MCO Capital loan

geomacl

I have just spoken to AF again and they are disappointed that second and third letters are being sent to some people. It should not happen IF you have contacted MCO/IJ at Liverpool address/telephone (CoLP are recommending letter). Has anyone received a 2nd or 3rd letter who had previously contacted IJ??
There will be a feature on Radio 4 at 12 noon today where a rep from MCO will be participating.
If you miss it you should be able to listen to it on BBC I-player.
AF rep did clarify that they would not normally accept calls from those subject to identity fraud as the victim is the company making the loans (in this case MCO) Apparently CoLP are satisfied that MCO is the main victim and will have lost significant sums of money.

grahamqat

Just put the radio on Geomacl - will listen with interest

grahamqat

Interesting that the CRA advised MCO they should both decline the Radio 4 interview - something to hide perhaps?

geomacl

Just listened to BBC4 Moneybox - got about 5 minutes coverage but interesting points:
1. Experian had agreed (on 2 occasions) to participate on soe but pulled out
2. MCO (Finnish representative) had agreed to participate but pulled out at last minute - wait for it - ON THE ADVICE OF EXPERIAN - allegedly because listeners may not be able to understand because of his accent (presumably this was Niklas Furu?) - very cosy relationship between Experian and MCO????:mad:.
3. Alison from Bristol had been sent a loan repayment demand and on checking the Helploan web site found that only a name, address,bank account number and DoB were required - and money paid within minutes!!!! Apparently MCO/Helploan have modified their application process to stop further fraudulent loans being made?????
4. MCO claim that they have lost arounf £1.5 million (this implies that some 5000 fraudulent loans were made!!!) beggars belief that it took 5000 fraudulent applications before the fraud was discovered - they must surely have spotted a significant INCREASE in loan applications over a short time period??
5 Apparently MCO have apologised to those of us defrauded - not to me they haven't!!
6 Advice as per AF web site (contact MCO at IJ address etc) plus contact OFT and local Trading Standards???
7. They would like to hear from victims on www.bbc.co.uk/moneybox
Not high on learnings but at least it has had some media coverage? I wonder how many people listen to BBC4 at noon on a Saturday??
See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/9119881.stm - apparently Helploan only started trading this summer!!!

geomacl

grahamqat wrote: »

Interesting that the CRA advised MCO they should both decline the Radio 4 interview - something to hide perhaps?

It was the fact that Experian PERSUADED the MCO representative, who had earlier agreed, NOT to participate that caught my attention grahamqat!!!!!:mad:

grahamqat

Hi again Geomacl - nice summary of the programme. This hasn't done Experian or MCO any favours at all. Obviously no MCO spokesperson in the UK, makes you wonder where the phone calls are answered from. Also some very unhealthy connection beween Experian and MCO. The CRA's are supposed to be impartial, this excersize has blown that myth. Had a look at the web-sites and didn't see anything new. They are still presumably stealing ID's and bank account details, just as the letters are still going out. As you say though, at least the issue has now had some media exposure which can only help.

We_Laugh_Indoors

MCO Capital mentioned in the Guardian:

Guardian

Eaglemar

I have been watching this thread with interest as I too have been caught with this scam. I have received the first 2 letters from MCO and today I received the 3rd from IJ. This was even after reporting the scam to AF and obtaining a CRN after the 2nd letter. The previous letters have pretty much been the same as everyone else's on here and the latest letter has the £726 balance.
This whole episode is extremely annoying as apart from my mortgage I have no other loans and just a credit card that I pay the balance off each month. After the advice from this forum I did an Equifax credit check and found nothing relating to MCO on it. I didnt manage to do an Experian one as for some reason their website wasnt working. I was planning to phone IJ today but they appear to not operate on the weekend, so will have to phone on Monday from work.
I think this scam has been made worse by the scant details required on MCO's website to get a loan in the first place. It doesnt take much for someone to search electoral rolls and obtain names and addresses, which is all that the MCO website requires.
It seems the credit industry needs tightening up in this country, like a lot of things as scams like this end up costing the UK money it cant afford to lose. Its a shame to hear that some people have indeed paid up after receiving these letters, and as much as I dont want to see a bailiff knocking on my door I know my rights and what the bailiff's have to do in the first place, so wont hesitate to phone the Police and get them to jog on.
Its also a relief to see the media getting involved so hopefully the nasty people involved will scurry away to whatever rock they crawled out from under.
Like others have said, will be interesting to see what further letters I receive once I have phoned IJ, who gave me 48 hours after receipt of the latest letter to pay up before solicitors or bailiffs get involved.

1953

Still convinced it`s a marketing ploy to get frightened people to sign up for Experian - £7.99 a month after the free period - remember and cancel

Eaglemar

1953 wrote: »

Still convinced it`s a marketing ploy to get frightened people to sign up for Experian - £7.99 a month after the free period - remember and cancel

Thats the other thing that annoys me, having to pay a company money to view my own credit report. It almost seems like having to pay a bank to view my bank balance!
If we were allowed to be guardians of our own data and personal information I am sure fraudsters would find these sort of scams a lot harder. We sure as hell cant trust the government to look after our data.