Avoiding Shady Lenders Online

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Thanks to the internet everything’s just a few clicks away. It doesn’t matter if you want to play a game, order food or buy something, you can do all this stuff and more online. What’s great about online services is that they’ve made regular services more available. Some things like paying our bills now take a few seconds instead of a few minutes. Lending services online are available to those with good and bad credit ratings. However, when it comes to money and transactions the internet has become a dangerous place.

Lending money online is a tricky business. Scammers are everywhere and it’s very easy for them to set up a fake lending platform and part you with your money. So how to avoid these shady lenders? By doing the smart thing and taking a few precautions. What you should always do first is research the lending platform. Reputable online lenders like SoFi, Asteria Lendings, Marcus and others are easy to trust because they’ve established themselves as reliable. If you come across a less known lender then you might want to go over a few reviews. The bad ones are just as important as the good ones.

If everything seems alright with the reviews then you should look for complaints filed against the lending platform. They are usually documented in an archive in the regulative body of your state and you can check them out for free. Two signs that will always tell you that a certain online lender is to be avoided are unexpected e-mails or phone calls. The calls usually come with a blocked ID which is why you shouldn’t even pick up. Everyone gets spam e-mails today so if you haven’t signed up for a lending service and you get a mail like that to delete it without even opening it. Just by clicking a link on that mail you’ll give out your personal information and become a victim of identity theft.

The thing with scammers is that they’ll try to get money out of you any way they can. Big loans indeed require upfront payments and all loans have fees that need to be paid, but if a lender is asking for an upfront payment for a personal loan then something’s fishy. Another obvious red flag is a badly designed website. Misspelled words on a page and security risks notifications from browsers are signs that you shouldn’t ignore. Unusual names are also frequent with online scammers.

With all this in mind, you should tread carefully when borrowing money online from online lenders. Consider all sources, family and friends included, before sending your personal information online. Take all necessary precautions to avoid being scammed. Keep all the red flags in mind when looking for an online lender and you’ll be safe. Always think twice about a lending website and make sure to shop around for other sites or even comparing them so you can see how different they are. Finally, don’t borrow more than you can return.