How to Spot a Personal Loan Scam Before You Pay or Share Anything

A personal loan scam usually asks you to pay before you receive money, or it promises approval no matter your credit. Walk away from release fees, gift-card or crypto payments, and pressure to act now. GameBank does not call, text, or email you, and it charges no consumer fee. Check the company's state registration and report scams to the FTC.

The Federal Trade Commission describes an advance-fee loan scam this way: someone promises a loan, a credit card, or a connection to a lender who can almost certainly get you credit, no matter your credit history, but first you must pay. The fee may be called processing, insurance, an application, or something else. The FTC says there is no loan and no lender, and that if you pay, the person and the money disappear.

The FTC says these scams target people who have bad credit or who have trouble getting a loan for other reasons. Scammers post ads, often online, or they call. Many buy lists of people who searched or applied online for payday or other loans. A message that arrives after you looked at loan sites is not proof the sender is a real lender.

Three FTC lines are worth keeping next to each other, because they are easy to flatten into a rule that is too broad:

• A legitimate lender will not promise you a loan without knowing your credit history and then demand that you pay first.
• A real lender can require an application or appraisal fee before it considers your application. A disclosed fee, by itself, is not the scam.
• Nobody legitimate will tell you that paying a fee guarantees you will get the loan. The FTC also says no one legitimate will ask you to pay for a promise.

The scam version usually shows up after the word approved. You are told the loan is ready, and that you must pay insurance, processing, or paperwork before the money can be released. The FTC says any up-front fee a lender wants before granting the loan is a cue to walk away, especially under those labels.

Phone calls have an extra rule. The Telemarketing Sales Rule, at 16 CFR 310.4(a)(4), makes it an abusive telemarketing act for a seller or telemarketer to request or receive a fee in advance of obtaining a loan or other credit when that person has guaranteed, or represented a high likelihood of success in obtaining or arranging, the credit. The FTC summarizes the same point: it is illegal for telemarketers to promise you a loan and ask you to pay for it before they deliver. The rule is about telemarketing. It does not turn every fee on a website into a violation, and it does not mean every disclosed lender fee is unlawful. It does mean a caller who guarantees a loan and asks to be paid first is describing conduct the rule prohibits.

Use the offer itself as the test. A real provider can still charge disclosed costs. The warning is the combination of a guarantee, a payment before any money is delivered, and a payment method that is hard to reverse.

1. Guaranteed approval, or bad credit is no problem. The FTC quotes the kind of ad copy scammers use: “Bad credit? No problem,” “No hassle — guaranteed,” and “We don’t care about your past. You deserve a loan.” The FTC says banks and other legitimate lenders will not promise or guarantee a loan before you apply. They check a credit report, confirm the application, and decide whether they think you will repay before they make a firm offer. A slogan is not an offer. Read Personal Loans With Bad Credit: How to Compare Options Without Falling for the Wrong Promise and What Does “No Credit Check” Personal Loan Really Mean? before you treat “no check” as safety.
2. A fee before you receive any money, especially to release an approval. Processing, insurance, and paperwork fees demanded after you are told you are approved are the FTC’s examples. This is different from a fee that is written into a credit agreement you have had time to read. Credit insurance that is actually offered with a loan is a separate product with its own disclosures. See Personal Loan Credit Insurance and Loan Protection: What to Check Before You Agree and What Fees Can Personal Loans Include?. A fee you must pay a stranger so the loan can be “released” is not that product.
3. Payment by gift card, wire, cryptocurrency, or a payment app. The FTC says scammers often ask you to pay in ways that make the money hard to get back, including cryptocurrency, a wire through a money-transfer company, or a gift card whose numbers you read aloud. The CFPB lists the same family of methods as classic scam signs: gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, and payment apps. A lender that asks you to buy a gift card and send the code is not describing a normal loan closing.
4. Pressure to act before you can read anything. The CFPB says to watch for someone who tells you the deal will not last, who does not give you time to ask questions, or who creates urgency so you act on emotion. Being told to pay right away is a warning sign. Ask for the APR, the fees, the payment, and the total of payments in writing, and read them. Personal Loan Agreement Checklist: What to Review Before Signing is the list to use once a real provider gives you documents.
5. No registration you can confirm in your state. The FTC says lenders must register where they do business, and it tells you to contact your state attorney general or your state banking or financial-services regulator to find out whether a lender is registered. The CFPB publishes contact information for state banking regulators. Which office licenses a personal-loan company can differ from the office that supervises banks, and a payday-lending license is not the same question in every state. The CFPB’s payday guidance says to verify license status with your state regulator, and that not every state allows payday lending. Do not treat one national website as proof that every personal-loan company is licensed.

