I’m emailing you this complaint against this company (Allstate Financial Group in Canada) because they scam me out of my money, in the amount of $620.00 on November 30, 2007. I started when I received an email about loans for people with fair credit, bad credit or no credit with a low interest rate. I responded because I was interest in the loan. I was first contacted by Donna Chapmen and she told me that I was preapproved for the loan amount of $8000.00 with a 9% interest... my payments will be $155.00 per month for 55 months. I also sent a copy of my pay stubs, social security card, my bank account information, and my id card by faxing it at the number 888-212-8389. So there after, Donna Chapmen told me that she’ll email me the contract to look over and sign…. But in the meanwhile she told me to send the amount of $620.00 in money gram and I did since it sounded legitimate. I sent the money in Donna Chapmen’s name and it was sent to Ajax, Ontario Canada. I contacted Donna soon after and I also checked my email for the contract( which was not there)... so Donna told me that the email should be there if not , she’ll send it again and go ahead and process my loan to be sent to my account. One hour went by and I contacted Donna again and told her that I did not receive the email... then she stated the email was down and she’ll fax the contract. I had given her the fax number to my job and 30 minutes went by and NO FAX!!! So, I called her about 10 times and could not get her!! So I waited at least 20 minutes and tried again. When I did get in contact with her she pretended to be her own secretary and changed her voice (but I knew it was her) and she posed as her own secretary. Then she told me that Donna Chapmen was in a meeting and she cannot get access to my account. So, I decided to call back in a few minutes and spoke with Kirsten Cooper (another loan adviser)... I told her what was going on with Donna Chapmen and she stated that the email system is down but she saw my information in the system and I’ll need to send an additional $525.00 to secure the loan anticipated for the monthly payment requested for the 55 months. I started to cry because I sent her some of my rent money!!! Kirsten apologies and said she doesn’t know why Donna would tell me I only need to send $620.00 when they require more for my loan. So, I told her to send my money back because I don’t have the additional $525.00... Kurten then stated that they will send the money back but they will need to take out fees due to backing out of the contract. I informed her that I DID NOT SIGN ANY CONTRACT and DID NOT RECEIVE IT VIA EMAIL (because their email was down and Kursten Cooper confirmed it!!). Kursten stated that Donna can get into trouble for accepting the money without a signed contract. Then, Kursten stated that I will receive my money back in 15-30 days since it was sent Money Gram. It’s been a little over 15 days and still no refunded check. I have also looked up Allstate Financial Group and they have a lot of complaints about the same thing….SCAMMING INNOCENT PEOPLE, WHO ARE DOWN ON THEIR LUCK and HARD EARNED INCOME, OUT OF THEIR MONEY. Please, Please, Please, Please, HELP ME. Please contact me at 954-557-6473. These people have my personal information and also my funds... Please investigate them and close the company down. I’m also aware (now) that it is a crime to collect up-front fees/advance fees for a loan in both the USA and Canada. I will also file a civil suit against the company and contact the FBI. There is also a website www.complaintsboard.com, where there are many people on that site that have been scammed out of their money by ALLSTATE FINANCIAL GROUP in CANADA.

ALERT: do not fall for this, I want to get the word out, my husband thought they were legit, he faxed some info to them, thank GOODNESS he did not give them money. My "spidey sense" starting tingling so I did some research and this is the same group that did business in New Jersey and Washington, along with a bunch of other places. The BBB has tried to contact this company in the past to no avail. i found that the website that was emailed to us was exactly the same as the listings with other physical addresses on the BBB site. PS: the address they sent us is not found on the Canadian post site. I do believe the postal code is bogus as well (along with their 888 number).

I have email with ALL HEADERS, their email comes to you from an email marketing service called CONSTANT CONTACT.
Here is the original email: (my suspicion was raised when i realized they cannot spell + they say "valued customer" instead of your last name. )

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Dear Valued Customer,

This letter is to inform you that your application you submitted has been assign to one of our financial Consultant Ryan Atlas. We have carefully reviewed your file and it's with great pleasure to let you know that you have been Pre-approved for the loan you have applied for online.

My name is Ryan Atlas I would like to hear from you as soon as possible so that I can process your application and discuss further details about your loan. You can visit us at our website www.allsfg.com or contact me by email jmyers AT secondchancegrp.com or by calling me on my direct line at 1-888-718-5740 ext. 801 or fax at 888-718-5740.We are looking forward to hearing from you.