Expert: Ray A Miller - 10/10/2010

Question
In 2009 I was searching for online for payday loan lenders. This involved
giving info such as name, address, social securiity number, and work
number, even my work and bank info. I've had no problems paying off
these loans. This past July, however, I received calls at work from foreign
sounding individuals saying I was in breach of my payday loan conract
and that I was in danger of bein arrested and have to go to court. They
wouldn't give me a company name or a mailing address, just a number
to get a hold of him. They had all my info and said they sent me several
emails warning me of this breach. I didn't see these emails. I ended up
paying a $1000.00 via debit card in which I had to send a notorized
statement saying I didn't mean to breach the contract and that I would
not dispute the payment. They said after receiving the payment they
would send me all the info about this payment settlement thru the mail.
I never got a thing. I knew it had to be a scam. Now just last week I
received another email stating I did not pay off another payday loan.
The email had a name, number, fax number, and email. I called the
number, but it didn't go thru. The email address is directed toward an
officer with his name. I'm positive its another scam! I'm not paying a
dime! I called the number from the the last scam in july and got some
couple that couldn't speak english. I'm just furious about this and want
to know what I should do and how to avoid this current email scam I just
received last week. Should I contact them or talk to my lawyer first??

Answer
Contact your lawyer, your State's Attorney General and Consumer Affairs.  Get advice from your attorney to see if you should dispute the charge from the other e-mail scam. The main thing is to not pay a dime until you talk to your attorney.

It would not hurt to put a fraud alert on your credit bureau files.  If I can be of further assistance please let me know.