The channel matters as much as the offer. The CFPB says fraud can arrive by call, text, mail, email, or online, and that a common sign is someone pretending to be an institution you trust.

1. A text about a loan you did not apply for. In a January 2026 consumer alert, the FTC describes texts that claim to follow up on a loan application the recipient never submitted, including texts about a large amount such as $10,000. The message may say you are preapproved, which the FTC says is not true, or that the company needs a Social Security number or bank account number to finish an application, which the FTC also says is not true. The bait is urgency: “This is the last step,” or “Just reply YES to confirm you still want to claim the loan.” The FTC says that if you reply, you can hand over information that leads to identity theft. Do not reply, do not click a link, and do not call the number inside the message, even to say no. Delete the text. You can forward unwanted texts to 7726 (SPAM) and report the message at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
2. A demand for a password, an online-banking login, or a one-time code. The CFPB says not to share passwords for accounts, credit cards, or Social Security, and not to click links or scan QR codes from messages you do not trust. A provider that is actually opening a loan may ask for identity information and for the account where it would deposit funds, after you have confirmed who the company is. That is not the same as typing your online-banking password, or a code your bank just texted you, into a message from a number you did not look up. Codes and passwords let someone into an account you already have. They are not a normal way to fund a new personal loan.
3. A look-alike name. Scammers copy logos and use web addresses that are one letter off from a known lender or from a site you just used. The CFPB says fake messages can be styled to look like a trusted source. The FTC says to search the company name together with words such as review, complaint, or scam, and to search the phone number as well. Then call the company using a number from its own site or from documents you already know are real, not from the message.
4. A check you are told to cash and send back. Unexpected checks are their own problem. A personal-loan version asks you to deposit a check and wire part of it somewhere else for a fee or a tax. The check can later be returned, and you can be left owing the bank. How to look at an unexpected loan check is covered in Unexpected Check in the Mail? How to Tell If It Is a Live Check Loan. Do not send money back against a deposit that has not finally cleared.
5. No company you can find. If the message has no legal name, no street address, and an email domain that does not match the website you looked up yourself, stop. The CFPB’s instruction is to contact the institution using its official phone number or website to confirm whether there is a real problem.

After you submit an online loan request, a participating provider may contact you. That contact can be legitimate. It can also be a scammer who bought a list of people who recently looked for a loan, which is a practice the FTC describes. The difference is not the fact that your phone rang. The difference is whether you can reach the same company through a channel you looked up yourself, and whether anyone is asking you to pay for a promise.

A side-by-side reading of the FTC and CFPB guidance looks like this:

• Who decides. A lender reviews credit and application information before a firm offer. A scam guarantees approval first. GameBank does not decide either way.
• Fees. A lender discloses costs in writing. Some fees are charged only if credit is extended, and you can see them in the agreement. A scam demands a separate payment to release funds, often by gift card, wire, or crypto.
• How you can call back. A real company can be reached at a number on its own website or in documents you already have. A scam can be reached only at the number or link it just sent you.
• Registration. You can ask your state regulator whether the company is registered to do this business in your state. A scam has no registration you can confirm, or it borrows someone else's name.
• Documents. A lender gives you written terms, including the cost of the credit, before you are bound. A scam pressures you to pay or to “confirm” before any document exists.

If you did start a request with a named provider, find that provider yourself. Use the name on the disclosure you received, search for the company, and call or write using the contact on its site. Do not assume a text that says “following up on your application” is that provider.

GameBank is an online request and referral service. It is not the company lending the money. The About page and the Frequently Asked Questions page describe the limit of that role, and these points follow from them plus two facts about how GameBank operates:

• GameBank collects the information on its form and passes a request toward participating providers. The current form lets you indicate a requested amount from $200 to $5,000. That is a request, not a guaranteed amount and not an approval.
• GameBank may receive compensation when you are connected with, or take an action involving, a participating provider. That is disclosed in the Advertiser Disclosure. Compensation does not make GameBank the lender and does not set the provider's terms.
• GameBank does not charge consumers a fee. Anyone who tells you to pay GameBank so a loan can be approved, released, insured, or sped up is not GameBank.
• GameBank does not call, text, or email you. Any phone call, text, or email after a request is from a participating provider or from a scammer. A message that claims to be GameBank contacting you about your loan is false.
• GameBank does not approve or deny credit, set the APR or fees, guarantee a provider response, or guarantee funding. It generally cannot see a provider's decision or account. Questions about an offer go to that provider. See Contact GameBank.

