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"A personal loan scam victim warns residents to be vigilant of phone calls from fraudsters. LISA (not her real name), from West Suffolk resident, lost £110 after sending over a code for an online voucher as a fee for someone who contacted her by phone promising a loan. They agreed over the phone that she will be receiving the money within 15 minutes; the money was supposedly for Lisa's new furniture. But instead of receiving the said money, she was asked to pay an additional £295 in voucher form Good thing is that she refused.  She rather contacted the police and is now warning residents not to fall prey to such schemes.She said: "I feel absolutely gutted and stupid that I fell for it. They're very crafty and I just don't want anyone else to fall for it. "The company has been harassing me with over 20 calls a day, emptied my bank account and left me nervous of borrowing from other providers." She added. This incident isn't new to Suffolk Police.  They have been receiving details of similar occurrences from residents and are also urging people not to provide personal information to cold callers. Ukash was the code given by Lisa, which can be bought from high street shops with cash and spent online using the code rather than providing bank or credit card details. A police spokesman said: "They are never genuinely used as advance fee payment for loans or other similar products. They are simply designed for the purchase of goods from the internet or other retailers. "Anyone offering a genuine loan will not ask for a cash payment up front for the service. "Fraudsters will try anything to get you to part with your cash so if you receive any unsolicited calls from people asking you for cash or voucher details then please do not give it to them." This is a great example that anyone can be a victim of these scams.  We must be very watchful and on guard of ourselves in all time. We will never know when fraudsters will attack in any form o

South Korea Group of Springhill | edublogs.org May 22, '12 12:35 AM by SpringHill for everyone http://tonybricks96.edublogs.org/ http://tonybricks96.edublogs.org/2012/05/21/scrap-n-test-china-tells-n-korea/ China has been quietly and gently pressuring North Korea to scrap plans for a third nuclear test, said two sources with knowledge of closed-door discussions between the countries, but there is no indication how Pyongyang will react. If North Korea goes ahead with the test, China would consider taking some retaliatory steps, but they would not be substantive, a source with ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said. North Korea has almost completed preparations for the test, Reuters had reported in late April, a step that would further isolate the impoverished state after last month's failed rocket launch that the United States says was a ballistic missile test. "China is unhappy … and urged North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test near Changbai Mountain," said the source, who declined to be identified. China feared a radiation leak and damage to the environment from a blast, the source added. "China also complained about the environmental damage to the area after the first two tests." When North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, it caused environmental damage to the mountain straddling the border with China. North Korea ceded part of the mountain to China in 1963. It was unclear if the secretive North Korean government, typically unwilling to bow to outside pressure, would defer or drop the plans. China is the closest thing to an ally that North Korea has. "The impact on China's northeast would be huge," the source said of a third test. Chinese officials have discussed whether threats of diplomatic action would be effective, but any action might be restricted to some economic measures to signal China's displeasure and would not affect vital food aid for North Korea, the source said. A Western diplomat, who also asked n

LA CRESCENTA, Calif. (KABC) - More than two dozen people say they fell victim to a costly home loan scam that targeted Korean immigrants. The lawyer accused of orchestrating it all is being sued. It took a life savings to buy this La Crescenta home. Losing it took mere months, all because of accused lawyer Timothy D. Thurman and Trinity Law Associates. Ok Kee Shin is just one of 28 alleged victims. "It is just such a shock, and that the house had been sold and foreclosed," said Shin through a translator. In a lawsuit, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center details a web of fraud. Though the plaintiffs are all Korean immigrants, people of any nationality could fall for this one. The suit says Trinity Law Firm hired Koreans to place ads, then illegally paid them, like bounty hunters, to bring in customers. "This practice known as 'running and capping' is against the law," said Yungsuhn Park, Asian Pacific American Legal Center. "Attorneys are prohibited from paying non-attorney agents to find clients." Everything seemed so credible. The Trinity Law Firm operated out of a high-rise on Wilshire Boulevard. "So he flipped through my loan documents and he told me that this was a bank that had a lot of errors in their loan documents," said Shin's translator, quoting her. She says Thurman assured her he could fix her loan for a fee of $7,000, and that she should stop paying her mortgage and ignore the foreclosure notices. Legal advocates now spread a warning: Avoid any person who offers guarantees to stop a foreclosure. Don't pay up-front fees: They are also illegal after a state law was passed last October. And seek help from a non-profit first. You don't need an attorney for loan modifications. As for Thurman, he was in trouble even before this suit. He pleaded guilty to forging the signature of a judge on a foreclosure document, a crime punishable by five years in prison - a penalty that comes too late to save former homeowners.

