Phone Call To Homeowner Behind On House Payments Purporting To Be From Mortgage Company Demanding Immediate Payment Of Several Hundred Dollars Under Threat Of Foreclosure A Scam

In Cleveland, Ohio, WKYC-TV Channel 3 reports:

• A Cleveland man recently picked up the phone from a caller claiming to be a loan officer from a mortgage company, who said the local homeowner would face foreclosure unless he wired hundreds of dollars to a California address.
  
  The local resident said he was behind on his mortgage payments, so he immediately sent the money.
  
  But after later contacting his financial institution to confirm the payment, he learned the initial call he received was a fraud.
  
  The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to be on the lookout for those types of phone scams. The BBB said con artists typically target homeowners already on the brink of falling into foreclosure.
  
  "Never agree to make any sort of payment before you verify the call is from your lender," BBB president Sue McConnell said in a statement. "People at risk for losing their homes cannot afford to fall into the hands of con artists."

Source: Cleveland man hit in phone scam, how to protect yourself.