The following consumer alert was issued by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions:

Scam artists have been using the name “Evergreen Home Loan Company” as part of an advance fee loan scam. In addition to the name, these scammers give out the address of Evergreen Home Loan Company’s Bellevue, Washington office, Evergreen Home Loan Company’s website, Evergreen Home Loan Company’s NMLS ID, and even the names and NMLS ID numbers of actual Evergreen Home Loan Company employees.

In the circumstances reviewed by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), this scam begins when an individual seeking funding for a residential home loan posts an inquiry on the Internet. Scammers will then reply to this post, sometimes posting multiple replies. The post offers “reasonable terms and conditions” and advises that the “pre-approval process is quick and … FREE AND NO UPFRONT FEES!” The post includes Evergreen Home Loan Company’s information as listed above. However, the phone number posted by the scammer is not a legitimate number for Evergreen Home Loan Company, and the e-mail address is not an Evergreen Home Loan Company e-mail address.

According to consumers who responded to these scammers, they were instructed to open an account and place a small amount of money in that account in order to be considered for the loan. This money was then removed by the scammers, but no loan funds were deposited.

DFI strongly recommends that consumers deal only with those lenders that are properly licensed to conduct business. Consumers can determine whether lenders are properly licensed using the “Verify a License” feature on DFI’s website.