Entity fraudulently purporting to be Edmunds.com offering escrow services using Escrow.com’s DBO license number

The Department of Business Oversight (DBO) has been notified that an entity falsely purporting to be a company called Edmunds.com is offering escrow services using another company’s DBO escrow license number.  DBO escrow license number 963-1867 belongs to a company called Escrow.com also known as Internet Escrow Services Inc. Edmunds.com is not licensed to conduct escrow business in California. This fraudulent entity urges consumers contacted through Craigslist, and possibly other internet sites, to use its escrow services via a website that looks like an Edmunds.com website, but is not.  For example, the fraudulent website has a page ending with “.info” instead of the “.com” URL (Edmunds.com.set-up-transaction.info).  Edmunds.com has posted its own alert about this type of scam at https://help.edmunds.com/hc/en-us/articles/115006027527-Ongoing-scam-Edmunds-escrow-fraud . 

The DBO urges consumers to exercise extreme caution before responding to any solicitation promoting loans, escrow services or other offers.  To check whether a financial service provider is licensed in California, or to file a complaint, consumers should go to the DBO website at www.dbo.ca.gov or call 1-866-275-2677.