Latest Scam to hit Maine and other areas

Maine credit protection bureau warns of scam

GARDINER, Maine — A company claiming to be located in Maine that has offered loans by telephone and over the Internet is a scam, say state financial regulators at the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection.
The company, which uses the name North Lake Equity Group, has been telephoning consumers in several states offering personal loans if the consumers make several payments to the company in advance. The caller knows a great deal of financial information about the consumers, perhaps from unauthorized access to their credit reports, according to a news release from the bureau.

The company representative, using the name William Gibson, claims that the company is located on Sanford Road in Wells, Maine.  However, the Wells Police Department indicates that no company by the name of North Lake Equity Group exists at that location. The company is not registered with the town of Wells as a business, nor with the Maine Secretary of State’s Office as a corporation. The address is fictitious, and corresponds to an undeveloped lot between Wells High School and the Wells Town Office.

Consumers from Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee have called Maine’s Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection to ask whether the company is real.  One consumer had already paid $887 to the fake company, while another had provided bank account numbers and other personal information.

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/06/13/business/maine-credit-protection-bureau-warns-of-scam/