'I'm naturally skeptical': I receive 10 calls a day offering me $15,000 loans at 8% interest. Is this a scam?

By Quentin Fottrell

'They insist that the details will be provided after they have carried out a soft credit check'

"The callers refuse to disclose fees upfront." (Photo subject is a model.)

Dear Quentin,

I keep receiving unsolicited calls offering me loans that I have never applied for. Some callers offer up to $15,000 at 8% interest, but the callers refuse to disclose fees upfront. Instead, they insist that the details will be provided after they have carried out a "soft credit check."

I'm naturally skeptical and wondering whether this is a common scam or a bait-and-switch tactic. Is this a legitimate lending practice, or should I be concerned? I sometimes receive as many as 10 calls a day. I find this frustrating.

Has anyone else experienced this, and can anyone shed some light on what might be going on?

Sometimes Tempted, Presently Confused

You can email The Moneyist with any financial and ethical questions at qfottrell@marketwatch.com. The Moneyist regrets he cannot reply to questions individually.

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A surprisingly low interest rate is the holy grail, and scammers know it.

Dear Tempted,

The more the scammer knows about you, the more real they appear.

Scammers prey on your fears, appeal to your compassion or tempt you with a too-good-to-be-true offer you don't want to miss. These relentless phone calls offering loans at a relatively low rate - given that the average personal-loan rate is currently around 12.5% - are part of that criminal culture. They keep calling because someone, somewhere, has figured out that this is an active number, and likely made a note on a computer file that you will answer. They will keep at it until, perhaps at a vulnerable moment, you let your guard down.

A soft credit check is a legitimate way for a potential lender to assess your eligibility, but that doesn't mean the third party requesting it is a legitimate lender. A caller may be attempting to harvest your personal information, or they may be an aggressive marketer working for a broker that has purchased your contact details. Receiving 10 calls a day is certainly cause for concern, although it doesn't prove that every caller is a scammer. Similarly, an interest rate of 8% isn't, by itself, evidence of a scam; borrowers with excellent credit may qualify for relatively low rates.

A caller may be attempting to harvest your personal information.

However, let's assume, for a moment, that you are dealing with scammers. Scam calls are a form of social engineering and rely on building trust and persuading you to engage before you have time to question their identity or motives. The person on the other end may claim to represent a bank or lender and use scripts that closely resemble those of legitimate customer-service representatives. They may create a sense of urgency, offer reassuring answers, and dangle an attractive deal to lower your guard.

There were approximately 3.8 billion robocalls made in September 2026, the majority of which were concentrated in large metropolitan areas, according to the Robocall Index. Artificial intelligence is also being used by bad actors for deepfake voice impersonations, more personalized "realistic" dialogue, and "data mashing" from various breaches to compile a hyperpersonalized profile of the would-be victim. Persistent high-volume social engineering is also cheaper and more precise than robocall scams of yore. That's a bad combination.

Criminals know people have financial problems, and that helps explain why the No. 1 reason for robocall scams is related to debt relief/loan assistance. They accounted for 27% of all scam calls last year, according to the Federal Communications Commission, ahead of insurance/healthcare, government imposters (a person purporting to be from the Internal Revenue Service, for example, claiming you haven't paid all your taxes), and credit-card offers. A surprisingly low interest rate is the holy grail, and they know it.

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FCC warning

So what do they want from a hardworking American who is minding their own business? "Robocalls may be related to student loans, mortgages, auto loans, and debt relief," the FCC says. "The caller will often demand immediate payments, or phish for personal or account information." In other words, they'll try to get you to click on a link or hand over your Social Security number, bank-account details, or other information that could give them access to your finances by offering a low-rate car loan or mortgage relief.

The FCC recently warned about a rise in scam calls claiming to offer mortgage relief. This scam, known as the "green mirage," has involved the impersonation of more than 400 mortgage institutions, and cost homeowners hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost money. They can use "ID spoofing," so the call shows on your smartphone as your trusted bank, mortgage servicer or credit union. Be wary of calling the number back or answering calls from unknown numbers. If in doubt, call the number on the back of your credit card or bank statements.

They may create a sense of urgency, offer reassuring answers.

The more you talk to them, the more likely you are to fall for it. The caller might promise a cheap loan or help with overdue payments, the FCC says. "The calls are designed to steal sensitive personal information or money by collecting 'payments' that are not applied to the victim's account. The calls may threaten foreclosure, then offer relief if the homeowner makes payments to Green Mirage's agents instead of their actual lender. The callers commonly ask the homeowner to make payments by money orders to third-party 'attorneys.'"

There's a lot you can do. The most obvious step is not to answer. Block the number. Don't press any buttons on your phone to "opt out" (as that just confirms there's a human on the other end of the line). Add your number to the National Do Not Call Registry. Registration does not expire; it's designed to stop robocalls and, while it may not stop scammers, it may help reduce the number of unsolicited calls you receive overall. Report fraudulent calls and numbers to ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FCC Complaint Center.

Another tell: When you answer, there may be an unusually long pause before the person on the other end says, "May I speak to John?" Your immediate response might be, "They know my name, so they might be real." But you've already answered, so they will make a note in the database that yours is an active number. They're banking, literally and figuratively, on you being polite. As a member of the Moneyist Facebook Group says, "My momma taught me to be polite, but these people are usually vultures. Just hang up, say nothing."

If you suspect a scammer is calling you, do nothing, say nothing.

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By emailing your questions to The Moneyist or posting your dilemmas on The Moneyist Facebook group, you agree to have them published anonymously on MarketWatch.

More columns from Quentin Fottrell:

'I don't want to die on the sales floor': I'm 67 and earn $19.50 an hour at a big-box store. When can I finally retire?

'Some people did everything right': I lost my home in the Great Recession. I rent in my 50s. Why is that judged as failure?

'People in the U.S. need to wake up': As a mortgage loan officer, I rejected applications from wealthy couples. Here's why.

Check out The Moneyist's private Facebook group, where members help answer life's thorniest money issues. Post your questions, or weigh in on the latest Moneyist columns.

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-Quentin Fottrell

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10-20-26 1225ET