Advance fee loan scams and fraudulent loan sites.
#6596 by Jen37 Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:31 pm
This report has been generated as the result of a financial fraud that was committed against me by Avenue Financial Group (AFG) which actually does not exist but the address they provide on their letterhead is 595 Stewart Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530. The telephone number that was used during all communications is 866.403.6662 and the fax number that was used is 516.977.1030. Their website is www.avenuefinancial.net. The names of the two people that I spoke with are Brenda Olsen (x384) and Dennis Crown (x0).

On December 5, 2008 I conducted an online search for a long term personal loan. I immediately recognized that name Lending Tree, LLC at www.lendingtree.com and decided to check further into the process required to obtain a loan. All that was required was that I fill out an application consisting of personal information such as my social security number and address. On December 9, 2008 I was contacted by Brenda Olsen who stated that I had been approved for a $5,000 loan through Avenue Financial Group based out of New York. After searching for the company name online, I found multiple companies throughout the United States and Canada with the same name, checked the BBB which didn’t have any positive or negative information, and researched their website @ www.avenuefinancial.net.

Brenda explained that because this was a secured loan that I would need to provide collateral for insurance purposes as stated in the faxed agreement. The collateral required consisted of and was equal to 5 monthly payments totaling $1,107.20 and since I was making such a large payment upfront that I would not need to begin repaying the loan until June of 2009 for two years at $221.00 per month for 2 years. I reviewed the documents numerous times. Everything appeared to be completely legitimate. I borrowed money against my 401K account in order to pay for the collateral. On December 15, 2008 I contacted Brenda Olsen to inform her that I had the collateral payment required to secure the loan. Brenda explained that the lender was located in Canada and that I needed to wire the funds directly to them. I asked Brenda how to wire the money since I had never wired money before. She told me to go to Walmart and ask for a red and white form called a Money Gram. I was to send the monies to Christine Osborne in Thompson, MB, Canada. Because the fee was going to be $22.00 Brenda told me to simply send $1,100 and the remaining monies would be credited to my loan. I followed all of these instructions and contacted Brenda to provide her with the reference number. Brenda stated that the $5,000 loan would be directly deposited into my account on December 16, 2008.

On the morning of December 16, 2009 I received a phone message from Dennis Crown who identified himself as the customer service manager of AFG. Dennis stated in this message that there had been a slight problem with my loan and needed to contact him immediately. Upon contacting Dennis, I learned that the lender after reassessing my loan needed to purchase an additional $1,100 in insurance to secure the loan. My other option was to receive a full refund but that I would not be able to receive this refund until January 5, 2009. I contacted Brenda Olsen who appeared to be completely unaware of the situation and stated that Dennis was a good man and would take good care of me. Brenda also stated that Dennis needed to speak with me again. I contacted Dennis once again who stated that he had spoken with the lender and that they would work something out with me for an additional $800 instead of the original $1,100 to secure the loan. I wired an additional $800 to Christine Osborne in Thompson, MB, Canada through a Money Gram at Walmart. Because the amount wired was less than $800, I was only required to pay $14.16 for the Money Gram fee.

I shared this information with a friend who began to research the company online. She found reports posted by others on www.ripoffreport.com that were identical to my experience with the same exact company. These individuals stated that their loans were never deposited into their checking accounts after making two collateral payments. I knew at that point that I had been deceived. I contacted my local police department who filed a report with Financial Crimes. The following day I closed my checking account because they had my checking account number in order to transfer the loan. I also contacted all three credit bureaus to prevent identity theft since these criminals had all of person information such as my social security number had a copy of my passport that I provided for their request of a government ID. The reason I provided this document as opposed to my drivers license is because I was in my office and it was quicker than getting my wallet out of my purse.

Dennis Crown had the nerve to contact me a third time. This time he stated that they would provide me with a $10,000 loan but that I needed to pay an additional 10 monthly payments. I told him no and demanded a refund in the amount of $1,900. I pretended that I wasn’t aware that they had deceived me. Dennis informed me that a refund would be made on January 5, 2009 but since the company doesn’t exist I know that I will never see this money again unless someone finds these criminals and prosecutes them to the fullest extent possible. This experience has been completely and utterly devastating. I have been severely violated, am in complete distress, lost weight, and have no idea how I will function emotionally or financially in the next coming weeks and months.

The website of Avenue Financial was created on 11.05.08 through SiteTiki.com which is a company based out of Singapore. This information can be obtained through the WHOIS database which I discovered on the BBB website. According to http://www.ripoffreport.com/default.asp, there are a series of companies that are potentially being operated by the same people. This inference was derived as a result of the reports filed by other individuals indicating the exact same scam and strategies utilized. I have documented these and am happy to share them with anyone who can help. In addition, Jason from LA who also went through Lending Tree, LLC (see http://www.ripoffreport.com/default.asp) has contacted an attorney in LA as he was scammed out of more than $5,000 and is seeking to file a civil lawsuit

I pray that there is someone out there that can and is willing to assist me and other victims in finding these individuals who are hacking into Lending Tree’s website before they violate and take advantage of other innocent people. Please contact me if you have any information as to what I can do to seek justice and to put an end to their criminal practices.
Other Fraudulent and Fake Companies all being Operated by the Same Individuals:

Trenton Financial Group
Stanford Financial Group
Watson Financial Group
Beacon Financial Group
Fairway Financial Group
Bellwood Financial Group
National Trust Financial Group
Winchester Lending Group
Metro Lending Group
Charter Lending Group
Prevathon Lending Group
Moneta Lending Group
Invesco Lending Group
Oakdale Lending Group
Winfield Lending Group
Vision Lending Corporation
Capital Lending
Clearview Lending
Birchcliff Lending
Sutherland Lending
Parkway Lending
Superior Lending
First Universal Lending
Avalon Lending Services

If you have been a victim please contact your local authorities immediately. In addition, contact all three credit bureaus to protect your identity. You may also need to close your checking account.

