Apr 20 2009
Woman surprised by mortgage scam
(Crappo, Maryland) - As the expression goes, sometimes when it rains, it pours. In what many experts are calling “a growing trend,” more and more displaced workers are falling victim to foreclosure protection scams. In this new wave of of scams, people pay up front for assurances that they will receive help to pay their mounting mortgage payments.
Last December, Ophelia Payne only had enough money to pay a fraction of her mortgage. With her husband laid off eight months, her debt was mounting, and she was prepared to give up.
But while driving to her job as an investigator at the Chicago Better Business Bureau, Ophelia heard a radio advertisement promising protection from foreclosure. She breathed a sigh of relief.
She scraped together $1,200 to pay Mirage Loss Mitigation for its help to save her house, but found out four months later that her house had been foreclosed upon. With disbelief, she admits that she considers herself a victim. “I can’t believe I’ve become one of the hundreds of thousands of idiots I help in the Chicago BBB. I mean can you believe these dolts? They never stopped to think that the too-good-to-be-true quick fix available from Mirage might actually be a scam.”
Ophelia shared her expert observations, “The pitches seem so enticing.” Continuing, she said, “Imagine being so stupid as to believe a radio advertisements announcing: “I paid $2.99 and got $12,000. Claim yours!” or “New mortgage with low payments! No strings attached”
While local, state and federal authorities are trying keep up with consumer complaints, aside from going after fraudsters, officials say one of the best ways to protect yourself is to stop being a dumb ass. Ophelia added, “Yeah, that’s what we tell everyone. We say, get your head out of your ass and get a grip on reality.” When reminded that she had failed to heed her own advise, Ophelia had no comment.
Photo Courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons: respres
