of Your Loan Tenure.
The Reasons why we insure our Loans is due to The Fact That there is no collaterals involved.
As soon you are prepared to make this payments we will proceed.
Payments for The Insurance will be made directly to Mr Francis Ricardo, our Cheif Accountant using Western Union.

Use this Informations.

Reciever Name: Mr. Francis Ricardo
Country: United Kingdom
State: London
Address: SW 15, South West Avenue London
Amount:$452.3
Test Question: Favorite Color
Answer: Green
As soon as you make the required Payments have The Western Union Receipt scanned and sent to us.
.4-
You will be sent Your Loans Via this
PAYMENT OPTION
Payment by western union money transfer ( 24hours )
Payment by bank to bank transfer (48 hours )
Payment by bank certified check ( 9 days )
Please Choose Your Payment Option
Remember you can get your Loans in the Next 48 Hrs
If You act fast and promptly.
Awaiting Your Prompt Response.


Mr Smith
COLLGE LOANS AGENCY
TEL NUM:+447011137447

Hi there Trina and welcome to FraudWatchers!

First and foremost, do not send anything else to those people and certainly do not wire any money to them. This is a scam.

You might want to contact the state agency responsible for issuing drivers licenses in your place of residence and ask them:

- If they maintain a list of compromised\stolen drivers licenses. Some states do maintain such lists, and if yours do, it would be worth it to put your name\license number on that list.

- If you can obtain a new drivers license, this time with a sequential number instead of your Social Security Number on it.

In addition, I would advise you to closely monitor your credit reports and check for accounts\tradelines that you did not initiate. Any time you send personal data such as an SSN to a scammer, you have to be vigilant to the first signs of Identity Theft.


About Loan Scams:

Loan scams exist in pretty much all shapes and forms, but they have one thing in common. At some stage, you are asked to provide up-front funds in order to obtain the loan. That payment can be called anything from "insurance fees" to "good faith deposit". You are asked to send the funds via Western Union\Moneygram to a particular person. Money sent via WU & MG cannot be returned to sender once it's picked up, as neither service has a mechanism for dispute\recovery of the money sent - this is why scammers like to use those services so much.

Once you send the money, a few things can happen:

- The scammer disappears with your money, and you never hear from him again.

- The scammer contacts you with requests for additional fees.

- You are contacted by someone claming to be a law enforcement officer, offering to recover the money you lost for you. Most often, it is the same scammer who conned you in the first place, trying to get a second picking through a different email address.

- Your information is passed around to other scammers\gangs. Since you paid once already, they know they have a victim who is willing to pay.

- Your information is used to commit Identity Theft.


The simplest way of avoiding those scams is to obtain loans from reputable institutions (banks, credit unions etc.)