Posted Wednesday, January 30, 2013 --- 3:45

Incident Report from the Madison Police Department:

Incident Type: Fraud

Incident Date: 01/29/2013 - 10:46 AM

Address: Seven Nations Dr.

A loan seeking Madison man contacted the MPD Tuesday morning after being scammed out of more than $200. The victim had attempted to secure a $2,000 loan by contacting phone numbers (408-622-0564 and 646-499-5078) he found, or was given, after surfing the internet for a low-cost loan. He was also directed to a website: www.american-payday-loan.com as those with whom he spoke indicated they were with the American Payday Loan company. In order to secure the loan, the 45-year old was told he would need to come up with a $204 loan origination fee. He followed instructions and loaded $204 on a prepaid Visa card. He provided the card’s identification number to the “loan company.” He had also given the criminals his account information, thinking his loan would be directly deposited following the origination fee transaction. No funds were forthcoming and he called the MPD. It appears there has been similar fraudulent activity on the West Coast as the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions has a warning on its website: http://www.dfi.wa.gov/consumers/alerts/america-payday-loan.htm