Victims are receiving an unsolicited email or phone call from an unfamiliar person or company. The email says you have been approved or pre-approved for a loan.  

Jenn Love with the Better Business Bureau of Acadiana says, “You’ll get an email saying that you’ve been approved or pre-approved for a loan usually for thousands of dollars. It looks very official. The attached documents have government agencies approvals on it, and even says that the BBB approves of this lender as well.” 

These scammers are sending out mass emails asking for an insurance fee to secure your loan.  

“All they’re asking for is a $150 fee up front. They call it an insurance fee. So after you pay it, the loan and the scammer will disappear with your money,” Love adds. 

The documents included in the email have installment plans making them look official.  

Love explains, “They seem like real emails. All the documents spell out the terms of the loan including the installment plans and everything too.” 

This scam targeted one resident saying the one-time insurance fee was because the customer had never received a loan from this company before.  

Love says, “The one in Acadiana actually was a phone call. Somebody called them with a very heavy accent and told them they were approved for a loan company this person has never even heard of. After they asked about it, they emailed the information from there. They had very official documents that said you had to pay $150 up front. They claim this fee was because this had never had a loan with this company before.” 

The Better Business Bureau offers these tips to protect yourself:      

The mass emails that these scammers are sending out have typos in it and very poor grammar, but make sure you watch out for the attachment as it looks professional and includes the official loan documents.  

If you have a scam you’d like me to investigate, email me at Smasters@klfy.com.