You probably remember the relentless robocalls calls from “Rachel,” promising you lower interest rates for your credit cards. That scheme was designed to trick individuals into sharing their credit card numbers, and the Federal Trade Commission eventually caught several of the perpetrators using Rachel’s fake persona.
Unfortunately, someone has taken a page out of their book. Enter Jessica.
Since November, there’s been more than 500 submissions to BBB’s Scam Tracker page regarding a fake loan offer from “Jessica” via calls or texts. People consistently report that the calls involved in this advanced fee loan phishing scam are extremely aggressive. Some report receiving repeated calls throughout the day.
Here are a few examples of real reports shared on BBB’s Scam Tracker page last week:
— “A message was left by ‘Jessica’ about finalizing a loan application. I have not applied for a loan. The caller did not address me by name nor state a company she was affiliated with. Left a number to call and said she would like to take care of this by 5 p.m. Pacific time.”