Mortgage fraud is crime in which the intent is to materially misrepresent or omit information on a mortgage loan application to obtain a loan or to obtain a larger loan than would have been obtained had the lender or borrower known the truth. In United States federal courts, mortgage fraud is prosecuted as wire fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, with penalties of up to thirty years imprisonment.As the incidence of mortgage fraud has risen over the past few years, states have also begun to enact their own penalties for mortgage fraud. Mortgage fraud is not to be confused with predatory mortgage lending, which occurs when a consumer is misled or deceived by agents of the lender. However, predatory lending practices often co-exist with mortgage fraud. Types Occupancy fraud: This occurs where the borrower wishes to obtain a mortgage to acquire an investment property, but states on the loan application that the borrower will occupy the property as the primary residence or as a second home. If undetected, the borrower typically obtains a lower interest rate than was warranted. Because lenders typically charge a higher interest rate for non-owner-occupied properties, which historically have higher delinquency rates, the lender receives insufficient return on capital and is over-exposed to loss relative to what was expected in the transaction. In addition, lenders allow larger loans on owner-occupied homes compared to loans for investment properties. When occupancy fraud occurs, it is likely that taxes on gains are not paid, resulting in additional fraud. It is considered fraud because the borrower has materially misprepresented the risk to the lender to obtain more favorable loan terms. Income fraud: This occurs when a borrower overstates his/her income to qualify for a mortgage or for a larger loan amount. This was most often seen with so-called "stated income" mortgage loans (popularly referred to as "liar loans"), where the borrower, or a l

owers may conceal obligations, such as mortgage loans on other properties or newly acquired credit card debt, to reduce the amount of monthly debt declared on the loan application. This omission of liabilities artificially lowers the debt-to-income ratio, which is a key underwriting criterion used to determine eligibility for most mortgage loans. It is considered fraud because it allows the borrower to qualify for a loan which otherwise would not have been granted, or to qualify for a bigger loan than what would have been granted had the borrower's true debt been disclosed. Fraud for profit: A complex scheme involving multiple parties, including mortgage lending professionals, in a financially motivated attempt to defraud the lender of large sums of money. Fraud for profit schemes frequently include a straw borrower whose credit report is used, a dishonest appraiser who intentionally and significantly overstates the value of the subject property, a dishonest settlement agent who might prepare two sets of HUD settlement statements or makes disbursements from loan proceeds which are not disclosed on the settlement statement, and a property owner, all in a coordinated attempt to obtain an inappropriately large loan. The parties involved share the ill-gotten gains and the mortgage eventually goes into default. In other cases, naive "investors" are lured into the scheme with the organizer's promise that the home will be repaired, repairs and/or renovations will be made, tenants will located, rents will be collected, mortgage payments made and profits will be split upon sale of the property, all without the active participation of the straw buyer. Once the loan is closed, the organizer disappears, no repairs are made nor renters found, and the "investor" is liable for paying the mortgage on a property that is not worth what is owed, leaving the "investor" financially ruined. If undetected, a bank may lend hundreds of thousands of dollars against a property that is act

Mortgage fraud is crime in which the intent is to materially misrepresent or omit information on a mortgage loan application to obtain a loan or to obtain a larger loan than would have been obtained had the lender or borrower known the truth. In United States federal courts, mortgage fraud is prosecuted as wire fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, with penalties of up to thirty years imprisonment.As the incidence of mortgage fraud has risen over the past few years, states have also begun to enact their own penalties for mortgage fraud. Mortgage fraud is not to be confused with predatory mortgage lending, which occurs when a consumer is misled or deceived by agents of the lender. However, predatory lending practices often co-exist with mortgage fraud. Types Occupancy fraud: This occurs where the borrower wishes to obtain a mortgage to acquire an investment property, but states on the loan application that the borrower will occupy the property as the primary residence or as a second home. If undetected, the borrower typically obtains a lower interest rate than was warranted. Because lenders typically charge a higher interest rate for non-owner-occupied properties, which historically have higher delinquency rates, the lender receives insufficient return on capital and is over-exposed to loss relative to what was expected in the transaction. In addition, lenders allow larger loans on owner-occupied homes compared to loans for investment properties. When occupancy fraud occurs, it is likely that taxes on gains are not paid, resulting in additional fraud. It is considered fraud because the borrower has materially misprepresented the risk to the lender to obtain more favorable loan terms. Income fraud: This occurs when a borrower overstates his/her income to qualify for a mortgage or for a larger loan amount. This was most often seen with so-called "stated income" mortgage loans (popularly referred to as "liar loans"), where the borrower, or a l

