MCO Capital loan

intrumcleaner

Hi everyone, I can confirm that MCO capital, RTF FINANCIAL HOLDINGS INC, RTF Finansiering AB c/o HTO Finansiering AB (and all the other names they use) still scam people and work together with Intrum Justitia (atleast in Sweden, Denmark and Finland).

The CEO Lars Wollung from Intrum Justitia have been informed several times about the scam, but he seems to just prefer to look the other way and let Intrum Justitia continue to work with these fraud companies. And MCO capital (with all the other names they use) continues to ripoff people in Sweden, Denmark and Finland where people ending up with a interest rate over 75% on the microloan they take on the websites with same owner but different names. For example in Sweden luckyloan.se, pyttekassa.com, manadslan.com and kvicklan.se just to name a few.

We started to collect evidence that Intrum Justitia has continued to work with MCO capital (but under different names and companies) and also commit many other crimes. Unfortunately is the thread only in Swedish (because im a new member cant I post the link).
I hope that everyone that got involved in this mess will come out from it without too much damage!

IntrumCleaner

DtSje

Has anyone from the press covered this much yet? I see an article from 2010 on the BBC website, but nothing much apart from that. Working in the publishing industry at the moment but do miss doing traditional news and this seems like quite an interesting tale...

geomacl

I thought that I'd have a quick peek after a few months to see what's happening and am floored to find that ever more people are still being scammed by this lot of shysters.
Nothing new on Action Fraud web site, nothing in the media, nothing new on CoL Police site - and still the gravy train rolls on. It seems that fraud is being accepted by authorities as a day by day occurrence on a par with shoplifting and it's no longer worthy of their attention - all very sad!:mad:

Slip_de_Garcon

I'm a newbie so can't post links.

But the most recently published accounts for MCO Capital Ltd make interesting reading.

Easily googled.

Robie_Nudd

This seems to have ground to a halt. If we go back to the arrest in Dagenham contributors might like to read these stories:-

http://www.berwickshirenews.co.uk/news/local-headlines/bank-workers-snare-nigerian-fraudster-1-2367088

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2110555/Chibuikem-Uzoma-Ubani-hijacked-identities-open-725-bank-accounts-1-3m-benefits-swindle.html

They have some bearing on the MCO case. The MCO fraud was yet another scam organised by West Africans living in the UK. I saw substantial numbers of accounts that had been used for this fraud as did colleagues who I worked with. Almost all these accounts were opened with false documentation. GomerPyle took me to task over how easy it was to open an account - if you're a professional fraudster with the wherewithal - not difficult at all (as shown above). My desk was full of paperwork/bank accounts that showed how easy it was and what fraud could be achieved. The MCO Capital fraud must have been easy picking and was quickly disseminated till everyone had their hands in the till. Why have you heard nothing? My guess is that the City of London Police quickly ascertained they were chasing shadows - people that simply didn't exist - 1000s of statements and accounts with £300 in them transferred to other accounts and withdrawn at ATMs. I expect that they have moved onto investigating more lucrative frauds. The fact that there has been silence now for months would suggest I'm correct.

Robie_Nudd

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19194632

No doubt other links will be added soon!

And here's one from this site:-

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/loans/2012/08/payday-loan-firm-banned-for-allowing-fraud-then-chasing-victims-for-cash

Caddyman

I can assure all that this type of activity is (well in my own case anyway) most definitley not restricted to MCO Capital. I apologise in advance for not stating any of the company names or that of my bank beneath. I can assure all however, that the following happened to me in the last six months.

I recently found I had become a victim of identity fraud after I discovered the withdrawal of one penny from my current account from another nationally advertised payday loan company. I appeal to all to thoroughly scrutinize your bank statements. I discovered the fraud against me quite quickly as I check my current banking account online everyday. Unfortunately for me, the fraud occurred a day before the commencement of a Bank Holiday and the fraud did not present itself until four days after the penny had been taken.

My banking provider's fraud department then revealed to me that there had been no less than nine attempts to withdraw funds from my account, mostly for the sum of one penny. They admitted that the activity had been spotted, but they neglected to contact me to tell me! I was quite rightly fuming! They did take immediate action to refund my debited penny though!

My debit card had seemingly been skimmed or otherwise ripped off without my knowledge and had been used to apply for several payday loans. I immediately contacted CIFAS fraud prevention service, paid £20 to have a protection notice placed upon my credit file and this was implemented almost immediately. I then contacted all of the companies (the bank informed me who had attempted to debit funds). Be careful though, some banks allegedly only keep details of certain transactions for 10 working days, so quick action must be taken!

Thankfully, six of the companies had picked up on the fraudulent activity and declined the payment of fraudulent applications. One of them even revealed to me, that the bank account to which the fraudster had attempted to obtain money to be paid into, didn't even match my debit card details!

