Newspaper Page Text
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
888 issues international alert warning of surge
Special to the Journal
The Better Business
Bureau is warning consum
ers of a recent breakout of
websites that are imperson
ating legitimate lenders to
steal money from consum
ers.
Victims across the U.S. and
Canada report losing money,
sometimes more than SI,OOO
each. The websites in ques
tion promise loans to anyone,
regardless of the person’s
previous credit history.
“People with the poor
est finances are being vic
timized. Many mistakenly
believe they have no other
option,” said Kelvin Collins,
President/CEO of the Better
Business Bureau of Central
Georgia & the CSRA, Inc.
According to 888 experi
ence, victims used Internet
search engines to locate
lenders that “guarantee”
low-interest rate loans for
people with bad credit his
tories. After submitting the
online loan application, they
were contacted by a com
pany “representative” who
said they were approved.
Before they can receive
their loan funds, however,
they must first pre-pay a
QUICK
From page lA
the car owned by a friend,
when the tire blew out.
They made it to the Shell
station near the intersec
tion of Marshal lville Road
and Courtney Hodges Blvd.
around 3 a.m., but had no
money to buy a new tire,
so they allegedly grabbed a
loaded handgun that was in
the car and went looking for
somebody to rob.
Potter said that Walker
and Williamson spotted the
couple getting out of their
car in the parking lot of
the Relax Inn, next door to
the Shell Station. Holding
the couple up at gunpoint,
O’NEAL
From page 4A
projects jeopardizing the
future viability of the pro
gram. I support the gover
nor’s initiative to create a
“HOPE Chest” ensuring
that lottery funds are only
used for HOPE scholarship
and pre-k programs.
The biggest announce
ment this week was the
return of Family Day at the
State Capitol. First held two
years ago, Family Day will
be held on Saturday. While
many Georgians are work
ing during the week while
BILLS
From page iA
opposition resolutions.
It also allows the city to
challenge the annexation in
the Superior Court of the
city to be heard by a judge
not from either judicial cir
cuit. It sets four factors for
the county to consider in
objecting to the annexation:
• Whether it is reasonable
for the economic and overall
well-being of the counties,
municipalities and school
districts affected;
• Whether the health,
safety and welfare of proper
ty owners and citizens of the
county, municipalities and
area proposed to be annexed
will be negatively affected;
• Whether the annexa
tion has any negative fiscal
impact on the county, school
districts and other munici
palities that have not been
mitigated by an agreement;
and
• The interests of the
SCAM
From page iA
access to inside information
relating to how these funds
could be obtained through
the filing of amended tax
returns claiming refunds,
Wood explained.
Evidence at trial showed
that at least 112 of these
false claims were filed with
the IRS, and that 10 refunds
were actually paid before the
fee. The loan applicant is
told to wire the money or
send a money order, usually
to a location in Canada. The
consumer never receives the
loan and cannot recover
their money. They also risk
having their identity stolen
if they provided their Social
Security number or bank
account number.
“These bogus lenders are
clever. They use a variety
of tools to imply legitimacy,”
Collins warned.
■ Intrest (sic) Plus
Financial used a Milwaukee
address that was home to
a legitimate company, not
affiliated with the scam
lender.
Statewide Capital Group,
falsely claimed to be located
in Omaha, and presented a
sophisticated Web site offer
ing a variety of lending ser
vices at low rates.
■ Lloyds Financial Group
used a false street address
in East Peoria. Its Web site
promised debt consolidation,
personal loans and business
loans “regardless of the
person’s previous credit his
tory.”
■ Home Guard Funding
Ltd. (a.k.a. Principal
they forced them into their
motel room, where they
robbed them of the money
they had and went through
their belongings to find more
valuables.
Then they left in a hurry
and one of them stumbled
and fell through a hedge
between the motel and the
gas station.
It just so happened that
Det. Sgt. Drew Dodson, who
was off duty at the time,
was driving by, spotted the
stumble, took a good look at
the two men and got suspi
cious.
He called the Perry police
station and the terrified cou
ple called 911. The time was
3:10.
Potter says that the whole
the legislature is in ses
sion, Family Day provides a
unique opportunity for citi
zens to visit the Capitol on
a Saturday for a very special
civics lesson. The legislature
will convene at 10 a.m. and
all Georgians are encour
aged to bring their families
to see their government in
action. I hope that you and
your family will be able to
join us in Atlanta for this
special event.
I was pleased to welcome
some very special guests to
the Capitol this week. The
Northside High School foot
ball team - the 2006 AAAA
State Champions - were
property owners seeking
annexation.
If the court finds by a
preponderance of evidence
that the determination by
the county based on those
factors is correct, then the
denial by the county shall be
sustained. If the denial is not
sustained it may proceed.
House Bill 46 does away
with all of the provisions
relating to objections in
land use, replacing it with a
requirement that all zoning
decisions on annexed land
have to be made concurrent
ly by the city and the county
for five years, unless the
county agrees otherwise.