Protect Yourself from Predatory Lenders Buying or refinancing your home may be one of the most important and complex financial decisions you'll ever make. Many lenders, appraisers, and real estate professionals stand ready to help you get a nice home and a great loan. However, you need to understand the home buying process to be a smart consumer. Every year, misinformed homebuyers, often first-time purchasers or seniors, become victims of predatory lending or loan fraud. Don't let this happen to you! 11 Tips on Being a Smart Consumer - Before you buy a home, attend a homeownership education course offered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-approved, non-profit counseling agencies. - Interview several real estate professionals (agents), and ask for and check references before you select one to help you buy or sell a home. - Get information about the prices of other homes in the neighborhood. Don't be fooled into paying too much. - Hire a properly qualified and licensed home inspector to carefully inspect the property before you are obligated to buy. Determine whether you or the seller is going to be responsible for paying for the repairs. If you have to pay for the repairs, determine whether or not you can afford to make them. - Shop for a lender and compare costs. Be suspicious if anyone tries to steer you to just one lender. - Do NOT let anyone persuade you to make a false statement on your loan application, such as overstating your income, the source of your down payment, failing to disclose the nature and amount of your debts, or even how long you have been employed. When you apply for a mortgage loan, every piece of information that you submit must be acc

Apple's reputation for protecting big-time developers has suffered yet another rap as a fake Pokemon game that does not even work was approved for sale on their App Store and even managed to rank 2nd on the iTunes charts. Considering the developer's description of the app as 'just like the original' as opposed to the terrible user ratings, the whole thing is simply a scam. The Pokemon Yellow app first appeared in the App Store of iOS this weekend and tons of users quickly jumped at the thought that Nintendo finally joined in the app sector, never mind that the developer name under the app is a certain 'House of Anime'. Soon enough, people who bought the 99-cent app ended up disappointed as they discovered the game does not work because it's just an unauthorized copy. The developer, Daniel Burford aka House of Anime, also authored other questionable apps like YuGiOh+ and Digimon+. In his entries, he is claiming that 'all copyrights and trademarks are owned by their respective owners', obviously taking intellectual property rights lightly.   And most of the people who downloaded the game does not even know the it's not official, which just shows how popular the Pokemon franchise is even after 10 years of being in the market and its first appearance in the Game Boy. User reviews that rated the app with just one star and commented that the game does not do anything except display the title screen. And according to further reports from victims, it crashes on practically every device. It won't be surprising if the game's code only contains a bit of user interface to show that splash screen. The scam has put into the spotlight Apple's current approval procedures and guidelines that app developers always deem as mysterious and strict. Since a fake game passed their app review, Apple's policy is not so thorough after all. They do not seem to perform any kind of legal or technical check prior to putting an app for sale on their iTunes Whil

http://newscenter.springhillgrouphome.com/2012/03/springhill-group-home-fake-pokemon-games-top-app-store/ Apple's reputation for protecting big-time developers has suffered yet another rap as a fake Pokemon game that does not even work was approved for sale on their App Store and even managed to rank 2nd on the iTunes charts. Considering the developer's description of the app as 'just like the original' as opposed to the terrible user ratings, the whole thing is simply a scam. The Pokemon Yellow app first appeared in the App Store of iOS this weekend and tons of users quickly jumped at the thought that Nintendo finally joined in the app sector, never mind that the developer name under the app is a certain 'House of Anime'. Soon enough, people who bought the 99-cent app ended up disappointed as they discovered the game does not work because it's just an unauthorized copy. The developer, Daniel Burford aka House of Anime, also authored other questionable apps like YuGiOh+ and Digimon+. In his entries, he is claiming that 'all copyrights and trademarks are owned by their respective owners', obviously taking intellectual property rights lightly. And most of the people who downloaded the game does not even know the it's not official, which just shows how popular the Pokemon franchise is even after 10 years of being in the market and its first appearance in the Game Boy. User reviews that rated the app with just one star and commented that the game does not do anything except display the title screen. And according to further reports from victims, it crashes on practically every device. It won't be surprising if the game's code only contains a bit of user interface to show that splash screen. The scam has put into the spotlight Apple's current approval procedures and guidelines that app developers always deem as mysterious

