Marketplace

Lawless Loans & Busted: Kids' Cereal (36x10)

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Need a loan? As the economy continues to shrink, banks are becoming more and more reluctant to approve new loans -- especially if your credit rating is less than stellar. But if the big banks can't help, it seems that a number of other companies will. A crop of legitimate-looking loan companies are appearing online and in newspapers, advertising a fast financial fix for those with bad credit or no collateral. However, these kinds of loan companies could be out to scam you when you need your money the most. That's what happened to Floyd Girouard, a trucker from Abbotsford, B.C., who turned to an online loan company when his bank turned him down. To his surprise, he qualified for a $30,000 loan. The catch? He had to wire a $3,000 deposit before they'd release the money. He reluctantly wired the deposit -- and never heard from the company again. Girouard fell for an increasingly common scam called "Advance Fee Loan Fraud." Advance fee loan fraud is when an upfront payment is required for a loan -- a practice that's illegal in both Canada and the U.S. Last year, Canadians were bilked out of an estimated $60 million using this scheme. As Erica Johnson reveals, it's all too easy to fall prey to online fraudsters, but not so easy to track them down to get your money back.