Total money lost $300
Type of a scam Advance Fee Loan
I received a phone call from "Sean Williams" from "Funding-Canada.com" advising me that my loan had been pre- approved. I had actually applied for a loan a few days prior (from a legitimate company). I incorrectly believed that Funding-Canada.com was affiliated with the lending company I had reached out to.
Sean Williams knew my SIN, address and Date of Birth. I was asked to provide my bank account number and confirm my net monthly income. He asked me to "prove" that I had at least $300 available in my bank account (10% of the loan). This "proof" was to be done using a Vanilla Mastercard or Visacard.
I, regrettably, did this. I got Vanilla Mastercards and provided "Amy" (Sean Williams’ associate) with my card numbers, the expiration dates and the security code in the back of the cards. When I checked my card balances, each pre-paid card only had $0.61 left.
I spoke with "Amy" again that same day. She claimed that the $300 was to be added to my loan. My loan, along with the $300, was to be deposited to my bank account ($3000 + $300). She then advised me that I would need to pay a wire transfer fee of $250 in order to release the above amount to my bank account. Apparently, the company had already paid for this fee on my behalf. I had to reimburse $250 before they would release the wire transfer (using a Vanilla Prepaid card once again).
I told Amy to just deduct the amount from the loan. She told me that this was not possible, as the wire transfer had already been sent and just waiting to be released (?).
I decided NOT to send them any additional money. When I googled the company name, I realized that I fell for a scam (i.e. company falsely claims to be accredited by BBB, others have had a similar experience)
I know that my $300 is forever gone. I am sharing this hoping that others will avoid my mistake.
The company: "www.mapleleafcanada.ca" / "www.Funding-Canada.com"
The callers: "Sean Williams" and "Amy"
Phone numbers : 647-493-9487, 647-846-8503