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Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 11:41 am
Updated 10/27/2022 to add a new twist to the call. Update added at the end of the post.
Back in August, I shared about the hardship loan phone calls I was getting. Guess what? They have started up again. This time I’m being called by an eerily calm caller named Michael. I have a feeling this is a Robo/computer-generated call because there are some pauses in the chatter.
The call
The phone number
The call was listed as restricted when the call was placed to my cellphone. Yet when I checked my voicemail messages it was listed as 563-206-9630.
The call came from a Nebraska area code. I couldn’t find that number when I Googled it to see if it was real.
the caller
The caller was another male caller like Marcus. Yet this person’s name is Michael. He uses the same script as Marcus did.
I thought the caller was a robot because of the eerily calmness of the voice and the fact that there are some slight pauses in the chatter. It’s almost like the text was being fed to the system for the call.
The call
Here is an audio clip of today’s (10/18/2022).
The call was very similar to the ones I’d had from Marcus. They claim to be calling from some unnamed hardship department and that I am qualified for up to a 37 thousand dollar loan. All I need to do is call them back and talk to someone. This would move my loan out of pending status.
Here is one of the original calls from Marcus.
The callback number
The callback number that Michael gives in the in the message is 562-554-2194.
Here’s the thing I googled the number and couldn’t find it anywhere. So I assume it’s an auto-generated phone number that is used for these types of calls. Oddly enough the caller gave an area code that is located in LA county.
calls like these are illegal in the US
According to the FTC calls like these selling loan services are illegal. Even thought this isn’t a debt relief or repair call the offer of a loan unasked for is against the law.
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/topics/consumer-finance/debt-relief-credit-repair-scams
No company should offer services If you aren’t requesting them. Especially the “Hardship Department” of an unknown/unnamed company.
don’t return this call
Don’t return this call because it seems to be suspicious and quite frankly odd. They make sure to make note that they are on the west coast yet use numbers from the Midwest or East. So who would you be calling?
The callback number isn’t even listed online. So that should be a big red flag.
what you can do
You can report the number to your phone provider and block it if your cell service offers that feature. Don’t fall for this scam. Even if the loan amount is big it’s too good to be true. Let’s get the word out again and share about this.
There is a new twist to this call
I had a call earlier today from yet again the Hardship department. Well, this caller was named Jess or Jeff. they shared that I qualified for hardship elimination. So the call has gone from offering loans to eliminations.
The call was similar to the other two but gave different phone numbers.
The call came from 1-434-206-5876 The call back number is 775-496-8779.
Either way, it’s the same style of scam. You are asked to call back and speak to someone.
You can listen to the message via our Instagram post below. It’s the second slide.
Once again this is a scam please don’t fall for this.
