Signs of fraudulent loans include texts inviting you to apply, guaranteed approval and asking for money upfront.
Annie Millerbernd
Assistant Assigning Editor | Personal loans, high-interest loans, cash advance apps
Annie Millerbernd is an assistant assigning editor and NerdWallet authority on personal loans. She has been a journalist for nearly a decade. Before joining NerdWallet in 2019, she worked as a news reporter in Minnesota, North Dakota, California, and Texas, and as a digital content specialist at USAA. Annie's work has been cited by the Northwestern University Law Review and Harvard Kennedy School . Her work has been featured in The Associated Press, USA Today and MarketWatch. She’s also been quoted in New York magazine and appeared on NerdWallet's "Smart Money" podcast as well as local TV and radio. She is based in Austin, Texas.
Lead Assigning Editor Kim Lowe
Lead Assigning Editor | Consumer lending
Kim Lowe is a lead assigning editor on NerdWallet's loans team. She covers consumer borrowing, including topics like personal loans, student loans, buy now, pay later and cash advance apps. She joined NerdWallet in 2016 after 15 years at MSN.com, where she held various content roles including editor-in-chief of the health and food sections. Kim started her career as a writer for print and web publications that covered the mortgage, supermarket and restaurant industries. Kim earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Iowa and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Washington. She works from her home near Portland, Oregon.
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Nerdy takeawaysWhen you need to borrow cash, the last thing you want to encounter is a fraudster plotting to steal money from you. But as people increasingly shop for personal loans online, scammers are ready to take advantage.
Consumers reported more than $10 billion in losses to fraud in 2023, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Those reports included imposters and scammers claiming to provide loans in exchange for information or money.
“Separating the legitimate lenders from the fakes can be really hard, and the scammers get better every day at making their pitches look more convincing," says John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the nonprofit National Consumers League.
Before you provide personal or financial information, here are six signs the loan you’re considering may be a scam.
An out-of-the-blue robocall or text message inviting you to apply for a loan should give you pause, especially if you’ve had no prior contact with the lender.
The borrower usually makes the first move to get a personal loan by pre-qualifying or directly applying. In some cases, your bank or credit card issuer may send you a preapproved loan offer or an online lender may send follow-up emails after you check for offers with them.
But if the message makes you wonder how the lender found you, don’t trust it. Delete suspicious text messages and hang up on robocallers, Breyault says. Even saying “don’t contact me” could signal that you’re likely to respond, so the calls and texts may persist.
A trustworthy lender can't guarantee you'll get a loan without reviewing your credit and finances, so avoid those that promise approval before you’ve even applied, Breyault says.
“Any legitimate lender is going to want to do a credit check on you to know if you’re going to be able to pay them back,” he says.
A high-interest lender may provide a loan with no credit check, but many at least do a soft credit pull and review your bank accounts before approval.
Lenders are required by law to register in the state where they do business.
So if you have doubts about a lender, check to see if it’s licensed. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) maintains a list of state bank regulators , and the National Association of Attorneys General has a list of states’ attorneys general , which are good places to start your search.
Just because a lender posts a license on its website doesn’t mean it’s real, Breyault says, so it’s best to confirm.
If you can’t find the license, treat it like a red flag and report it to your state regulator, says Suzanne Martindale, senior deputy commissioner for the consumer financial protection division at the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI).
Research a lender’s online reputation to confirm (or quell) your suspicions. Enter the company’s name into the CFPB’s complaint database and the Better Business Bureau’s directory to see what others are saying about it, Martindale says.
You can also search online for the lender’s name and the word “scam,” which may surface regulatory actions against a legitimate lender or links to the community website Reddit where other people have shared their experiences. Even California’s DFPI uses Reddit to research companies, Martindale says.
“Online communities do tend to form when there have been red flags, and so it does pay to slow down, think before you click and do a little online research,” she says.
A lack of transparency about where or how to get in touch with a lender should give you pause, because it may indicate that you’re working with a scammer who doesn’t want you to follow up.
Most reputable lenders have an email address and a customer service phone number. It’s worth calling the posted number to be sure it’s an answered line.
It should also be easy to find out where a lender is headquartered. A quick scan of the lender’s website or some light online searching should pull up a physical address. If not, move on.
Legitimate lenders never require payment in exchange for a personal loan. Personal loan scammers may request an Apple or Google Play gift card, or payment via an app like Venmo, Breyault says. Recently, payment requests via cryptocurrency have also become common, he says.
“The fact that you’re being asked to pay is a red flag,” he says, and “the fact that you’re being asked to pay in an unusual way is a really big red flag.”
Learning you may have been swindled can leave you feeling embarrassed and frustrated, but keep in mind that people make millions of fraud reports each year.
Here are some steps to take if you suspect you’ve been scammed, and ways to find the cash you sought in the first place.
Try to get your money back. Your debit and credit cards have certain protections that may help you recoup some or all of the stolen funds. Reach out to your bank card issuer immediately for the best chance of fast reimbursement. You’re less likely to get the money back if you sent it via gift card or digital wallet.
File a report. Investigators prioritize scams that affect many people, so filing a report could get the scammer on their radar and help others avoid the same fate. Report fraud anonymously to the National Consumers League at fraud.org .
Get support. If you’ve lost money, a nonprofit credit counseling service may help get you back on track. These organizations can help you budget, manage debt, negotiate bills and find community resources that may provide funds or other assistance.
Find the cash you need. There are legitimate ways to borrow money , whether it’s from a loan company or friends and family. If a personal loan is your best option, compare loans from multiple reputable lenders to find affordable financing.
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Annie Millerbernd is a personal loans editor. Her work has appeared in The Associated Press and USA Today. See full bio.
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