MCO Capital loan

Eaglemar

Guilty of fraud or a victim, it matters not. MCO's crap criteria for allowing people to apply for credit online is what's caused all this mess. So if they have lost millions out of it more fool them. The fact they have caused stress and our time sorting this out means they are an irresponsible company, and that alone should be why they are closed down.
Still doesnt explain though why when people have done some detective work they have found many anomalies in their business practices.
They are at best a cowboy outfit, at worse they are no better than the fraudsters themselves.

Debtfreeatlast_2

Incredible that a loan company did not (I really hope it is past tense) check the very basic detail the the cash they were sending was going to a Bank account in that persons name.

alan_se

Robie_Nudd wrote: »

I've read all the contributions here and as I have some knowledge of this case thought I'd give some insight which you all probably know anyway. Despite the conspiracy theorists, MCO aren't involved - they have merely been taken for a huge amount because of the laxness of their system.

To get a Helploan of £300 you had to fill in an on-line form. Our fraudsters, professional as they were, were already armed with a list of names/dates of birth/addresses. I cannot speculate where this came from; suffice it to say I have as yet seen nothing on this site to indicate any commonality on the thousands of names used. MCO merely checked with Experian that the people on the fraudsters list were shown at the address and had no CCJs. What ought to have alerted the authorities is that the people applying for the loans were typical Joe Public. Has anyone here ever applied for a £300 loan with a repayment in a month of £512? Of course not. Pay-day loans are a specific market for those in dire need - certainly not the sort of people who have been hit with this scam.

Finding that their clients were good risks, MCO loaned them £300. I have no idea of the scale of the fraud compared with the total turnover of MCO over the period; but I am assuming that the vast majority of their loans were made out to these hijacked identities. The fraudsters, professional people as they are, were quick to see this hole in the market and fill it with their friends, relatives and compatriots.

MCO deposited £300 in the nominated bank accounts. It will come as no surprise to everyone that the bank account names were as fictitious as the claims. Certain banks allow accounts to be opened on line without any verification at all; other banks allow multiple accounts to be opened by one individual. That's where the money went. As for the phone verifications - pay as you go phones - no subscribers; no trace - a classic sting by a well-organised group.

Of course by the time a month was up and the wheels of MCO and their collection agency IJ got moving, the fraud was already motoring. Add to this the massive amount of paperwork this has engendered; trying to find out what is real and what isn't; we are already weeks behind the perpetrators. The investigation is under way but it's going to be a long and hard road paved with paper before anyone is arrested let alone appears before a court.

It's astonishing if it's really this simple, and I do find it difficult to believe. I spoke to someone at MCO about letters received by myself and my wife back in early August when they were using Gothia to administer the 'loans'. Gothia cancelled our accounts immediately and advised me they would also contact MCO and confirmed as such in writing (we still got later letters from MCO/IJ). Experian were also informed and must have had some contact with MCO.

Surely MCO would have seen a fraud pattern emerging at least 3 months ago? Why seemingly carry on taking fraudulent losses if they are a legitimate business ? Why are they not writing back to anyone or at least acknowledging a written communication ?

I think we can assume MCO or their parent company have done this kind of thing before elsewhere - surely the fraud risks of online applications in other countries are similar and they would be aware of them?

Alan

grahamqat

Hi Eaglemar, Debtfree... Yes I'm with you both on that. The problem now is that the authorities (who seem to have bought the line MCO are victims) may focus on sifting through thousands of loan applications to try to find the ID fraudsters. This could take months during which time letters still go out, and the web-sites are still open for business. The root cause of the probelm is MCO and their web-sites. Like you I want them closed down and quick and would encourage anyone who feels the same to post here so the strength of feeling can be made public. All it takes is for the OFT to revoke their Consumer Credit Licence, which should have been done weeks ago.

Eaglemar

grahamqat wrote: »

Hi Eaglemar, Debtfree... Yes I'm with you both on that. The problem now is that the authorities (who seem to have bought the line MCO are victims) may focus on sifting through thousands of loan applications to try to find the ID fraudsters. This could take months during which time letters still go out, and the web-sites are still open for business. The root cause of the probelm is MCO and their web-sites. Like you I want them closed down and quick and would encourage anyone who feels the same to post here so the strength of feeling can be made public. All it takes is for the OFT to revoke their Consumer Credit Licence, which should have been done weeks ago.

Maybe this calls for a combined effort in contacting OFT asking them to revoke MCO's CC licence then?

grahamqat

Yes I think so. Incidentally found a recent (Sept 10th) variation to their CC Licence as follows on the OFT Public Register: I note the actions are "Pending" and not "Current" - anyone know what this means? I've asked the OFT but they take several days to reply.

