Who are reputable private money lenders in Atlanta, Ga ?

[Velma Trayham]

I recently had someone who claimed to be a private money lender ask to log in to my bank account as a criteria, which then I began to get skeptical. And when I began to ask questions of the lender like what his website, references  of others in which he  have loaned money to, the reply was he cant share his other clients information. So basically nothing verifiable. When I googled his name nothing came up. He claimed he was not on social media. I mean come on .. who is not on social media these days?  Long story short..... I think there are some scams on these sites posing as lenders to get your personal information. I have previously been funding my deals myself but now have decided to leverage my money by using private money. Have anyone experienced this before? How can we prevent this from happening especially  to someone that may not be savvy enough to ask the right questions and conduct the proper vetting? 

Any good solid credible  referrals for private lenders investing in Atlanta, Ga area?