How a request differs from the provider's own application is explained in Personal Loan Request vs. Application vs. Approval: What Each Step Means. How a referral service differs from a marketplace and from a lender is explained in Loan Marketplace vs. Direct Lender vs. Referral Service. GameBank does not claim that every participating provider is the right choice for you, and it does not claim to compare the entire market.

The short form asks for limited information, including an email address and the last four digits the provider flow requests. The Privacy Policy explains that those values are passed into the provider flow and that GameBank's own backend is not designed to store them. Providing those fields on the GameBank form is not the same as giving a stranger your online-banking password or a one-time login code.

Five checks take longer than a text message wants you to spend. That is the point.

1. Name the company. Write down the legal name, not only a text-message signature. If you cannot find a name, stop.
2. Ask the state regulator. Use the FTC's step: contact your state attorney general or the state banking or financial-services regulator and ask whether that company is registered to make or arrange the kind of loan being offered, in your state. The CFPB's state-regulator list is a starting point for banking agencies. The right office for a nonbank lender may be a consumer-credit regulator instead. License rules differ by state and by product.
3. Search the name and the phone number. The FTC recommends searching the company name with “review,” “complaint,” or “scam,” and searching the phone number. You can also look at the CFPB’s consumer complaint database. Complaints are allegations, not findings, but a pattern is a reason to slow down.
4. Match the domain. The website, the email domain, and the phone number should belong to the company you looked up. A link in a text does not count as the website.
5. Get the cost in writing before you pay anything. You want the APR, the fees, the payment, and the total you would repay. If the person will not send terms, and instead wants a gift card, you are done. Personal Loan Agreement Checklist: What to Review Before Signing is for the moment a real agreement exists.

You can also search NMLS Consumer Access, which state agencies use to publish some nonbank license information. A listing is not proof that a particular text message is real, and not every license appears there. Confirm what you find with the regulator.

Stop answering the person who took the payment or the data. Do not send a second fee because they say the first fee almost released the loan. The FTC says that whatever way you paid, the sooner you act, the better, and it also says scammers often choose methods that make recovery difficult. Nothing on this page promises that a bank or a payment company will return the money.

1. Contact the company that moved the money. If you wired money, paid by card, sent a payment-app transfer, bought a gift card, or sent cryptocurrency, contact that bank or payment company immediately. Use a number from your own statement or the company's official site. Tell them the transaction was unauthorized or induced by a scam, and ask what they can still do. Speed matters most for payments that have not finished moving.
2. If you shared a Social Security number, a bank login, or account numbers, go to IdentityTheft.gov. The FTC says IdentityTheft.gov gives steps based on the kind of information that was exposed. The GameBank guide Someone Took Out a Personal Loan in My Name: What to Do Next walks through a loan that shows up in your name. Change passwords you still control, starting with email and online banking, and do not reuse the password you may have given away.
3. Check your credit reports for accounts you do not recognize. If a fraudulent loan is being reported, the the dispute walkthrough is how to correct a personal-loan item on your credit report.
4. If a collector later calls about a loan you never received, do not pay on the call. Ask for validation and use Debt Collector Calling About a Personal Loan? How to Verify the Debt and Protect Your Rights. A fake loan can be followed by a fake collection.
5. Keep the messages. Save texts, emails, receipts, gift-card numbers, and wallet addresses. You will need them for the reports below. Do not edit the originals.

Reporting does not require you to decide the legal name of the offense. Report what happened, to more than one office if more than one applies.

• FTC. Report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC says reports help law enforcement and warn other people. Forward junk texts to 7726, then report them as well.
• CFPB. If a financial company, including a lender or a servicer, is involved, you can submit a complaint at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. A complaint is not a lawsuit and does not itself cancel a debt.
• Your state. Contact the state attorney general or the state financial regulator. They are the offices the FTC points to for registration questions, and they take consumer complaints about companies doing business in the state.
• FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. For an internet-based scam, you can also file at ic3.gov.
• The real company, if someone pretended to be it. If the message copied a known lender's name, tell that company through the contact on its own website so it can warn customers. Do not use the contact in the suspicious message.

Urgency is the tool. A repair, a rent date, or a medical bill makes a guaranteed approval feel like relief. The FTC’s examples are aimed at exactly that moment: people who need to borrow for auto repairs, card debt, or a mortgage, and who have already had trouble qualifying. A fast yes that requires a payment first is the pattern to refuse, even when the due date is real.

