The Loan Centre Warning!!!!

orbison2002

orbison2002 wrote: »

no they dont.or only have done recently. I had their entire domain checked out before i started my case against them.and i can prove it. Nowhere do they say they will take £47 £66 £76 or in one case £109 ..i am in direct contact with many who arnt happy and they withdraw different amounts from different accounts. If they are now showing a fee. A one off membership fee. Its a ploy that wont help them with past cases. And for the people who became members.they have found it almost impossible to cancel. Even tho the law is very clear on that.you can read their stories on the net.

i am not a legal brain and i am only beguinning to learn about my rights but i is in no way legal to take money from an account without clearly displaying that amount.

PhylPho

orbison2002 wrote: »

.if someone,as you say..walkjs into a shed full of dynamite with a lit candle, yes ..but it is still against the law to have a shed full of dynamite in the first place..

But only when it's proveable.

And that's what too many seem to think doesn't matter: proof. That instead, it's enough to remember an on-screen image. Or recollect a telephone call. Or in some way or other conjure up as indisputable fact that which is absent any evidentiary support. Why???

Scammers rely -- *always* -- on the stupidity of the mark. On 'your word against ours'. On 'our version of the facts, not yours'. The civil courts are littered with such he-said/she-said issues.

No, there's no reason why a consumer needs to have a forensic ability to delve into CH records or WHOIS look-ups or domain tracing or IP reconciling: there are plenty of folks on a forum like this and elsewhere who can do that and would willingly help out.

But there is every reason for every consumer to ensure that what they do online, they also, always, record. That way, there's proof-of-fact at the time. Not unsupported recollection some way afterwards.

zutonia

Ok here is what I know as I was subject to this in last 4 days.
The trading address is an Empty office, with royal mail "we tried to deliver" visible through the letterbox.
The holding company Veritable is also not at that address. I was there in person this morning.
It's possible to get a call back but you have to go through Nostrum, who act as theory collection processor. I got called back this afternoon by Harry.
According to him, they only process completed refund forms on Wednesdays, and that I should be refunded once Barclays, their bank, has processed the card refund. This remains to be seen.
Anyway, I checked the Oft Credit License. It's valid for Loan-center but not for off site trading. As such they should be in breach of that license. On another thread here, posted start of October 2010, its mentioned that the office is empty and up for sale. So they have traded for a month without a registered HQ. IMHO they are raking money in with no or little overheads. Bertola, he's in Monaco, but is who is behind it all. Good luck if you got caught. I'll update if money does get refunded, but I don't hold out much hope.

Hax

orbison2002 wrote: »

i am not a legal brain and i am only beguinning to learn about my rights but i is in no way legal to take money from an account without clearly displaying that amount.

The problem is, the amount is (almost always) clearly displayed so long as the person reads the entirety of their screen instead of just looking for the "Continue/Apply" button or bothers to read the terms and conditions before clicking the afore mentioned "Continue/Apply" button...

Sadly, it seems that too many are too keen to rush on in.

zutonia

I forgot to mention I emailed my completed form to them 5 times. How can you post it if they are not at the address they want it sent to? Also nostrums number is the 08445 one that's given in another of these MSE forum threads. You need either Tamsin or Caroline, the later dealt with me and got me my callback.

PhylPho

Hax wrote: »

The problem is, the amount is (almost always) clearly displayed so long as the person reads the entirety of their screen instead of just looking for the "Continue/Apply" button or bothers to read the terms and conditions before clicking the afore mentioned "Continue/Apply" button...

Sadly, it seems that too many are too keen to rush on in.

Variations of screen breakage are common (the deliberate splitting of a web page so that vital information is off-screen unless the page is fully scrolled.)

Scammers have used this trick for years, some rather more successfully than others. For example: though the authorities recently cracked down on phony EU Health Insurance Card issuers and closed down several of 'em, at least one is still trading and using the screen breakage technique to deceive: EU Healthcard.com.

If you go to its home page here:

http://www.eu-healthcard.com/?gclid=CIrG072MlqUCFcFH4wod3H04Sw

you'll see how the page has been purposely designed to mislead, because it's necessary to scroll down to reach the list of application options: By Post By Telephone Online.

