Happy new year! After the delicious Rosca de Reyes and hot chocolate it is time to enter – hopefully not – the January slope. It is incredible how many expenses come together in a single month without counting credit commitments. Therefore, it is normal for many people to look for financing at this time.
Some will look for it where they shouldn’t, either informally or perhaps they are very unlucky enough to fall into the hands of a fraudster.
I recently saw data from the Citizen Council for Security and Justice of Mexico City, a nonprofit organization. They estimate that in January reports of debt montage victims increase by up to 33 percent.
But what is a debt mountain? They are fraudulent loans that are presented as easy and quick loans to obtain with minimum requirements that have gained great strength since they are offered through mobile applications or social networks.
Payment conditions, for example interest, are increased without prior notice until they become unpayable and the money is collected through threats and extortion.
In the months of January of the last three years, The Council has served more than two thousand people. 60 percent are women and, of the total number of those who report – because surely many more do not do so – 47 percent are between 31 and 45 years old.
The main problems that people report are the collection of debts with threats and insults with 24 percent, followed by the attempt to collect from the borrower’s contacts at 23 percent, collections for a non-existent phantom debt with 22 percent, and threatens to disclose private information – that is, extortion – with 16 percent, among others.
The Council warns that the debt montagers’ tactics are so efficient that, in less than 15 seconds, people can hand over personal, banking and work information; in addition to providing access to your contact directories, photo or video albums, or other information saved on the cell phone where the application was installed to request the loan.
In case you require a loan to face the January cost, I would recommend the following:
Make sure that the financial institution is registered in the Financial Services Providers Registration System (SIPRES) of the National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Users of Financial Services (CONDUSEF).
Doubt who offers you easy and immediate loans, especially those that do not verify your Credit Report in the Credit Bureau.
Avoid asking for credit in offers made on social networks or in pop-up windows.
Avoid providing personal information on web pages, forms or applications without first verifying its authenticity and reliability.
Try not to download loan applications of dubious origin.
Do not allow apps access to the information you save on your cell phone and read the terms and conditions, as well as the privacy notice.
Keep your cell phone safe with a reputable antivirus and regularly update the operating system.
Contact:
Wolfgang Erhardt is national spokesperson for Buró de Crédito, spokesperson for the Latin American and Caribbean Association of Credit Bureaus, and author of the book “I want a credit! How to get it and keep it.”
Twitter: @WolfgangErhardt
LinkedIn: Wolfgang Erhardt
The opinions expressed are solely the responsibility of their authors and are completely independent of the position and editorial line of Forbes Mexico.
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