Atherton Equity

I applied for an online loan off the internet, and I received a phone call from Timothy ** telling me congratulations that I have been approved for a $125,000 loan. I was skeptical, but when I saw the company's website and checked with the Better Business Bureau (which did not have any information on this scam company), I was willing. Timothy stated that I needed to come up with $2500 Western Union and the money will be in my account in a few hours. I borrowed the money which devastated my accounts and I sent the money as requested.

After two hours, I received a call from Todd stating that I need an additional $2500 dollars. I became very upset and used every profanity word in the book and demanded my money back. Todd stated that I would receive my money in 30 business days and hung up.

After 30 days had passed, I called back and phone was disconnected. The message that the company was registered with phone people.com. I called phone people.com and was told that they could not give me any information on the Atherton Equity. I didn't know what to do, so I gave up. Now, there are more victims. I know how you all feel--taken advantage of, robbed, and feel as if nothing will ever be done. I hope these guys get caught. I do believe that they are from Canada and their real names are on the Western Union records. Lashon was the name that was given to me.

My fiancee and I applied for loans on the internet, and two days later, Timothy from Atherton Equity called us to let us know they had a lender willing to accept our loan application for $20,000. Timothy told us we just had to wire $1,500 to an address in Canada. I was able to come up with $1,200 using payday loans. Timothy told me he would see what he could do to make it work, and have someone from customer service call us later.

Later that afternoon Bob called me on my cellphone to tell me that they would need another $1,200. I was able to take out only another $900. Well,when I went to wire the money, the store got suspicious, because they ran into similar circumstances wiring money to Canada. The store called the police, and the Chief of Police showed up, and I explained what was going on. We went back to the station, and he tried to call the company, and they would not answer his phone, so I called using my cell, and when Bob answered the phone, I told him I had someone who wanted to talk to him. I handed the phone to the officer, and when he started asking questions, Bob hung up on him. I called back after a few minutes, and got yelled for involving the police, and told I would be receiving my money back by April 20.

Today is April 22, and for the past three or four days, I have not been able to contact them. The phone number has been "temporarily disconnected", and the website has become "forbidden". I had to close my checking account, because I could not afford the automatic withdrawals for the payday loans. The interest on the payday loans is staggering. I was able to pay back two of them. That is it. The phone calls from the collectors is getting on my nerves. They are starting to call Stuart's work.

I received a phone call because I was looking into online loans and Timothy *** was replying to an online application I sent and offered me a $5000 loan at 10% interest and the payments would only be $161.34. All I had to do was make the first 5 payments up front. I hesitated at first, but then I agreed. I borrowed the money from my friend and went down and sent the money through Western Union.

I called them back and Timothy said that I would be contacted by his supervisor Bob ***, who in turn called me back and informed me that I had to come up with another $800 in order to get the loan. I told him that it is not what was in the contract I signed. He argued with me for a moment and at that time I told him I needed my money back. He informed me it would take 30 days to get it back. I told him it didn't take 30 for him to receive it, why would it take 30 days to get it back? Since I borrowed the money from a friend, I have to pay her back right away because it was her money she saved to buy a car. So I have had to go get a title loan and various other loans to not only pay her back, but the other creditors that did not get paid because of the money.

My girlfriend and I were looking for a loan to purchase a house and we received an e-mail from this company. We reviewed every little detail and had another person investigate the contract also and we were assured that it was legal. Well, we sent in the down payment they required of $1933 plus the $160 for the WU fee. We were told that the money would be in our account within 6 to 14 hours, so we waited, and when we discovered that it hasn't, I called and talked with the person in charge of this company. He said we needed to send an additional $1933. I then told him that I couldn't do that and he said that I have a month to do so, but I refused again and requested that our money be refunded. I was informed that it takes 30 days and that the money would arrive back to us in April.

Well, it is now April 15th and we still have not received any money, and this after numerous calls and my girlfriend called again today and now the phone number is temporarily not working and says to call back in a few hours. I think this whole situation is bull and this company should be looked into, as what they are doing to people who are already struggling and thought this company could help out. I feel this is a loss that I will always regret but I will continue to try to retrieve our money back no matter what it takes.

This has affected both myself and my girlfriend economically because as previously stated, we do not have that money to just throw away to a scamming company that seems to be doing it to a lot of other people in our same situation.

David contacted me about an online loan application, saying I was approved for a $8000 loan but I would need to send a security deposit of $1150 via Western Union to Ann in Toronto, Canada. I sent it and called back with the MTCN # and he said the money would be in my account within two hours. It wasn't, so I called him back and he said it would be there tomorrow, which was a Saturday, by 11 a.m. It wasn't and that has now been four weeks and I still don't have any money.