I set about immediately contacting those companies who had clearly been defrauded and told them that I was not responsible and I had been the subject of identity fraud. Whatever you do, if you have not taken out any form of loan, don't under any circumstances acknowledge the debt! They confirmed that they closed the accounts opened in my name immediately on me informing them, but, guess what? they still want their money back and as far as they are concerned, I'm the one who has to pay! Clearly, this was never going to happen. I contacted the National Fraud Reporting Centre and informed them of my identity theft (I believe this information is then passed to the City of London Police). An incident number was given to me. One of the companies based in the United States suddenly became extremely sympathetic and believed what I had to tell them. They emailed me a Fraud Declaration Form which I completed and signed and they promptly informed me that I had no further obligation toward them.

Another company, well, they told me they closed the account and they would investigate the matter. I have never heard from them again. I worry not though, I have an ace up my sleeve which I played with the most troublesome company who following several emails back and forth, continued to refuse to believe I had never taken a loan with them. They sent a single threatening letter demanding payment, but failed to state how much the loan was for! I duly contacted the Financial Ombudsman Service and made a formal complaint against the company concerned. I also, using templates found on MSE, constructed a letter quoting all of the relevant sections of the Consumer Credit Act and demanding full documentation relating to the loan application allegedly taken out in my name. These companies must provide a full and complete record of the alleged loan agreement. Failure to comply is a criminal offence. Within four days, the company agreed that I had indeed been the victim of identity theft and absolved me of any responsibility. They also placed a CIFAS protection notice on my credit file alerting others that I had been a victim of identity theft. Incidentally, they refused to supply any of the details of the alleged loan agreement, stating that as I had been a victim of identity theft, to reveal the records would be a breach of the Data Protection Act lol! I bet my large backside that they don't pass any of the details to the police!

I would like to add, it is highly doubtful that some of these payday loan companies have any kind of 'Fraud Department'. Some of them are based outside of the UK and merely have a registered office in the UK to comply with the licence granted to them by the OFT. From the correspondence I had with a couple of the companies (including a telephone conversation), they literally let on to me that they didn't have a fraud department per se. I got the impression that they had neither the technical ability or expertise to carry out any form of investigation and literally fly by the seat of their pants so to speak when it comes to dealing with compaints against them.

At the end of the day, licenced money lenders are responsible for their own actions. If they are negligent enough not to carry out proper identity checks and lose money in the process, then tough on them! Some though seemingly won't worry about chasing individuals for money that they don't owe! The only way these companies can be dealt with, is by defrauded individuals reporting them and action being taken by the relevant statutory bodies to investigate and if necessary, fine them and in some cases, revoke their licence to operate and shut them down.

If anyone else finds them themselves in the same situation, try not to panic. It is distressing, highly inconvenient and some of these companies will try to scare you into paying. Above all, check, check check! your bank statements often. Report any suspicious activity to your bank and remember to inform the National Fraud Reporting Centre if you have definitely become a victim of fraud. If the loan company is a member of CIFAS, tell CIFAS too. Don't be frightened of asking the Financial Ombudsman for help. If you keep a level head, there should be no need in my humble opinion, to involve a solicitor, though I appreciate that some may go down this route.

Finally, I'd recommend obtaining a copy of your credit file at least once a year. As I discovered, it is quite pointless just obtaining one credit file from one agency. There are three main Credit Reference Agencies. They charge two pounds for a statutory credit file. They do not all use the same parameters to carry out credit checks and different companies offering credit may only use one particular credit reference agency to carry out credit and identity checks. All three of my credit files show slightly different entries to one another.

Another issue one may wish to consider if you have become a victim of ID fraud, is to remove yourself from the Edited Register of Electors that is available for sale to anyone. I have just taken action to do this. I will still appear on the Register, but not on the one available for sale. Think about registering with the Telephone Preference Service and the Mailing Preference Service. Consider going Ex-Directory so your name doesn't appear in Telephone Directories. Also, make sure you contact Royal Mail and inform them that you have become a victim of identity theft. Royal Mail were very helpful to me and confirmed that no one had set up a Post Office Box in my name. They also informed me that they had contacted my local sorting office and informed them too. You can if you so wish, opt to collect your own mail from the sorting office. Inconvenient for some I realise, but if like me you have become a victim, just a another layer of security to buffer against fraudulent activity.

Anyway, that's my story. I hope I have provided a few pointers to help other victims out.

Eaglemar

Robie_Nudd wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19194632

No doubt other links will be added soon!

And here's one from this site:-

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/loans/2012/08/payday-loan-firm-banned-for-allowing-fraud-then-chasing-victims-for-cash

The same was reported in a small article in todays Metro newspaper, hence my visit back to this site. I wonder if us victims would ever see any of this fine, and whether MCO will even pay it!

