CONSUMER ALERT: SCAMMERS USING IDENTITY OF FORMER MAINE LENDER

September 3, 2003

SEPTEMBER 3, 2003

MICHAEL COLLERAN, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, 207-626-8834

 

            Attorney General Steven Rowe today warned Maine consumers that Canadian scammers are misrepresenting themselves as Blackwood Financial, a Falmouth, Maine consumer credit firm that ceased operations earlier this year after the death of the firm’s owner.  In newspaper ads placed throughout the United States, the con artists offer loans from “B.F. Inc.” and invite consumers to call a toll free number.  Once contact is made by phone, the scammers falsely represent themselves as Blackwood Financial of 170 U.S. Route 1, Falmouth, Maine.  That address was the location of the real Blackwood Financial, but now is vacant.

            In order to obtain loans, the scammers require consumers to pay refundable advance fees of $800-$900 via Western Union for “insurance” on the loans.  The scammers pocket the fees, but do not issue any loans and then evade contact with the consumers.  All that the consumers are left with is a toll free number that cannot be traced and the name and address of the defunct Maine lender.

This operation is part of a rash of “boiler-room” loan frauds operating out of the Toronto area that have used the identities of legitimate American lenders.  Victims of this type of fraud can call the Attorney General’s Office at 626-8800.

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