I applied for a loan for trade school and was advised if I send them down payment $800.00 to cover my first six months of payment, they would lend me $5000.00 at 10.0% for $161.34 for 3 years. Then, they stated I need another 6 months of $800.00 because I do not have any credit history. So I advised them I did not want to do the loan and please send my money back, and they told me 30 days and I will be refunded, but no refund yet.

My wife and I were looking to purchase a new home, but because of credit problems from a previous divorce and previous foreclosure, finding a lender was almost impossible. I received a letter from Atherton Equity stating that a private lender had approved funding me the $135,000.00 for the cost of the home. I later received paperwork from John **, my loan coordinator, who assured me that everything was legitimate and that if I agreed to the terms of the loan, I should sign.

The terms of the loan were very reasonable for a 20-year loan, at 4.0% interest and monthly payments of $818.60. All that was required was to send $4090.00 in security for the loan to the lender, Mr. ** from New York, NY via Western Union, and once he received his money, then the funds would be directly deposited into my account within 6 hours. Well, Mr. ** received his money and when we didn't, we started calling. No answer, of course! Finally, we get a call from Todd **, the customer service manager, who told us that the funds are still there waiting to be sent, but now Mr. ** wants another $4090.00 via Western Union before he'll transfer the funds into my account.

Is this guy for real? How dumb does he think people really are? I absolutely refused and when I told him that I was filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Affairs, not to mention the fact that I would be talking to my friend at the Secret Service, Mr. ** offered me a refund of my security deposit, but I'll believe that when I see it!

I applied for $5,000 loan via internet. Initially, I sent $800 and the customer service guy, David **, said the money would be in my account the next day. The next day, the money was still not there. I called and he said that lenders wanted another $800 dollars because of my credit score. Still, the money was not in my account the next day. How stupid can I be? I called the next day, and David said the lender wanted $900 for insurance. I told him no.

$2500 dollars for a $5000 loan was a scam. Please send my $1600 dollars and $132 for Western Union charges which was promised initially. I did not sign any agreement or contract. He said I would get a refund check in 30 days. I do not believe this because of the other people who have sent money and got no results. My husband has left and I cannot make the installment on my daughter's college payment plan.

I got an e-mail for an online application to consolidate some bills. This was on a weekend because I called immediately. That Monday, I called the number and entered ext. xxx that linked to David S that is whom the letter said to contact. He told me that I was approved for this loan and he emailed the loan agreement. The loan was for US$10,000 at 7% for five years monthly payments of $198.01 but I had to pay $990 down. This was five first payments and my first payment would start on the 1st of Sept. I got paid on the 12th of March. I previously explained to David S that was all the money after paying what bills had to pay that I desperately needed that loan. He replied that if I would send the $500 then they would give me 24 hours to send the rest in. David also said they would go ahead with the loan so I could send the rest in.

I had never done business over the internet so therefore I didn't know the way the economy is. I figured they were needing the business as bad as I was needing a break in life (bills). Well, I sent the Moneygram and it wasn't approximately 30 minutes, the so called customer service called saying I needed $500 more for $5,000 instead of $10,000. I literally pulled over, begged and them not to do this. The customer rep. said it would be 30 days before I get my money back. My fiance was devastated. She had to quit work to take care of her mother and my income has been scammed from me. How are we gonna eat? My insurance will be due on the 20th. How was I going to get gas to work? These people need to be punished because I am not the sufferer. Yes, I was stupid for doing this but again keep in mind, I've never done this internet. I *** line under I won't do it again. My money, probably I would never see it again.

I applied online for a personal loan to have a surgery. I got a call saying that I was approved. I needed to complete a loan agreement and a promissory note that stated that I would put up $800.00 as a downpayment and the loan would be for $5,000.00 with payments of $161.34 at 10% interest over three years. My husband sent the money yesterday, March 10, 2010, in his name. The loan is in my name.

The company said that the money would be in my account within 4 to 6 hours. After that time had passed, we got a call saying that we had to do additional funds in the total of $800.00 more to secure the loan. The gentleman sent me an email with a letter saying that the money would be deposited within 2 to 3 hours of the additional funds.

I sent an email, requesting that the initial deposit be returned to me, because I had no interest in amending the initial contract and that we had already signed this contract and that the money should have already been deposited. Most of the information was told verbally, but I do have the loan agreement and promissory note that I signed. I also have a few emails and the letter that they sent.

My husband is not working and is in college. He is going to graduate this December, but until then, the money is tight. I work full time, and I have two teenage children. This money was to go toward a surgery, so my husband and I could have a baby together. The children that I have are by a previous marriage. It was devastating financially to gather the $800.00 for the downpayment, and we didn't pay some of our bills so we could do this.