TheScream

Firstly, apologies if this is a repeat posting. It is my first and Firefox seemed reluctant to let me submit it first time round.

Caddyman is right. Problem definitely not restricted to MCO Capital. I discovered I was a victim of identity fraud just this afternoon when I noticed payments going out to a payday company (who will remain nameless for now...)

Here's the background. When checking my bank account online at the weekend I noticed that there appeared to be a small discrepancy (£5.00) between the 'balance' and 'available balance' which could not be accounted for by some recent purchases. It is not the first time I have forgotten about another purchase so in view of the small amount I decided to wait until the actual transaction details appeared on my statement.

This afternoon I checked my account again and saw a debit for £5.00 by a Payday loan company . I did not know it was a payday company at first but the name gave a hint and a Google search told me what I needed to know. Now, for some mad reason, I was more worried that an Amazon purchase might bounce because my balance was £5.00 so I transferred another £20 into my account. Well, after that I went hunting for my bank's telephone number only to look at my account and saw that the available balance had gone down by another £5.00 in the space of couple of minutes!!!

I called my bank (who will remain nameless for now...) and filled them in on the details, including the fact that I had not had any prior contact with this payday company and most certainly did not get a loan from them. They checked the account and said the Payday loan company is a legit company and that their system was showing a couple more money grabs from my account were in progress.

However, what I found most shocking was the news from my bank that apparently this loan company had been trying and failing repeatedly to debit my account since the 23rd or 24th August and my bank did not think this a little strange and try to contact me...........!!! This makes a total nonsense of any so called security procedures they may have in place.

Anyway, the bank immediately cancelled the debit card and said a new one would be sent out straightaway (no refund offered though as yet). They also said they would send me a form to complete. Not sure what else I can tell them on a form but reading the various forums I guess that this is some kind of declaration that I need to sign to the effect that I did not have any dealings with the loan company.

Too late to call and register with CIFAS (their phone line shuts at 6 pm) but you can bet it is top of my 'to do' list for tomorrow morning. Will get on with credit checks tonight.

Luckily, as you may have guessed, this was not my main bank account or I might have been totally cleaned out by the loan company. It is very scary to think how easy it seems to be to scam these payday companies and how potentially devastating the consequences can be.to innocents like you and me.

I urge you all to read Caddyman's post if you have not done so already. It has some excellent info and advice which should be distributed as widely as possible.

I will post again when I have further news of my own situation. I have followed Caddyman's lead for now in refraining from naming the bank and the payday company whilst they are given the opportunity to remedy the situation.

As soon as I have any further news I will post again for anyone interested.

TheScream

Well, I did not think I would be submitting an update so soon. Sadly, it is not good news.

Well, tried to register for CIFAS Identity Protection Service over the phone this morning. Answered all questions, only thing left to do was pay the £20.00 fee. Tried to use debit card for my other account. Payment declined. Checked number. CIFAS operator got one digit wrong. Phew! OK, try again. Payment declined, again. How can that be. I suggested that maybe my bank cancelled the debit cards on both accounts. CIFAS operator said no problem and told me I had 10 days to pay before they removed my details from the system.

Boot up my computer to check online account. Sent secure message to bank to tell them of CIFAS payment and complain that no-one advised me that the debit cards on both accounts would be cancelled. Note that there are still pending transactions on the account being stripped by the payday loan company. Becoming very paranoid now and deciding not to leave the money in the hands of the bank. Decide to pop into local branch of bank at lunchtime to talk to someone and withdraw remaining cash from other account, except for money to cover a couple of Direct Debits.

Pop into local branch,. No-one manning help desk so queued to speak to a cashier. Gave her my cards and asked them to check the status.

GUESS WHAT....THEY CANCELLED THE WRONG DEBIT CARD!!!!!

The cashier checked, double checked and treble checked before confirming that yes, the debit card on the compromised account was still live. They had cancelled the debit card on the other account by mistake. She immediately cancelled it for me and ordered yet another new card.

So, fraudsters take out a loan using my ID, the loan company keeps hitting my account repeatedly for a month and a half but the bank does not think this odd enough to let me know, I only discover it yesterday when the loan company succeeds with their first debit, followed by 5 more (all in the space of 48 hours), within the first 24 hours I notify my bank, the bank cancels the wrong debit card which allows more pending debits from the loan company to go through, I only notice the banks !!!! up by sheer luck the next day and I am down £50.00 with no refund (this may not be a lot of money to some but to me and lots of other people it is a lot and it is only sheer luck it did not end up being more).

I then find out from the FSA (Financial Services Authority) that my bank must refund me immediately for an unauthorised transaction unless they have reason to believe I actually authorised the transaction. So my bank is calling me a liar?

Keep tuned for more updates.