Moreover, make sure to file reports with http://www.ftc.gov/index.shtml, http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx, and all other government agencies such as the BBB, attorney general, and FBI as well as any media groups. Please share your story with Fraud Watchers as well.
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#6600 by Dotti Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:14 pm
Hello Jen, and welcome to scamwarners. I'm sorry your visit here is a result of a bad experience.

I'm so sorry to hear that you were also scammed by this group.These scum are good at what they do. They are organized, fast-moving, and even faster when it comes to changing names/sites as soon as word starts to get out about them. They are also plausible enough to have taken in a very large number of people.

It sounds like you are starting to take the right steps to protect yourself from further damage. We have a couple of other threads going about this group, http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewto ... =26&t=1605 and http://scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1862, and if you take a look at them, you can see that you are definitely not alone. It's possible that the mods will come along and lock a thread or two, though, so everyone can more easily see the ongoing discussions.

Holly Brown is our resident warner dealing with information related to this particular scam, so please PM her if you have any questions she might be able to help you with.

Need to post photos? http://scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=3219
Are you a victim of a romance scam? Read here for advice and FAQ's.
#6618 by Jen37 Wed Dec 31, 2008 7:17 pm
Dottie,

Thank you so much. I really appreciate the information and warm welcome. Please let me know if there is anything else that I can do to help.
#6904 by Jen37 Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:05 pm
Updated List of Advanced Loan Fraud Companies

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I am providing an updated list of fraudulent companies all operated by the same individuals using the EXACT same strategies. If you are a victim of any of these companies please report your story IMMEDIATELY to www.badcreditloanwarning.com as well as http://www.canadian-money-advisor.ca/!!!!! In addition, please let us know if you have worked with a fraudulent company that is not listed below. Thanks.

Accommodative Financial Solutions

Altimax Financial
Best West Financial
Brockville Financial
Charles D. Financial
Charter Stone Financial
Marrow and Parke Financial
NFG Financial
New General Financial
Peoples First Financial
Providence Financial
Remax Financial

1st International Financial Group
America Corporate Financial Group
Beacon Financial Group
Bellwood Financial Group
Capital Trust Financial Group
CityCom Financial Group
Credit Direct Financial Group
Equistar Financial Group
Fairway Financial Group
First Delta Financial Group
Glendor Financial Group
Incline Financial Group
National Trust Financial Group
Rivercrest Financial Group
Stanford Financial Group
Trenton Financial Group
Watson Financial Group

Charter Lending Group
Clearview Lending Group
Hudson Lending Group
Invesco Lending Group
Metro Lending Group
Moneta Lending Group
Prevathon Lending Group
Prudential Lending Group
Oakdale Lending Group
Winchester Lending Group
Winfield Lending Group
American Community Lending
Capital Lending
Clearview Lending
Birchcliff Lending
Pioneer Lending
Sutherland Lending
Parkway Lending
Superior Lending
First Universal Lending
York Land Lending

Amcorp Finance Incorporated
Atlantic Capital Resource Center
Avalon Lending Services
Brennans Group
Cadex National
Capital Trust Alternative
Capital Venture Investments
DCM Financial Services
First Business Financial Solutions
Gretchen Fox and Associates
Mason Capital Group
McLean and Forrester
Nationwide Prudential, Inc.
Pioneer Lending Resources
PrimeMax Financing
Standard Lenders
Sterling National Lenders
United Loan Funding
Vision Lending Corporation
Westdale Finance Group
Wittman Capital Services
World Wide Consulting
#7376 by Clair Fri Feb 13, 2009 4:30 pm
Hi Jen37, Thanks for keeping track of these.

Bayview Trust Financial, www.bayviewtrustfinancial.com is already dead.

I am reporting these new ones to the aa419 fraud database:
Allied Capital Finance Corp.
http://www.allicapfi.com/

Bayfield Lending Group
www.bayfieldlending.com

Greenbridge Lending Services
www.greenbridgelending.com

This one takes me to a site that is
For resources and information on Capital and Detroit tiger ticket
. Was this at one time a fake lending company site? If so, it might be that the host closed down the content but not the frame or the name of the website. When this happens, the url is likely to be reused for another scam. So we will need to keep an eye on it. Do you happen to have any of the old content saved?
MTS Capital Services - New Advance Fee Loan Scam!
www.mtscapital.com
#7383 by Jen37 Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:00 pm
Hi HarvestMoon,

That is so interesting because as of the other day it was working. YES! This is the company and it IS a SCAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much. I will alert my other contacts as well. You're a GEM!
#7384 by Jen37 Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:04 pm
I didn't save any of the content but THIS IS THE EXACT SAME SITE...same design...same phone number....everything~! Jen
#7385 by Jen37 Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:08 pm
So basically they are on to me and know that I am posting their websites everywhere, right? This is why they are changing it? Hmmmm.
#7387 by Ralph Fri Feb 13, 2009 9:47 pm
Pretty much Jen

That said, even without your interference they would usually have the next site ready to go long before anybody reported the previous site, having sites closed or reported is just part of their job.

Part of my job is getting up early and going to work, for these people, their job involves having their fraudulent details exposed

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