ASIC issues warning over home loan scams

Jonathan ChancellorDecember 8, 2020

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has warned of unlicensed businesses offering home loans.

Ezy Savings and Caveat Loans ITstrong are not registered Australian companies, and they do not have Australian offices or valid business addresses. 

However, ASIC is aware these two unlicensed businesses are offering services for home loans for an upfront fee.

All lenders, brokers and credit intermediaries must be licensed by ASIC in order to offer consumer credit products and services.

Subsequent to ASIC making inquiries in relation to the complaints it received about Ezy Savings and Caveat Loans ITstrong, their websites have disappeared.

But unsolicited telephone calls – known as “cold calls” – to consumers have continued. This involves consumers being subjected to high-pressure and often misleading or deceptive sales methods to persuade them to pay an advance fee towards obtaining a loan.

When consumers pay the fee the loan was not provided and consumers cannot contact the business.

All contact with consumers is made by phone, fax or email. The phone numbers appearing on the companies' websites and business documents have been traced to an end-user in India.

ASIC inquiries have established that money paid by consumers has been transferred overseas.

ASIC told Property Observer its inquiries were continuing so its didn't have a definitive number on consumers who have lost money.

It says the scam has been running Australia-wide – with its investigators having spoken with complainants from nearly all states It had not been able to establish how the callers know that the consumers wanted a loan.

“It may be, in some instances, that the consumers have simply succumbed to the high-pressure sales tactics,” an ASIC spokesperson says.

Consumers should check basic company and business details by consulting ASIC’s website , which contains a listing of all registered Australian companies and businesses.

ASIC’s MoneySmart website also provides information on how to avoid scams.

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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