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Online Security: Protect Against Fraud

Your Security Is Our Top Priority

LendingFounder is a free comparison platform, and we work only with providers we have onboarded ourselves and can name. We will never ask you for payment.

Because our name is one people search for, fraudsters borrow it, along with the names of the providers we work with, to gain your trust. Below is how to tell a real message from an imposter, and how to guard against the scams we see most.

Watch Out for Imposters

LendingFounder is 100% free to use. We are not a lender: we are a comparison platform that puts your request in front of providers who cover what you are looking for. We do not offer loans, approve loans, hold or send money, or take payments of any kind.

LendingFounder will never:

  • Ask you to pay us, whether to submit a request, to be matched, or to have a loan “released.”
  • Approve you for a loan. Approval is a provider’s decision, never ours.
  • Ask for your bank account number, card details, online banking username or password, Social Security number or full date of birth. Our forms have no field for any of them.

Be on the lookout for LendingFounder copycats. Here is how to tell if it is really us:

  • Our emails come from @LendingFounder.com. Don’t trust addresses that use our name any other way, such as LendingFounder@gmail.com.
  • Our website is simply LendingFounder.com. Don’t trust websites that merely include our name, such as LendingFounderLoans.com. Check the address bar before you type anything.
  • Our company is called LendingFounder. Don’t trust companies with names that sound similar, such as Lending Founders or Funding Founder.

The provider who takes your request will contact you directly, from their own company. That is how the service works. What they should never do is any of the things above.

If you spot something suspicious, let us know through our contact page. We will confirm whether a message was ours.

How to Spot a Scam

Fraudsters want your money or your personal information. They may call you, email you, text you, send you letters, or steer you to a copycat website.

Here are common signs that someone is trying to trick you:

  • They say you are approved even though you never applied for a loan with them.
  • They make claims that are too good to be true, such as guaranteed approval regardless of your credit, or a promise to erase your debt.
  • They ask you to pay an “advance fee,” “upfront fee,” “processing fee” or “insurance payment” before the money arrives.
  • They ask you to pay through channels that cannot be recalled, such as Cash App, Bitcoin, Western Union or gift cards.
  • They ask for a small deposit in exchange for a larger sum later.
  • They ask you to overpay and promise to refund the difference.
  • They reach out in a way you did not expect, such as a social media direct message, when all you did was fill out a form.

More Tips to Stay Safe

Listen to your gut. If something does not feel right, it probably is not.

  • Don’t get caught up in the moment. Scammers try to make you act before you can think. No legitimate provider should push you into applying, giving information, handing over money or doing anything else that makes you uncomfortable.
  • Make sure you know who you are talking to. If someone calls claiming to be a lender or asking for personal information, check that they are who they say they are: find the company’s official phone number on its own website and call it back directly.
  • Check that a lender or broker is licensed. NMLS Consumer Access (nmlsconsumeraccess.org) lists licensed mortgage companies and individuals, and your state’s financial regulator lists the rest.
  • Be cautious with unexpected attachments and links. An email, an attachment or a link can be used to harvest your details. If a message you did not expect includes one, do not open it. LendingFounder only sends email from addresses ending in @LendingFounder.com.
  • Research a provider before working with them. Read their website, their reviews, and any complaints on record.
  • If you have been targeted, report it. Stop all contact and do not send money. If you have already paid, call your bank or card issuer right away. Report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; if someone has your Social Security number, IdentityTheft.gov will build you a recovery plan. Then tell us through our contact page, so we can warn the next person.

Steps We Take to Help Protect You

The most effective protection is to hold less. Our forms ask only what a comparison needs: the category, an amount range, a few questions about your situation, and how to reach you. They never ask for a Social Security number, a bank account, card details, a full date of birth or an exact income. What is never collected cannot be lost. Beyond that:

  • Every page and every form is served over an encrypted connection.
  • The site sends browsers a content security policy that stops scripts we did not write from running on it.
  • Your contact details are visible only to our team and to the provider who has taken your request, and each time somebody views them, it is logged under their name.
  • We limit how many requests one connection can send and screen each one, so an automated attempt to pull data out of the forms or push junk into them is refused.
  • The record of what you agreed to (the exact wording, the date and the time) is kept with your request and cannot be edited.

Requests are kept only as long as our privacy policy says, and you can ask for yours to be erased at any time through the contact page.

Learn more in our privacy policy and our disclaimer.