FTC reimburses short term loan scam victims

The Federal Trade Commission is issuing money to consumers who fell for a short term loan scam. This, following a settlement that resulted in a court-ordered $4.8 million to be paid to the FTC, insideARM reports. More than 110,000 refund checks totaling more than $1.9 million are being mailed to victims of a short term loan scam involving companies Swish Marketing and VirtualWorks, Reve News reports. Swish used "deceptive marketing practices" to obtain consumers' bank account information after luring them into applying for short term loans. Swish operated multiple landing pages containing online application forms for short term loans. Nowhere on any of its sites did it mention fees associated with the completion of the application. People who submitted short term loan applications to Swish's website had their bank accounts debited for a prepaid charge card they unknowingly signed up for, totaling between $39.95 and $54.95. Many consumers also had to deal with overdraft fees due to the unexpected withdrawals. Victims are set to receive an average payment of between $10 and $15.