TROUBLE SHOOTER: Bailout programs inspire scams

The letter referenced above states B.J. "may be selected for a Loan Modification Program provided by government insured institutions." B.J. is advised to contact the financial consultant for Onslow County and the company to complete the registration process.

All efforts to locate this company using the usual search engines proved fruitless until I discovered another company that uses this name as an alternative company name. Given this along with the rest of the obscure information in the letter, it may well be a loan modification scam.

Since the announcement of a variety of government stimulus plans, con artists are simply coming out of the woodwork - or the Internet or the mailbox.

The problem has become so pervasive that on April 21 the comptroller of the currency, administrator of national banks, issued a consumer advisory indicating rescue scams are "popping up at an alarming rate nationwide and you need to protect yourself and your home." The advisory lists a number of rescue scams. Second on the list, fake "government" modification programs.

In addition, on April 6, several government agencies including the Department of the Treasury, Attorney General, Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Trade Commission and several state attorneys general have joined a multi-agency task force to deal with the problem.

To provide a further indication of the audacity of the con artists, consider this. When the federal government passed the stimulus program geared to foreclosure issues, it created a Web site, www.makinghomeaffordable.gov.

On May 15, at the request of the FTC, a federal district court issued a temporary restraining order barring an Internet-based operation from using the very same link posted above. According to the complaint, the defendants "purchased sponsored links" for their advertising on the results pages of various Internet search engines.

When consumers entered a phrase such as "making homes affordable," the defendants' ads "prominently and conspicuously displayed the Web site address makinghomeaffordable.gov."

Consumers who clicked on the link were not sent to the official government Web site; rather they were diverted to sites where applicants were solicited for paid loan modification services.

According to the FTC, these commercial Web sites require consumers to enter personal or financial information. Then the operators either "purport to offer loan modification services...or sell consumers' personally identifying information to persons who sell such services."

Anyone who has been a victim can file a complaint with the FTC at 1-800-FTC-HELP. Report fraud with any TARP-related program at www.sigtarp.gov or by calling 1-877-SIG-2009.

If you are having financial difficulties, contact your mortgage lender; otherwise, you may create an even worst nightmare. Thanks for writing.

Have a question? Write Troubleshooter, c/o The Daily News, P.O. Drawer 196, Jacksonville, NC 28541-0196; e-mail bonnie@freedomenc.com; or fax 910-938-9856. Troubleshooter cannot accept telephone calls or provide personal responses via mail, e-mail or fax.