The post and telephone options are there as a sop to the authorities in hope of avoiding prosecution, but the online option deceives nevertheless by deliberately excluding any mention of the official, free-to-use NHS EHIcard online service.

Having so constructed the page to make it necessary to scroll once, the page now appears to have reached its conclusion.

But the white space isn't white space at all, but screen breakage, so that only a second scrolling eventually yields the information:

This website is not connected to or affiliated with the National Health Service, The Department of Health or any other official Government body. You can apply independently for EHIC by visiting the official NHS website.

Of course, having already scrolled once to reach what he / she thinks is the end of the page, a user may naturally think all the relevant information has been presented, and that the 'online option' costs £9.99p. Thus do they fall victim to the screen breakage scam.

(Hopefully, this particular con-trick website will also vanish soon and with it, the absurdly-named one-bloke-in-a-back-bedroom Universal Check Services.)

Lucy_loo_3

I haven't read all the threads but thank you to those who supported me. I WILL TELL YOU AGAIN THAT NOWHERE ON THEIR SITE DO THEY MENTION THAT THEY WILL BE TAKING £61.50 FROM MY ACCOUNT!! So please stop talking like those that were scammed by this company are stupid!!!! I have spoken to the Ombudsman who agreed that this company do not state how much they will charge on their site! My Daughter works for a Solicitor and she asked him about it and he said he had heard of the company before but he took a good look on the site and said he could not see anything about a fee! When I realised they were a broker I had a suspicion they may charge me so I immediately cancelled so they had no right to take money after I had cancelled. The Ombudsman told me not to get involved with companys who don't put a contact number on their site. If anyone gets scammed by these people then contact the Nostrumgroup and keep emailing until they contact you! Contact Trading Standards and the BBC's Watchdog. I suspect that some of the people on here defending this company actually work for them so just ignore them!

Apples2

Lucy_loo wrote: »

I WILL TELL YOU AGAIN THAT NOWHERE ON THEIR SITE DO THEY MENTION THAT THEY WILL BE TAKING £61.50 FROM MY ACCOUNT!! So please stop talking like those that were scammed by this company are stupid!!!!

I don't know how much the bus will be until I get on it, but I know there is a fee.

Lucy_loo wrote: »

My Daughter works for a Solicitor and she asked him about it and he said he had heard of the company before but he took a good look on the site and said he could not see anything about a fee!

I'm no Solicitor but let me have a quick 2 minute look at the T&C's

http://www.loan-centre.net/terms.aspx

Services

We provide a variety of services by phone, internet, mail and other means through a membership programme. In return for these services, You agree to pay a fee at inception which incorporates membership for one month.

Ooops! there is was right there, maybe I should become a Solicitor.

Lucy_loo wrote: »

I suspect that some of the people on here defending this company actually work for them so just ignore them!

I don't think anyone is defending them.

Maybe it is because some people protect themselves more than others by taking 2 minutes to find out who they are giving their details to, those who can't be bothered get all gangster and start lashing out at everyone who does.

zutonia

It's all well and good that some can lecture those caught out by the loan-centre.net.
I am sure those caught will be a lot more cautious in future.

I got caught out and will certainly be extra careful in future. As I am sure so will the op and others caught by this lot.

The circumstances around my entrapment was when I applied for a payday loan.
The site I was using was a filter site which lures you to enter your details including your banks sort code and account number , then when you click next, it takes you to the loan-centre site which asks for your card details.
In my book that is a scam. Had I been using a pc I would of seen it but I was on my smartphone. Fortunately I should see my money back having spoke to harry Williams, but it remains to be seen.

Apples2

zutonia wrote: »

Had I been using a pc I would of seen it but I was on my smartphone. Fortunately I should see my money back having spoke to harry Williams, but it remains to be seen.

Are you entering bank details through a smartphone over 3G or through your secured Wifi at home?

It bewilders me you are merrily stamping your account details and sort code to any old random site which asks for it, it's like lending your cashpoint card out to strangers in the pub.

I think your refund is a dead cert, now Harry Williams is involved.