How to Spot a Loan Scam

People searching for a loan while under financial pressure are the most targeted group in consumer finance. The scams are not sophisticated, and nearly all of them fail the same two-minute check: a legitimate lender never asks for money before funding, and a legitimate lender is licensed in your state.

Written by the Loan For Any Purpose USA lending team. Reviewed by the Loan For Any Purpose Editorial Review Team. Last reviewed September 10, 2026. We explain products we do not sell as well as the ones we do.

Seven warning signs

1. A fee demanded before the money arrives

Called an insurance fee, a processing fee, a good-faith deposit or a first payment. Legitimate origination fees are deducted from the amount funded and disclosed in a written agreement. Nobody legitimate asks you to send money first.

2. Payment by gift card, wire or cryptocurrency

No licensed lender collects a fee this way. These methods are chosen because they are irreversible.

3. Guaranteed approval

No lender can guarantee approval before reviewing an application. Any site promising it regardless of credit is either not a lender or not honest.

4. Pressure to decide immediately

"This offer expires in one hour" exists to stop you checking a licence. A real offer survives a phone call.

5. No verifiable street address, licence or phone number

Every licensed lender publishes a legal entity name, a physical address and licence details. If the contact page has only a web form, that is the answer.

6. Contact from a lender you never approached

Unsolicited calls and texts offering approval for a loan you did not apply for are a standard opening. So are emails imitating a lender you have heard of, from a slightly wrong domain.

7. A request for remote access or full online banking credentials

Lenders verify bank accounts through secure, read-only connections or micro-deposits. Nobody needs your password or control of your screen.

The two-minute verification

1. Check the state licence. Search your state's banking or financial regulation department for the lender's legal name. If they are not licensed to lend where you live, stop.
2. Check the domain. Look at the exact spelling in the address bar. Scam sites clone real lenders with a hyphen, an extra letter or a different suffix.
3. Call the number on the regulator's listing, not the one in the email.
4. Search the company name with the word complaint. Two minutes of results is usually decisive.
5. Read the disclosures. A real lender publishes APR ranges, fees and the consequences of late payment.

Verifying us

Our legal entity name, address, NMLS ID and state licence numbers are on our licenses page and in the footer of every page. We never ask for payment before funding, never ask for your online banking password, and every offer is a written agreement listing the APR, every fee and each payment date. If something claiming to be us does not match that, it is not us: tell us.