[header] How to avoid loan scams [title] Research any lender you are considering. [step] There are a lot of fraudulent lenders on the market, so go into your search with extreme skepticism. You need a lot of hard evidence of a company's legitimacy before agreeing to do business with that company. 
[substeps] Get the lender's phone number from an online source or the phone book and call to make sure they really are who they claim to be. Ask for the lender's physical address and use that to search for reviews online.