We get it. Online ads for fast cash seem really appealing and look like an easy answer to cash flow problems. But in fact, they are like the venus fly traps of lending. They lure you in to very risky loans with high interest rates that can keep you in debt for years.
So it’s welcome news that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and N.Y. Financial Services Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky continue to go after these payday lending companies and their surrogates.
Payday lending is illegal in New York State and Lawsky’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) sent subpoenas to 16 online companies that don’t make loans, but generate leads for payday lenders.
These companies run sites that advertise fast cash and easy access. Even when you make an inquiry, the sites are likely to ask you to provide personal information including your Social Security number and bank account numbers.
Once they have it, they sell or turn over the information to payday lenders. The DFS says it appears that they have also provided the information to scammers.
Consumers complain that after they filled out information on these sites, they received calls from people soliciting for services with upfront fees, pre-paid debit cards and other shady offers.
DFS Superintendent Lawsky says, “New Yorkers can get sucked into a seemingly endless black hole of consumer abuse if they provide their sensitive personal information to these types of websites.”
In August 2013, 35 companies received notices from Lawsky that they were operating illegally in New York State and apparently the majority stopped working with New York consumers.
But we are told the investigation is ongoing and other companies may be targeted. Governor Cuomo says, “We will continue to follow this investigation wherever it leads and use every tool at our disposal to safeguard New Yorkers from those who seek to prey upon vulnerable consumers.”
DFS is asking the following companies for marketing materials, contracts and consumer privacy policies.
· Allied Cash Advance
· Bahamas Marketing Group, Inc.
· Blue Global, LLC d/b/a 100DayLoans, HighSpeedPayday
· DJR Group, LLC
· Fix Media Group, LLC d/b/a We Fix Money
· Hydra Fund II
· LightSword, LLC d/b/a Aero Advance
· Payday Loan Ranger
· Payday Mobility
· PayDayForest
· PayDayMall
· Personal Cash Advance
· Selling Source, LLC d/b/a MoneyMutual, LLC
· US Cash Loans
· ValleyTrust
· WebMarketerLive d/b/a JustClickHereLoans, CashMoneyNow
If you think you’ve been a victim of an illegal payday lender, file a complaint with the Department of Financial Services at (800) 342-3736.
What’s Wrong With Payday Loans?
