A guy named Frank Walker showed up in my Facebook messenger asking if I needed a loan to finance my deals. I said, not at the moment. He then asked me if I could text him my email address so he could send me his funding requirements for review. I did. He even attached a bank statement that had $13 million in his account as "proof of funds." Even then, I still asked, how do I verify you are who you say you are? Can we get on a call? I give him my number (google voice), he texts me and the number comes up as Prem Singh & Sons. I call and first he doesn't answer so I double dial and he's this guy with a heavy accent but his profile says he lives in Texas but from Switzerland. He tells me on the phone that he's originally from Poland but all the time, he sounds like he's from the middle east. I then ask him why my caller ID comes up as Prem and he says, "Prem Singh is a lender who works with our funding team." I go to his Facebook page and also notice that it says he works for Keller Williams so I ask him if he does in fact work for KW because about seven Frank Walkers pop up on realtor.com but none of them have profile photos or are in Texas. He says, "I do, but I don't want to do business with people with doubt" to which I replied, "You want people who don't do their due diligence? You don't exactly sound like somebody I want to do business with either sir, have a nice day." Then I hang up.
I know I just typed you an essay but I said all that just to say this: Be careful with these people who pop up in your messages claiming to be private lenders and asking for upfront loan origination fees. I thought the whole exchange was odd since I told him from the beginning I wasn't even looking for funding at this time but he definitely wasn't legitimate. My question to anybody here is, do private lenders typically have a website or any way to verify who they are? Or is it, because they are "private" money lenders, there is no public records to refer to? Please break it down for me. Thanks.