"For the twelfth successive year, identity theft topped the consumer complaint database of the Federal Trade Commission with the largest number of complaints, perhaps owing to the rampant use (and misuse) of online services such as social networking and e-commerce websites.   From the 1.8 million complaints the FTC got in 2011, almost 300,000 are about identity theft. The information of FTC has included complaints filed to them or from other states and federal consumer protection groups.   Most of the complaints of identity theft are coming from consumers saying that their personal details are used in government documents without their knowledge, with scammers aiming to collect benefits. Last year, government-related identity theft was 27% of the total complaints in that category, increasing by 11% since 2009. Accounting for the 14% of identity theft complaints is credit card fraud, with the rest consisting of complaints of bank, utilities and phone fraud.   More than half of all the complaints last year were related to fraud and taxpayers reportedly paid a total of over USD 1.5 billion in fraudulent schemes, with the average amount paid being USD 537. Moreover, 43% of the victims acknowledged that scammers reached them through email messages.   The top three states that have the most per capita rate of fraud reported are Colorado, Delaware and Maryland as first, second and third, respectively.   Generally, FTC discovered that people are either more willing to file complaints or they simply have more complaints now. The total amount of complaints they have received has increased by over 20% - from 1.5 million to 1.8 million in 2011 - that includes both identity theft and fraud complaints.   The following is the complete list of FTC's top 10 consumer complaints for the year 2011:   1. Identity theft 2. Debt collection 3. Lotteries, sweepstakes, prizes 4. Catalog sales, shop-at-home, 5. Lenders and Banks 6. Internet services 7. Auto-re

"Two men jailed in the UK's first criminal trial involving land banking fraud in the City of London Police investigation A £3 million was proven to be gathered from 300 investors the pair cheated, evidence was pointing the two as culprits. Their strategies were to fool their victims like elderly and those who are vulnerable into buying plots of land that were either worthless or massively over-priced. Found guilty of five counts of money laundering, the two men (42 and 32 years old) were sentenced to seven and six years at Isle worth Crown Court. Their claim was that the locations of the supposed to be valuable plots were marketed as being in a prime position for development and would quickly increase in value. But the truth of the fact is that investors were putting their money into plots located on farmland, in the Green Belt, within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or on the sides of hills, with no chance of gaining planning permission let alone building houses."

http://www2.hernandotoday.com/news/news/2012/mar/15/6/gypsy-scammer-arrested-ar-381174/ BROOKSVILLE -- Authorities arrested a man accused of scamming a woman into paying him for roof repair and bolting with the money without doing any work. Detectives said it's possible the suspect could have targeted more people in Hernando County. Leonard Lovell, 42, who has a criminal history in three other states, was arrested this week in connection with the scam. He remained in custody in Alabama as of Thursday afternoon, deputies said. On Jan. 12, an 88-year-old woman who lives in the area of U.S. 19 in Spring Hill, answered a knock on her door and encountered Lovell, who was soliciting roof work, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. The suspect told the woman her roof needed fixing and he would do it for about $70. She agreed and two men – including Lovell – returned to the house later to do the job. One got on the roof and the other spoke with the woman, presumably to distract her, deputies said. A short time later, both suspects told the woman the job would cost $321. The woman felt "pressured" and she paid Lovell, according to the sheriff's office. The check was cashed almost immediately and the men didn't return, deputies said. The woman's son came to her house later and noticed the men didn't perform any work at all. This type of ruse is called a "gypsy scam" because it is carried out by