The bills were all spon
sored by Representative
Doug Holt, R-Social Circle,
on behalf of the Association
County Commissioners of
Georgia. Holt has a seven
page flyer on the ACCG web
site regarding annexation
abuse entitled “Everyone’s
Property Rights Matter
or How Annexation Made
Georgia’s Sprawl and Traffic
scheme was stopped by the
IRS.
The recruited taxpayers
were also scammed, being
required to pay one or more
of the defendants a docu
ment preparation fee rang
ing from S2OO up to $1,500.
They were also required to
sign a contract or agree to
pay one or more of the defen
dants a percentage (ranging
from 10 to 25 percent) of
any refund actually received
from the IRS resulting from
Investments) used a name
similar to that of a legitimate
Canadian mortgage broker
and an address belonging to
a Zion, IL law firm that had
no connection to the lender.
■ City Financial Corp.
(a.k.a. Peach State Financial
Services) fraudulently
claimed the 888 of Central
Georgia’s address in Macon
as its own.
Advance fee loan scams
are illegal in the U.S. and
Canada! To avoid law detec
tion, fraudulent loan opera
tors move quickly, frequent
ly reopening under new
names.
“If you have trouble quali
fying for a loan, you do have
options. There are non
profit organizations in every
state with trained credit
counselors who can assist
individuals with debt prob
lems. Contact your local
888 www.bbb,org. for tips
on selecting a trustworthy
credit counselor,” Collins
suggested.
888 “Do’s and Don’ts”
to avoid bogus loan web
sites
DO NOT use online search
terms like “bad credit loans”
or “guaranteed loans” that
area was swarming with
police within minutes.
The first arrest, of Benny
Walker, was made just min
utes later, between 3:15 and
3:20 a.m. Walker was in the
nearby Waffle House. Then
a tip led to the arrest of
Williamson, who had gone
to a Perry residence. That
arrest was made at 4 a.m.
The fortunate couple got
all of their money back, and
were able to get on the road
for Tennessee early in the
morning. None of the family
was injured.
As for the armed robbers,
they never made it back to
Macon County. They are now
in the Houston County jail,
charged with two counts of
armed robber, four counts of
honored on the floor of the
House. I also welcomed
representatives from the
Warner Robins and Perry
Chambers of Commerce this
week.
It is always a pleasure
to see my constituents in
Atlanta and I appreciate the
time you take to visit your
Capitol.
As the session progresses,
I will continue to keep you
up to date on key pieces
of legislation and important
events at the State Capitol.
As always, if you need any
thing, please do not hesitate
to contact me at my Capitol
office at 404-656-5103.
Congestion Worse.”
According to the ACCG,
Georgia cities annexed more
than 100,000 acres from
2000 to 2006. Some munici
palities more than doubled
in size, while one grew 669
percent. None in Houston
County was included in the
top 10, but Perry officials
have said they have annexed
more in one year than it had
in all the previous years of
the city.
The ACCG also note cur
rent annexation law pro
motes the creation of illogi
cal city boundaries that con
tribute to service delivery
inefficiencies and land use
conflicts. In Houston County,
there are routine questions
from public safety personnel
as to who has to respond in
and around Warner Robins.
In some instances the road
is in the county, but the land
along the road is in the city
or vice versa.
Consolidated fire service
is another of the proposed
solutions.
the false claims.
Wood said sentencing for
Jordan, Nelson, Rogers, and
Cross would be at a date and
time to be scheduled by the
court.
The case was investigated
by agents of the Internal
Revenue Service Criminal
Investigations and prosecut
ed by Assistant United States
Attorneys Paul McCommon
and George Christian.
LOCAL
may lead you to fraudulent
sites.
DO NOT wire money or
send a money order to secure
a personal loan. Legitimate
offers of credit DO NOT
require an up-front payment
of a fee for collateral, pro
cessing, insurance, taxes or
any other purpose.
DO NOT do business with
lenders that “guarantee” a
loan before you apply.
DO NOT do business with
Web sites that refuse to pro
vide a street address and a
working telephone number.
DO use the 888 to check
if a Web site can be trust
ed. In addition to informing
you of any complaints, 888
staff can visit the business
location and conduct other
research to verify a site’s
legitimacy.
IfthesitehasaßßßOnLine
seal, DO click on it to check
the BBB’s report.
If you are victimized by
an advance fee lender, DO
file a complaint with the
888. While the chance of
recovering the payment fee
is minimal, your experience
will help BBBs warn other
consumers and assist gov
ernment investigations.
kidnapping and four counts
of false imprisonment.
Potter said he was proud
of Det. Sgt. Dodson for
his alert observation and
actions while off duty, and
of the police force for their
quick response and success
in apprehending Williamson
and Walker.
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224-4001
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OFFENDER
From page iA
at that time.
Jackson, 32, is a convicted
sex offender and is required
to register his residence as
part of his sentence for a
1997 statutory rape convic
tion. Not
telling
the sher
iffs office
where is
lives is a
violation
of the
terms of
his proba
tion.
JACKSON
Jackson
was released from prison
on June 6, 1999, after serv
ing 15 months for the 1997
statutory rape and regis
tered as a convicted sex
offender.
He served nine months
in state prison for a Sept
1995 statutory rape and
nine months for a February
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