According to one debt charity, a select number of payday advance lenders have begun to send spam texts to prospective customers.
The Consumer Credit Counselling Service has taken umbrage at the tactics of some providers of short term loans and debt management firms, asking consumers to share the spam texts they receive in an effort to shed light on what some call underhanded marketing techniques employed to capitalise on the needs of the financially vulnerable. These debt management firms have begun to bombard Brits with offers of ‘debt advice,’ leaving out the one niggling detail that these advising sessions carry a fee, experts say.s come at a price.
Some providers of instant cash loans are also beginning to market their services via spam texts. One example is a lender texting random recipients a loan offer that carries a £25 fee per £100 borrowed, with a 30 day term, yet the CCCS has voiced concerns that these texts may be causing harm because they are targeting those who are in dire financial straits, and have launched a Twitter campaign urging users to share these unsolicited texts through the social media website.
The debt charity said that it has estimated the number of financially vulnerable British households at in excess of 6.2 million, adding that the marketing techniques employed by a select number of these firms may be targeting just these low income households. CCCS representative, Matt Hartley, said that the coming year will be difficult enough for these families without fee-charging debt management firms sticking their foot in the door at every opportunity.