http://springhill.newsvine.com/_news/2012/03/15/10709392-gypsy-scammer-accused-of-taking-money-not-doing-work http://www2.hernandotoday.com/news/news/2012/mar/15/6/gypsy-scammer-arrested-ar-381174/ BROOKSVILLE -- Authorities arrested a man accused of scamming a woman into paying him for roof repair and bolting with the money without doing any work. Detectives said it's possible the suspect could have targeted more people in Hernando County. Leonard Lovell, 42, who has a criminal history in three other states, was arrested this week in connection with the scam. He remained in custody in Alabama as of Thursday afternoon, deputies said. On Jan. 12, an 88-year-old woman who lives in the area of U.S. 19 in Spring Hill, answered a knock on her door and encountered Lovell, who was soliciting roof work, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. The suspect told the woman her roof needed fixing and he would do it for about $70. She agreed and two men - including Lovell - returned to the house later to do the job. One got on the roof and the other spoke with the woman, presumably to distract her, deputies said. A short time later, both suspects told the woman the job would cost $321. The woman felt "pressured" and she paid Lovell, according to the sheriff's office. The check was cashed almost immediately and the men didn't return, deputies said. The woman's son came to her house later and noticed the men didn't perform any work at all. This type of ruse is called a "gypsy scam" because it is carried out by suspects from out of state, according to the sheriff's office. They target seniors and solicit different kinds of home-improvement work. The man who accompanied Lovell might be related to him, but the sheriff's office is still trying to identify him, said Detective Dustin Mormando. The victim described the second suspect as a white male with blonde hair. Deputies said the case remains active. Anyone with information abo

Source : http://newscenter.springhillgrouphome.com/ http://springhillgrouphome.multiply.com/journal/item/59/Springhill_Group_Home_Top_10_Fraud_Schemes Springhill Group Home: Top 10 Fraud Schemes http://newscenter.springhillgrouphome.com/2012/03/springhill-group-home-top-10-fraud-schemes/ For the twelfth successive year, identity theft topped the consumer complaint database of the Federal Trade Commission with the largest number of complaints, perhaps owing to the rampant use (and misuse) of online services such as social networking and e-commerce websites. From the 1.8 million complaints the FTC got in 2011, almost 300,000 are about identity theft. The information of FTC has included complaints filed to them or from other states and federal consumer protection groups. Most of the complaints of identity theft are coming from consumers saying that their personal details are used in government documents without their knowledge, with scammers aiming to collect benefits. Last year, government-related identity theft was 27% of the total complaints in that category, increasing by 11% since 2009. Accounting for the 14% of identity theft complaints is credit card fraud, with the rest consisting of complaints of bank, utilities and phone fraud. More than half of all the complaints last year were related to fraud and taxpayers reportedly paid a total of over USD 1.5 billion in fraudulent schemes, with the average amount paid being USD 537. Moreover, 43% of the victims acknowledged that scammers reached them through email messages. The top three states that have the most per capita rate of fraud reported are Colorado, Delaware and Maryland as first, second and third, respectively. Generally, FTC discovered that people are either more willing to file complaints or they simply have more complaints now. The total amount of complaints they have received has increased by over 20% -- from 1.5 million to 1.8 million in 2011 -- that includes both identity theft and fraud compl

Source : http://newscenter.springhillgrouphome.com/ http://springhillgrouphome.multiply.com/journal/item/58/Springhill_Group_Home_Impact_of_Budget_Cuts_on_Rural_Housing_and_Availability_of_Mortgage Springhill Group Home: Impact of Budget Cuts on Rural Housing and Availability of Mortgage http://newscenter.springhillgrouphome.com/2012/03/springhill-group-home-impact-of-budget-cuts-on-rural-housing-and-availability-of-mortgage/ The budget cuts on rural housing finance are raising many significant questions. In the present economic situation, where federal funding for the rural housing projects is much needed, the budget cut is really distressing. According to the rural market experts, Section 538 Rural Rental Loan Guarantee Program has offered the most effective service in this regard. However, the recent budget cut is much likely to affect the proceeding of this program and home loan rate for buying a rural property. Rural economics - Demand vs. supply Only about 19% Americans live in rural areas. The average yearly income of a rural household is lower than an urban one. The poverty rate in the rural America is about 15%, whereas the rate is almost 13% in urban America. Section 538 by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the largest mortgage lender in rural America. Till the end of 2011, the program funded about 700 rural housing projects. Unfortunately, this program has become the primary victim of budget cut. It received 130 million USD in FY 2010; while in FY 2011, the Congress appropriated only 30 million USD. The appropriation for FY 2012 is zero. If Section 538 does not get any funding in this year, the prospect of the program is going to be doomed. Difficulties faced by rural housing development Considering budget deficit, one can say that it is difficult to construct affordable housing units in rural areas and thereby the obvious option of rental housing comes into play. Interested banks to offer mortgage loans in less developed rural ar