A personal loan also may not arrive in time for that due date. Funding depends on the provider and on your bank, and GameBank does not guarantee a time. Read the guide on what sets a funding timeline before you choose a loan because it sounds immediate. If the expense itself might be handled another way, start with Personal Loan for Emergency Expenses: Questions to Ask Before Borrowing.

Do legitimate lenders ever charge a fee before giving you a loan?

Sometimes, and the label matters. The FTC says a real lender can require an application or appraisal fee before it considers your application. The same guidance says nobody legitimate will tell you that paying guarantees the loan, and that an up-front fee demanded before the lender grants the loan, especially for insurance, processing, or paperwork, is a reason to walk away. Read any fee in the written disclosures. GameBank itself does not charge consumers a fee.

Is a guaranteed-approval personal loan a scam?

A promise of guaranteed approval, especially paired with “bad credit, no problem,” is one of the FTC’s warning signs. Legitimate lenders, the FTC says, do not guarantee credit before they look at your credit history and application. They decide whether they think you will repay before they make a firm offer. Treat a guarantee as a reason to stop, not as a reason to pay.

How can I check whether a loan company is licensed in my state?

The FTC says to contact your state attorney general or your state banking or financial-services regulator and ask whether the company is registered where it does business. The CFPB publishes a list of state banking regulators. The office that licenses a nonbank personal-loan company may be different, and rules differ by state. NMLS Consumer Access shows some nonbank licenses, but a listing is not proof that a text message is real.

Why would a lender ask me to pay with a gift card or cryptocurrency?

A legitimate loan closing is not a gift-card purchase. The FTC and the CFPB both flag gift cards, wires, cryptocurrency, and payment apps as methods scammers prefer because the money is hard to recover. If someone says your approved loan will be released when you buy a card and read them the numbers, that is the advance-fee pattern. Stop and contact your bank if you already paid.

I got a text about a loan I never applied for. What should I do?

The FTC says not to reply, not to click links, and not to call the number in the text, even to cancel. Delete it, forward it to 7726, and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. GameBank does not text you, so a text claiming to be GameBank is not from GameBank. If you did apply with a real provider, contact that provider through a number on its own website.

What should I do if I already paid a loan scammer?

Stop paying, and contact the bank or payment company that sent the money. The FTC says to act quickly, and it warns that gift cards, wires, and cryptocurrency are chosen because recovery is difficult. No one can promise you will get the money back. If you shared identity or account information, use IdentityTheft.gov. Then report the scam to the FTC and, if a financial company is involved, to the CFPB.

Can a scammer pretend to be a real lender or a loan website?

Yes. The FTC describes messages that look like a follow-up from a lender, and the CFPB warns that fake messages can be styled to look like a trusted company. Compare the email domain and the phone number with the company's own website. Do not trust a logo or a link inside the message. If someone is using a real company's name, tell that company through a contact you looked up yourself.

Does GameBank charge a fee or contact me to finish a loan?

No. GameBank does not charge consumers a fee, and it does not call, text, or email you. A request to pay GameBank, or a call or text that says it is GameBank releasing a loan, is not GameBank. A participating provider may contact you after a request. Confirm that provider independently. GameBank also does not guarantee approval or funding.

Most personal-loan scams ask you to pay for a promise, often after saying you are already approved, and they rush you into a gift card, a wire, or cryptocurrency. The FTC says legitimate lenders do not guarantee credit before they review you, and that nobody legitimate says a fee guarantees the loan. GameBank will not charge you and will not contact you by phone, text, or email. Check the company with your state regulator, and if you already paid, call the payment company and report what happened.

If you are comparing a real offer rather than a demand for an up-front payment, read the APR, fees, payment, and total repayment before you sign. GameBank can start a request with participating providers. It does not guarantee a match, an offer, approval, an amount, or funding, and it will not call or text you about the result.

If the message in front of you asks for a fee to release money, close it. Report it to the FTC, and do not send a second payment.

• FTC: What to know about advance-fee loans
• FTC: Can you spot a fake loan text scam? (January 20, 2026)
• 16 CFR 310.4, abusive telemarketing acts, including advance fees for credit
• CFPB: What are some classic warning signs of possible fraud and scams?
• CFPB: How do I find my state's bank regulator?
• CFPB: How can I tell if a payday lender is licensed in my state?
• CFPB: Submit a complaint
• CFPB: Consumer complaint database
• FTC: ReportFraud.ftc.gov
• FTC: IdentityTheft.gov
• FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center
• NMLS Consumer Access

Last reviewed: October 21, 2026.