Newsroom Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Pioneer Services reminds public about collections scam
Scam artists misuse corporate name to defraud consumers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Aug 24, 2011) Pioneer Services, the Military Division of MidCountry Bank, is reminding consumers of a collections scam that misuses the company's name. The scammers call consumers, claim to be from Pioneer Services, and begin to demand payment in a very aggressive fashion. And in almost every case the caller has also been verbally abusive to the customer. A similar scam has led to a consumer alert from the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, as well as from attorneys general in several states.

Pioneer Services is not originating these calls and continues investigating this hoax.

The company asks that anyone who has received one of these calls, or has even fallen victim, to take three simple steps:

    1. Gather as much information as possible about the call, such as the phone number, the time of the call, any name provided, etc.

    2. Contact your state attorney general's fraud hotline to report the incident. This can usually be done online, but can also be done over the phone in most states.

    3. Go to the Federal Trade Commission's site at www.FTC.gov/ and complete a short form about the call.

"Pioneer Services has an 80-year track record of ethical business practices, and has received several Better Business Bureau Torch Awards for marketplace ethics," said Karen Von Der Bruegge, chief marketing and retail operations officer for Pioneer Services. "While we're not the first or only company to have its good name exploited, we're definitely going to do all we can to stop those who would use our reputation to try and take advantage of military families."

Pioneer Services, the military banking division of MidCountry Bank, provides financial services and education to members of the Armed Forces. For 25 years, Pioneer Services has been a leader in military lending, offering military loans, retail lending, VA loans, Certificates of Deposit, and award-winning financial education programs through a network of offices and on the Internet. Pioneer Services is proud to support military families and communities through a variety of partnerships, programs, and sponsorships.

For more information visit www.PioneerServices.com. For loan information, visit PioneerMilitaryLoans.com.

###

Scott Cahill
Public Relations, Pioneer Services
media@pioneerservices.com
ph: 816-448-2300
fax: 816-561-9333


All loan applications subject to our credit policies. No official US military endorsement is implied. MidCountry Bank is a member FDIC.


###
Share
###

You can also visit our press kit for more information about who we are and how we serve those in uniform.

Members of the media - please visit Pioneer Services' media page.

The timing of these postings is made at the discretion of Pioneer Services. Readers should not assume that the information contained on this site has been updated or otherwise contains current information. Pioneer Services does not review past postings to determine whether they remain accurate, and information contained in such postings may have been superseded.