Southfield Financial Group Advance fee loan scam Southfield Michigan

On June 8th 2006 a Southfield Financial Group representative, John P***, told me I was approved for a personal loan of $5,000.00 and that they had been referred to me because I wasn't approved by my bank.

First they faxed me some documents on the loan and had me sign it and fax it back. Then they told me I would need to make a collateral payment of $900.00 and send it through a money gram to Michelle L*** in Rimbey, Alberta, Canada to secure the loan. After that I was supposed to receive my loan the next day. They told me it would be directly deposited into my bank account.

Then I received another phone call from a customer service representative from Southfield. He told me that the lender had backed out of the loan and an additional collateral payment of $900.00 would be required in a money gram as well. I wanted the loan so I believed him and again sent the money. He informed me that my loan would be deposited within 3 hours to my bank account, but it wasn't.

I called the next day to check on my account and find out what was going on. The original representative I spoke with , John P***, would not answer my calls, so I contacted customer service. Someone from customer service told me that again the lender had backed out but they had found me another loan. However, this loan was for $10,000.00 and they would require and additional collateral payment of $1800.00.

I was very concerned at this point because this was not what I had agreed to. I was offered two options, pay the additional collateral or accept a full refund that wouldn't be sent until July 3rd. I requested some time to think about it. I called the FTC help line to find out more about the company and they told me it was an advance fee loan scam.

I called Southfield financial group and told them it was illegal to request collateral payment before receiving a loan. They told me it wasn't illegal because the money I sent was applied to the principal of the loan.

Since then I have not recieved a refund or any additional information from Southfield Financial Group. I've tried contacting them by phone but there's just an automated message saying my account has been placed on hold.

I'm very upset about this situation. I'm currently looking for legal advice and a lawyer to help me.

Malia
San Francisco, California
U.S.A.
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