Is an Online Loan Site Using Your Trademark?
Posted by Jamila Hunte on Fri, Jan 27, 2012
With the economy continuing to be in a vulnerable place and the unemployment rate still a concern for everyone, many people are worried about how they are going to make ends meet. Financial experts have warned us about the dangers of living beyond our means, but sometimes unexpected and unfortunate things happen like losing a job, car trouble which may require a new (and expensive) transmission or an unexpected illness or injury may have occurred. At the end of the day you are responsible for making sure funds are available to carry out your financial commitments. Sometimes, those of who find themselves in this predicament will turn to other means to supplement their income or to provide just enough money to get by.
So what if something terrible happens and you cannot pay your bills, what do you do?
Some folks in desperate situations may turn to a payday loan (also referred to as a quick loan or cash advance). These short-term, VERY high interest loans appear to be the quick solution to an acute problem, but many people have ended up owing a lot more than they planned for and regretfully discover that this may not be the best way to solve their financial problems. A person can obtain a payday loan by going in person to one of the many outlets out there to obtain their loan, but they can also obtain the loan online. There could be a lot of shame that one may feel if they go into one of these outlets. They may say to themselves, “What if someone I know sees me?” in fear that they are broadcasting their financial hardships to the world. Knowing that someone may look down on their situation might make obtaining a loan online more appealing. The person does not have to leave their house, no one has to know. The danger with this is that many of these sites are unregulated and who exactly is obtaining your information is unclear. You could be biting off a lot more than you can chew when you release your personal and financial information online.
At BrandProtect, we see this type of brand abuse all the time. We scour the internet for online threats that use our clients’ trademarks without authorization. Over the last few months, we have noticed online loan sites popping up that contain our clients’ trademark, which is especially concerning knowing that our clients are well-known financial institutions that do not have any affiliation and do not support these sites. These sites are providing loan application forms under the guise of the client’s trademarked name and asking for personal information like employment and banking information.
Here is an example of one of these forms (please note that for confidentiality reasons, “XYZ Bank” represents the financial institution’s name, in place of our client’s name):
This is not to say that the individual applying for the loan will not get the money they hope for, but this site is using a well-known and trusted trademark to encourage you to apply for a loan when the trademark owner does not have an affiliation with this online loan site. On top of having to pay back the loan in a very short amount of time at a very high interest rate, it cannot be known for certain who is actually obtaining your personal information and what might be done with that information once the application is submitted. For the end user, it might be wise to avoid using an online loan all together and to be especially wary of those that claim to be from a trusted bank or financial institution.
For brands, you do not want your customers being diverted from your website after they’ve identified your brand and think they are conducting business with you. You also don’t want them having a negative experience online, or to become identity theft victims because of brand abuse. Either way, once your brand is negatively associated in the minds of consumers you will have received irreparable damage to your reputation (even if you can prove your innocence). Prevention is key and being proactive is your best defense.
Are you monitoring the internet for brand abuse and trademark infringement?