CashNetUSA is a loan company specializing in small-principle, short-term loans, which has built up such a toxic reputation, it is downright ridiculous these days.
Nothing about this operation seems to be right, despite a number of YouTube videos and its own website claiming otherwise.
Is the CashNetUSA scam real?
The going-ons around CashNetUSA are extremely confusing and there is no way really to make proper heads and tails of them.
User/victim complaints are so numerous they have effectively flooded reviews of the operation as well as its BBB profile page.
Ad
Indeed, it looks like there are a number of scammers out there who have taken advantage of the company’s standing (a rather dubious one at that) to pretend to be CashNetUSA, thus contacting people and attempting to convince them to pay them money upfront through prepaid Green Dot MoneyPak cards.
CashNetUSA have distanced themselves from these scammers.
Acknowledging the fact that many of the problems complained about can indeed be attributed to these “3rd party” scammers, one will still run into scores of issues that simply cannot be explained away by that logic.
Let us first take a look at what CashNetUSA are and what they do, and let us then consider the CashNetUSA scam, and why we believe it indeed exists.
There are many people out there who do not understand the terms attached to their payday loans and end up screaming scam for this reason.
According to the CashNetUSD website (CashNetUSA.com), the operation lets people apply for payday loans online, and it promises to transfer the money straight into their checking accounts, provided certain conditions are met.
Ad
The application process should take about 5 minutes and it requires some personal data from applicants such as their name, address, phone number, work status-related details, SSN and email address.
Most of these loans are expected to be repaid on your next payday, although that may not always be the case.
The company does not say much about early payments counting towards the principal – something that is indeed the cause of quite a bit of complaining further down the line (because, apparently, such early payments are not accepted).
What one needs to understand about CashNetUSA loans is that they are very small and extremely costly – even in the short-run.
How costly are they?
Well, you will pay between $10 and $45 per $100 in loan fees alone. If that does not make your eyes water, you should also consider the APR, which can be as high as 800%.
The loans can be as small as $225, and their term can be as short as two weeks, but the above numbers taken into account, you can safely assume that you will pay more than the amount of the loan in interest.
If that is the reason why you consider this outfit to be a scam, you’re wrong. These are their terms, and now that you know about them, make sure you steer clear of them.
There are scores of other problems with the setup though, problems that make us conclude that the CashNetUSA scam is indeed real.
These are some of the issues indicating CashNetUSA may be a scam:
- Horrible client feedback, covering just about every aspect of the operation
- Unwillingness to proactively tackle scams perpetrated in the name of the company
- Predatory lending terms
- Carelessness with your personal information (which may end up being sold to third parties)
- Unwanted sales calls resulting from the above problem
- The BBB profile of the operation
Indeed, that last one is a major issue. By taking but a peek at it, you will instantly realize something is definitely wrong here.
While enjoying an A- BBB rating (for some reason, BBB are indeed extremely generous with this rating of theirs), the operation has 37 negative user reviews, out of a total of 48, which includes 4 neutral reviews as well.
Ad
The problem is that at least one of the 7 positive reviews is in fact a major negative one too (probably mislabeled by the user) calling for a lawsuit against the company.
The complaints on the page accuse the company of a wide range of offenses, the most prominent one of which seems to be the initial withholding of information regarding the sky-high APR rates.
Complaints regarding the sale of personal information to 3rd party loan collection agencies ranks second. These agencies then apparently hand over the information to scammers, who then resort to various high-pressure tactics to scare people into paying them undue money.
Predatory lending is also among the problems listed.
People have complained about a total lack of transparency regarding the payments they made. Some ended up with about $2 of their initial loan paid back, after 6 scheduled payments which had all been made on time.
Still others have found it impossible to actually pick up the money allegedly transferred into their bank accounts by the operator.
CashNetUSA Review Conclusion
A fine example of predatory lending and of client data mishandling, the CashNetUSA scam is indeed very much alive and kicking.
The only way to spare yourself the trouble that any kind of dealing with this company will inevitably bring upon you, is to steer well clear of them.
Remember: even in the best case, you will end up paying a LOT for a short-term, diminutive loan, that won’t do much towards sorting out the financial conundrum in which you may currently be.
On the contrary: attempting to treat your financial squeeze through this dubious method, is a lot like pouring gasoline over the fire.
