Short term lenders helping fight crime

Short term lenders are often a great help to consumers who need fast cash in the event of an emergency. When a surprise expense comes up, the companies can be invaluable in providing consumers with much-needed funds. However, lenders are also being hailed for helping society. Recently, individuals involved the short term lending and pawn industries went to lengths to protect others against being scammed and catching criminals. The efforts of the citizen crime fighters are helping take dangerous people off the streets and potentially restoring positive thoughts consumers have about the sector Woman with fake loan informing others about scam According to Iowa's Muscatine Journal, April Garcia received a phone call from an individual claiming to be a representative of a short term loan corporation. The person on the phone said Garcia was eligible to receive a $3,300 consumer short term loan if she sent $330 for insurance. Upon wiring money, Garcia went to Western Union to make sure the correct amount was processed. Employees told Garcia the sum was received in India, so she enlisted the help of the Muscatine County Sherrif's Office. Garcia was able to retrieve her cash, and is informing the public to be careful about falling prey to such schemes. In order to avoid confusion in the future, short term lending companies may want to inform consumers that they should always check to make sure the firm they are dealing with is legitimate. They should also make it clear that short term lenders do charge fees, but not for insurance purposes. Moreover, solicitations over the phone that list a certain amount of money, like in Garcia's case, are note strategies used by the sector. Pawn shop helps catch alleged killers Workers in many pawn shops nationwide have had to adjust to new sanctioned databases, in which customers' records are kept to ensure pawned and sold items were not stolen. Though the practice has been met with some derision, it recently led to an arrest of accused murderers. After a man went into Swat's Loans, based out of Amarillo, Texas, to sell a $3,000 silver bar, the owners recorded the sale in their database, which was shared with local police officers, KAMC-TV reported. The transaction was suspicious to both shop workers and police officers, as they usually don't see items valued that high. Police investigated and discovered Dr. Mike Dixon paid David Shepard three silver bars to kill rival doctor Joseph Sonnier, according to KAMC. The case was solved after a pawn employee told cops that Shepard sold one of the bars to the pawnbroker one month before the killing took place.