09071149100

Got a call earlier today, but not from this number - came from 02045201709 instead. The guy said his name was Jason Brown (which I seriously doubt) and claimed to be from a company called MONEY FINANCE. He told me they were a direct lender, not a broker, and that I’d recently applied for a £250 loan which had been approved based on the info I’d given. Now, I did make a few loan enquiries lately, but knowing I’m on Disability Benefit and my credit history isn’t great, I never thought I’d get approved - even those that say they take individual circumstances into account. Sure enough, he didn’t seem happy about some details he checked: salary, marital status, job... I pointed out I thought they’d have all that from my application, but he said some spaces hadn’t been filled, which seemed off to me. Right away I knew this was fishy, but I went along just to see where it’d lead. I asked about the interest rate if I proceeded, and he said 14.2% APR. Knowing my track record with loans being refused almost every time, I was quite sceptical that any legit company would offer that rate so easily. Then came the repayments - they rattled off figures for 6, 12, 18, and 24 months pretty fast. The one that caught me was the 12-month repayment: he said it’d be about £21 a month at 24.1% APR for borrowing £250. I had to bite my tongue laughing - because £21 times 12 is £252, which means paying back £2 on top of £250, basically no interest at all! Not the 14.1% he originally quoted. I told him I’d like to go ahead, and he said he needed to get his 'supervisor' to finalise things. When I asked if the supervisor would call me back or if I’d be put through, he told me I’d need to ring him back at 09071149100! I said I can’t call premium rate numbers on my SIM - true enough, and he seemed surprised or confused by this. I explained my restrictions, and he was a bit at a loss for words. I asked if the manager could just ring me on the number I’m using, or another non-premium rate number, but of course that didn’t happen. I have to say, it made me pretty mad thinking about all the people struggling right now, desperate for small loans and maybe too trusting. Some might fall for this and not realise the premium call cost them loads - he even dodged saying exactly how much it’d cost, but gave a rough guess of 50p to £5 per minute. He assured me the call would probably only last 3 to 5 minutes, but even at the low end, that adds up. The call ended with him promising to speak to his manager and get back to me in half an hour. Three hours later, no word. I was stuck in bed feeling unwell, phone in hand, wary to even get up in case he called while I was away! Amused and curious, I looked the company up on Companies House. There was a ‘Money Finance’ registered earlier this year, but it was a one-man show, apparently a Polish guy, marked as a dormant business - so technically it shouldn’t be trading. Could be the same firm, could be not, but either way it doesn’t seem legit. Honestly, this sort of thing gets me so angry. People are struggling, looking for a little help, and then some scammers try to milk them with premium calls or worse. I’ll be reporting them soon, but was wondering if others here have been contacted by that premium number. I think phone companies should block these automatically. Also, I’ve noticed the scammers are now using ‘normal’ numbers alongside premium ones, probably because more people are wise to the premium prefixes now. Might just ring ‘Jason’ back myself, on his number, and see what nonsense he tries to spin. I could tell you what I really think of them, but best not... If anyone wants, I can update here if I find out more. Sorry for the long ramble, I just got carried away! Hope this saves someone from getting caught out. Take care all. Nade x Right, I’m done now, honest!