The Financial Intelligence Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (FIUTT) is alerting the public to be aware of scammers imitating legitimate lending businesses to conduct “Loan Fraud Scams.”
The FIU says Loan Fraud Scam is advertised online or through social media platforms, where scammers imitate or replicate legitimate lending businesses’ websites or use similar email addresses of legitimate lending businesses.
It says to date, the organisation has received over 20 reports of suspected online loan scams.
How the scam works/ requests made by fraudsters- Unsuspecting persons are asked to provide or accept:
- Unsolicited loan offers
- Communication, via WhatsApp or emails
- Requests for documents or personal information
- Upfront fees
- Third party account number
Redflags:
- Be wary of loan offers made of unexpected loan offers received through social media pages/ posts or ads.
- Pay attention to offers that seem to be too good to be true.
- Reject any offers that request advance payments.
- Pay attention to websites using free social media accounts for example Gmail for official business.
How to report online scams:
- Any fraud or attempted fraud should be reported to the TTPS Fraud Squad at 625-2310; 623-2644; 652-8594; or by email fraud@ttps.gov.tt
Financial institutions and listed businesses are also reminded that any transaction/ activity that is suspected to be fraudulent- including suspected money laundering should be reported immediately.