The World Wide Web consortium is one of the well-known partners in business. Due to the growing demand of the business industry, firms use the triple W in order for them to reach their customers across the world. And well as to make their business reached by their customers at their most convenient approach. At large, these businesses that are into the modernization are the one who makes physical goods such as cars or pipes in which then they sell at a profit and even shopping. Consumers can purchase goods 24/7 through online or e-commerce- the selling and acquiring of products or services over the internet with the use of different shelling out methods and feels like you are safer than using the conventional way of shopping. But did you know that in taking the number of the advantages can make you down in the dumps in just a minute, giving the disadvantage of it? What are the possible occurrences in paying using those methods? How surely that you are so secure? Debit Card, Credit Card,Gift Certficate, Paypal Account, Paypal Alternatives, Money Order, Web Certificate and other payment methods can rip-off by the growing swindlers or scammers across the web. But the most spot of such feeding frenzy is your Paypal Account in which can take everything and be as one of their victims of the said scam. It is an act of taking your money through giving you the imitation of someone's personality with an imaginary addresses as well as phone numbers, counterfeit photos and template letters that can absolutely loose cannon. As an online shopper it's better to become aware about the growing scam. Then, it is good if you do so. If you think that you are safer from scams when you use PayPal, you're not. PayPal users are the specific targets of an email scam that results to PayPal Scam. Scammer behind the PayPal scam sends PayPal users an official-looking email asking them to verify their account or identity. The email is addressed "Dear PayPal User" and the em

The World Wide Web consortium is one of the well-known partners in business. Due to the growing demand of the business industry, firms use the triple W in order for them to reach their customers across the world. And well as to make their business reached by their customers at their most convenient approach. At large, these businesses that are into the modernization are the one who makes physical goods such as cars or pipes in which then they sell at a profit and even shopping. Consumers can purchase goods 24/7 through online or e-commerce- the selling and acquiring of products or services over the internet with the use of different shelling out methods and feels like you are safer than using the conventional way of shopping. But did you know that in taking the number of the advantages can make you down in the dumps in just a minute, giving the disadvantage of it? What are the possible occurrences in paying using those methods? How surely that you are so secure? Debit Card, Credit Card,Gift Certficate, Paypal Account, Paypal Alternatives, Money Order, Web Certificate and other payment methods can rip-off by the growing swindlers or scammers across the web. But the most spot of such feeding frenzy is your Paypal Account in which can take everything and be as one of their victims of the said scam. It is an act of taking your money through giving you the imitation of someone's personality with an imaginary addresses as well as phone numbers, counterfeit photos and template letters that can absolutely loose cannon. As an online shopper it's better to become aware about the growing scam. Then, it is good if you do so. If you think that you are safer from scams when you use PayPal, you're not. PayPal users are the specific targets of an email scam that results to PayPal Scam. Scammer behind the PayPal scam sends PayPal users an official-looking email asking them to verify their account or identity. The email is addressed "Dear PayPal User" and the em

Recent headlines about the troubled subprime lending industry are making Americans more aware of the consequences of risky lending practices. But unscrupulous lenders and scam artists continue to prey on unsuspecting loan shoppers and homeowners. Unfortunately, loan-related scams aren't restricted to tricking consumers into loans with outrageously high interest rates. Today's sophisticated scammers are using loans as a vehicle to do everything from stealing sensitive personal information to virtually stealing a credit-challenged homeowner's own home. The mortgage experts at Loan.com have identified five top scams that all consumers - mortgage shoppers and homeowners alike - should be on the look-out for. 1. Unsolicited phone calls Americans across the country have reported receiving phone calls from telemarketers posing as representatives from well-known organizations such as Fannie Mae offering to refinance loans at low rates. These "representatives" often ask for personal information, claiming they need it to qualify a victim for a loan. This information is then used to steal a victim's identity. Loan.com's Advice: Be wary of any phone call offering remarkably low interest rates on loans, especially if you have registered your phone number with the Do Not Call Registry. Most major nationwide lenders do not solicit business over the phone. Never give out personal information over the phone unless you are absolutely sure who you are speaking with. 2. "Helpful" contractors Many homeowners have reported contractors - often roofing or remodel professionals - approaching them with an offer to perform upgrades on their home at a reasonable price. These contractors offer financing through low-interest loans. It's not until after signing numerous forms that too many homeowners realize they have signed off on a high-interest home equity loan, and that the contractor has been hired by unscrupulous lenders to sell loans, not impro