SCAM ALERT
A licensed loan company will never ask for money upfront from you in order to receive a loan. If you’re concerned that you might be the victim or a target of a loan scam, or know someone who is, please contact your local police department, along with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Feel free to read the little-black-book-scams-e courtesy of the Competition Bureau of Canada and help protect yourself against fraud.
The CCFA office has received dozens of calls since March 2017 inquiring about a few different online lenders. In a number of cases, the caller has paid money out to these companies, has not received a loan in return and did not receive their money back. In most cases, these companies are using the logo of the CCFA’s previous name, Canadian Payday Loan Association (CPLA) on their loan documents. These companies are in no way affiliated with the CCFA or the former CPLA:
Maple Leaf Cash Loans/Maple Leaf Canada
Pay Power Loan
Flexi Credit Canada
In all cases, the borrower applies online for a loan between $2500-$25,000. They receive email correspondence or a telephone call telling them they have been pre-approved for the loan. The borrower is asked to provide their Social Insurance Number and banking information. They are told the latter is requested so that the lender can verify the borrower has money in their bank account. Often, the lender stresses that they will NOT ask the borrower for money to receive the loan because it is illegal to do so. However once the SIN and banking information are provided, the lender asks the borrower to purchase a Steam Card loaded with cash and to provide them with the verification code from said card. In other cases the borrower is asked to purchase a Vanilla Visa/Mastercard or a Paysafe Card. In all cases where the borrower purchased any of the above cards they did not receive the loan they applied for nor the money they parted with.
To verify whether a payday lender is licensed, you can contact the appropriate Ministry in your province:
British Columbia – Consumer Protection BC; 1-888-564-9963
Alberta – Service Alberta; 1-877-427-4088
Saskatchewan – Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority; 1-306-787-5567
Manitoba – Consumer Protection Office; 1-800-782-6700
Ontario – Ministry of Government and Consumer Services; 1-800-889-9768
Nova Scotia – Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations; 1-800-670-4357
Prince Edward Island – Ministry of Environment, Labour & Justice, Consumer Services; (902)-368-5653
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre is currently investigating cases of wire transfer fraud via Western Union. For more information or if you believe you were the victim of wire transfer fraud in the first two weeks of January 2017 please visit their website. The Canadian Bankers Association is currently warning the public to be on alert for email fraud or phishing. Please visit their website for more information.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact our office.