{"id":59777,"date":"2015-01-19T08:20:12","date_gmt":"2015-01-19T13:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=59777"},"modified":"2015-01-19T08:20:12","modified_gmt":"2015-01-19T13:20:12","slug":"agencies-warn-against-loan-job-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2015\/01\/19\/agencies-warn-against-loan-job-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Agencies warn against loan, job scams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i>VW independent\/submitted information<\/i><\/p>\n<p>The Ohio Department of Commerce and Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio warn Ohioans to be on guard against online scammers pretending to offer loans or job opportunities and requiring up-front fees for processing, training or other expenses.<\/p>\n<p>These \u201ccompanies,\u201d which typically solicit customers on websites using ever-changing fictitious names, may claim to have business addresses in Ohio, which often are nonexistent.\u00a0The businesses are generally not registered with the Ohio Secretary of State\u2019s Office or licensed by the Department of Commerce\u2019s Division of Financial Institutions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLoans or job offers that require an upfront fee should raise a red flag for all Ohioans,\u201d said Andre T. Porter, director of the Ohio Department of Commerce. \u201cConsumers should avoid sending money or providing personal financial information in connection with these offers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Porter offers the following tips to Ohioans:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Always check to see if the financial service entity is licensed by the Division of Financial Institutions. Go to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.com.ohio.gov\/fiin\/elicense.aspx\">www.com.ohio.gov\/fiin\/elicense.aspx<\/a> to learn if it is licensed or call the Consumer Affairs Hotline at 866.278.0003.<\/li>\n<li>Never provide personal or financial information to a company that is not properly licensed, particularly one\u2019s Social Security number or bank account information.<\/li>\n<li>Never send money in advance of receiving a personal loan or as a condition of making an application or receiving a job offer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Recently, online scammers have instructed consumers to provide personal financial information to permit automated deposits into their bank accounts. Consumers are then directed by the scammers to withdraw and send funds to the online \u201ccompany,\u201d often to an address out of state, for the alleged expenses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOhioans should regularly communicate with their banks or credit unions regarding unusual deposits or transactions,\u201d said Charles J. Dolezal, superintendent of the Ohio Division of Financial Institutions. \u201cIf a questionable deposit is later reversed, the consumer could be held responsible for the amount and encounter financial hardship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If Ohioans suspect unlicensed lending activity, they should report it to the Division of Financial Institutions Consumer Affairs by calling the hotline number listed above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VW independent\/submitted information The Ohio Department of Commerce and Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio warn Ohioans to be on guard against online scammers pretending to offer loans or job opportunities and requiring up-front fees for processing, training or other expenses. These \u201ccompanies,\u201d which typically solicit customers on websites using ever-changing fictitious names, may claim [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-07 05:08:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}