SEC warns vs illegal lending on Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned the public against several Facebook pages posing as legitimate lending companies that are not licensed to operate.

In an advisory, the SEC flagged 28 Facebook pages, which include Right Choice Lending, Lhuillier Cash Support Finance, Gotyme Fast Cash Lending Inc., MLhuillier TrustFirst Lending Inc., Cebuana Quick Release Loan, Cebuana Service Quick Philippines, Cebuana Loan Services Financial Assist., MLhuillier Lending & Funding Corp., Cebuana Premium Finance Inc. and M’Lhuillier Money Philippines Corp

Also included are Facebook pages of Financial Security Corporation Inc., PHP Service Lending, Cebuana Lhuillier Financial investor PH, MLhuillier Loan Assistance Corp., MLhuillier Credit Lending Inc., Lhuillier Credit Service Philippines Inc., Quick Finance Philippines INC., Lhuillier Online Cash Lending, TransVault quick loan, MetaCash-1, PesoFlow-Loan App Philippines, Quick Tala – Cash Dash, M-Lhuillier Credit Solution Services Philippines Inc., Lhuillier Easy Loan Finance, MLhuillier Financial Aid Solutions, MLhuillier Credit & Lending Solutions Inc., MLhuillier Capital Solutions Inc. and MLhuillier Central Pacific Capital Inc.

The SEC said the entities behind these pages are involved in an advance-fee loan scam, a scheme that lures borrowers into paying advance fees or deposits before the loan is actually disbursed.

Victims are told that the deposit or payment will be included in the loan proceeds, but the loan is never released. In some cases, scammers claim the money was sent to the wrong account and demand a “penalty” before the supposed loan can be processed.

The SEC said the scammers also often instruct victims to move from Facebook Messenger to Telegram to continue their transactions and include fake borrowers in group chats to make the operation appear legitimate.

According to the SEC, the fraudulent operators also present falsified documents claiming registration with the SEC, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Anti-Money Laundering Council, the Department of Trade and Industry, the National Privacy Commission and local governments.

“The public is reminded to avoid transacting with the companies or individuals behind these Facebook pages as they are not authorized or licensed to offer, process or grant loans through any platform,” the commission said.

The SEC urged the public to verify the legitimacy of lending and financing companies through its online database before engaging in any loan transactions.