Had to edit it out because the tabs got messed up - will post link instead but site is easy to find, just Google Consumer Credit Licence then look for Public Register and click on history once you have details for: CCL 0613263

http://www2.crw.gov.uk/pr/Default.aspx

Prudence2_2

This is a call to arms to everyone following this thread.

I am a subscriber to Which? magazine (the Consumer Association) and today I spoke to one of their finance experts about the MCO scam. He said not to bother writing to our MPs or the OFT but to take it straight to the Home Office.

If you are angry about the reckless and negligent way that MCO Capital has behaved, the fact the CRAs can legally give out your credit report even on the basis of inaccurate personal details, and the woeful lack of protection for UK citizens from credit fraud, please write to:

The Home Office
Direct Communications Unit
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF

or e-mail
public.enquiries @ homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

(delete the spaces either side of the '@' sign if you cut and paste the e-mail address from this message)

You are entitled to a reply within 20 days.

Please join me in sending an e-mail to the Home Office and hopefully together we can bring this situation to the attention of the people who have the power to change the law.

grahamqat

Hi Pru2 - Good idea , I will write/e-mail HO this weekend, and if we post when we have, we can keep a cumulative count going on this thread. Incidentally I dont know if you went on the OFT register link I posted before, but MCO are licenced for "cashing cheques". They have been trading outside the scope of this for sure.

Macs

I like the idea of a home office mail.
Here's one I sent earlier. Feel free to cut paste and modify to suit if you think it's suitable

---

Hi;

I'm one of an estimated 5000+ individuals who have received demands from MCO Capital for repayment of a "payday" loan that I have never applied for. In fact before the first letter popped through my letter box I have never heard of MCO capital or its related companies.

Like others I have received several letters from MCO and their associated debt collection agencies. I have retained all copies and copies of my replies.

Like others I have had my credit record at Experian queried by MCO even though they supplied incorrect details about my residence period. MCO now seem to be claiming that they are the victim of a concerted fraud. From the details about the application process required by MCO even if they are a legitimate company which seems doubtful. they hardly seem to be a fit and proper organisation to hold a credit licence.

Personally I am merely annoyed at the activities of MCO their debt collectors and Experian. I know that they will be unable to produce any evidence of a loan application made by me as I have not contacted MCO by mobile phone and I have received no funds into any of my bank accounts.

I am concerned that others may be intimidated into paying up and worrying that their credit records will be damaged.

I understand that the overall situation is being investigated by City of London Police and other authorities, can I request that until their investigations are complete MCO has all it's UK licences suspended, it's debt collection agencies be instructed to suspend all recovery attempts and Experian and the other CRAs stop processing credit checks for this company.

MCO seem to have no physical presence in the UK so it won't cause any employee hardship in the UK.

I look forward to your reply...

Regards

---

Robie_Nudd

alan_se wrote: »

It's astonishing if it's really this simple, and I do find it difficult to believe. I spoke to someone at MCO about letters received by myself and my wife back in early August when they were using Gothia to administer the 'loans'. Gothia cancelled our accounts immediately and advised me they would also contact MCO and confirmed as such in writing (we still got later letters from MCO/IJ). Experian were also informed and must have had some contact with MCO.

Surely MCO would have seen a fraud pattern emerging at least 3 months ago? Why seemingly carry on taking fraudulent losses if they are a legitimate business ? Why are they not writing back to anyone or at least acknowledging a written communication ?

I think we can assume MCO or their parent company have done this kind of thing before elsewhere - surely the fraud risks of online applications in other countries are similar and they would be aware of them?

Alan

Alan, I assure you it was that simple. I am aware of the timeframe that the fraudsters operated in which I can't disclose. MCO offered an unsecured loan (maximum of £300) at an exhorbitant interest rate. The hit they took on amounts of £300 was massive. The firm has come in for immense criticism on here when essentially they have been naive and had a hole in their business model. Whilst the fraud has caused a huge upsurge of anger, angst and hostility on the part of the righteous, they will have in the end, lost nothing. MCO have taken the hit and trying to get rid of them will not solve the problems outlined in my opening post. There are plenty of other companies that deal in "pay-day" loans. The persons that received dozens of these loans through accounts are the bad guys here.

Can I briefly deal with a further point; the money was transferred from MCO via credit transfer into the suspect accts where the sort code and account number were given on the application. This is standard practice in all credit transfers; the name on the bank account is not normally known to the sender of any monies.