BANKRUPT BANKER
5,000 people are being pursued by debt collectors working on behalf of a payday loan firm, for sums they did not borrow in the first place.
Sunday, 24 October 2010
Police believe fraudsters managed to get loans paid out by Help Loan using personal details of innocent Britons.
The Finland-based company believes the fraud has cost it at least £1.5m, Radio 4's Money Box programme has learned.
The firm says it has now taken steps to tighten security.
Fast loans
Help Loan only started trading in the UK this summer. It offers people loans of between £50 and £300 at very high rates of interest which they must repay within 28 days. These are often known as "payday loans" as they tide cash-strapped people over until their next salary payment.
The company's website says its application process takes no more than 10 minutes.
One of the victims of the fraud has complained that the company needs to do more to verify that the applicant is who he or she claims to be. Alyson Lampard from Bristol told Money Box that she had her personal details used without her permission to commit the fraud.
She received a letter in August from Help Loan which said it expected her to repay a loan by September.
She said: "It said my payment of £513 should reach them before 23 September. I hadn't taken out any loan with this company so I rang them."
Alyson discovered that the firm had her correct date of birth but the bank account details and mobile phone number on the application were not hers.
