Scam Artists Promoting Loans For Advance Fees

“I’ll gladly give you a loan on Thursday for a big, fat fee today.”

Consumer groups are reporting a rise in scams that ask borrowers to pay an advance fee for a loan, then never produce the promised money.

Many of these companies operate out of Canada and demand advance fees of $300 to $5,000, according to Linda Golodner, president of the National Consumers League.

The companies - which claim to offer “debt consolidation loans” - target cash-strapped and debt-burdened consumers.

Under the typical scenario, borrowers are told they have qualified for a loan but must pay an advance fee, Golodner said. After the fee is paid, the company disappears and the loan is never made.

To protect yourself, the National Consumer League recommends the following:

Never pay a fee in advance to secure a loan.

Be wary of companies that use private, third-party mail carriers. Con artists try to avoid the U.S. mail because of federal fraud regulations.

To check out a loan offer or file a complaint, contact the National Fraud Information Center at (800) 876-7060 or visit the Web site at www.fraud.org.

Inland bank stock rose 21 percent

A stock dividend and rights offering boosted the return on Inland Northwest Bancorporation stock far beyond the 4 percent reported last week.

President Fred Schunter noted the Spokane institution awarded shareholders a 10 percent stock dividend last January.

A rights offering that entitled shareholders to one new share for every five already held further increased the value of their holdings.

The net result, he said, was a 20.7 percent gain on the year ended Dec. 31, 1997, compared with the prior year.

Check kiters prefer liquor, jewelry

Check bouncers are most likely to do their kiting at gambling casinos, liquor stores and jewelers, and they tend to avoid computer stores and car dealers, says TeleCheck Services Inc., which tracks check fraud.

Overall, check fraud is up about 11 percent compared with a year ago, the Houston company reports.

Officials say check kiters tend to target places that sell products that can easily be sold or consumed.

Grocery stores that cash checks are hit hard, TeleCheck says. Though check cashing accounts for only about 5 percent to 10 percent of a supermarket’s check activity, it can represent half the check losses.

Overall, bad checks costs U.S. businesses more than $12 billion a year. About half of that loss is attributed to fraud.

Insurers, utilities accepting plastic

If you’re looking for a way to boost your credit-card use and pile up those airline miles, you may find some new opportunities in your mailbox.

Insurance companies, utilities and phone services - all of which have traditionally been reluctant to accept credit cards - are all beginning to crumble. That means you soon might be able to charge your monthly bill on a credit card.

Fewer than 10 percent of utilities take credit cards, but growth is up 60 percent.

In the Inland Northwest, Kootenai Electric takes plastic, Inland Power & Light does not. Nor does Washington Water Power.

Only about one-third of phone companies currently let you charge it, but the acceptance rate is increasing at a clip of about 55 percent, Visa says.

US West customers can arrange to pay their phone bills by calling 1-800-244-111, spokeswoman JoAnn Ficca said.

GTE customers can call 1-800-483-3100.

Charging these bills can add several hundred dollars a month to your credit-card volume, which may help you earn that free ticket or tank of gas sooner. Just be sure to set aside enough cash to pay off the balance when the bill arrives.

, DataTimes