Possible Loan Fraud – Credit Union

The Department of Business Oversight has been notified of possible fraudulent activity by a person who purports to represent a credit union. The activity is conducted in the following manner: An individual receives a phone call from a person who states he is calling from First Financial or from First Financial Credit Union.  (First Financial is not licensed by the Department of Business Oversight and is not affiliated with First Financial Credit Union, a lawfully operating credit union located in West Covina, California.)  The individual is told that he or she has been pre-qualified for a loan for a given amount of money, but before the funds could be released to the individual, a several hundred dollar processing fee must be paid.  Sometime after the individual pays the fee, he or she is told that a freeze has been placed on the funds by a governmental agency, and in order to clear the account, another fee of several hundred dollars would need to be paid. No funds are ever delivered to the individual.  The telephone number that has been used by the perpetrator of the activity was (415) 323-0253; however, that number is no longer in service.  The perpetrator may be using different telephone numbers and business names.  Consumers are advised to check https://dfpi.ca.gov/licensees/, http://researchcu.ncua.gov/Views/FindCreditUnions.aspx  or http://www2.fdic.gov/idasp/main.asp to ensure that the financial institution is licensed.