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Alex Vilk, the so called national sales manager of Lifeguard Financial Debt Settlement Company is widely known as the Devil's Life Coach - evil, cocky and ready to steal your money. I was hired to work at Lifeguard Financial in NYC and you wouldn't believe what this guy wanted us to do.
The leads lifeguard sells to all its offices for 22 cents each (real cost 11 cents), display the last 4 digits of the prospective clients social security number and to get the first 5 digits from the client, Alex Vilk states that we must say this (also see their scanned scripts below);
"Mr./Mrs. Smith, in order to verify who I'm speaking with, can you verify your social security number that ends with 5443 for instance (whatever the lead says)
As you can see, the client is being lead to believe that they already have their entire social security number.
Isn't that called FRAUD ? This guy Alex Vilk is the quintessential cold caller from hell and worse, he teaches other desperate sales people to get on the phones and do the same.
It's no wonder that Lifeguard Financial is no longer offering debt settlement in New York and many other states now that the FEDS and FTC are onto them.
Way to go Alex - Way to hurt people for a living, so you aren't broke.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
If anyone is still looking for Alex Vilk and his boss Marcos from Lifeguard Financial, I have his information, Facebook page and his current project that he is working on. His facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/AlexVilk2016?fref=ts
I also attached a photo of Marcos who was his boss at Lifeguard Financial
i was called from a lawyer representing lifeguard financial, stating that he knew of the problems i had in the past with lifeguard and he was sending my refund to me that lifeguard took from me, that was back in october never recieve anything, the email he sent was erased from, dont know how to get in touch with anyone, but it was wrong how lifeguard took my hard earned money, and didnt do anything for me, i had to filed bankruptcy. Geneva Hamilton
STAY AWAY FROM UP-FRONT FEE SETTLEMENT COMPANIES: When searching a debt relief company to work with always look at their fee structure. If they charge anything up-front or charge monthly dues, it's better to stay away. Settlement companies should only charge a fee once a settlement has been finalized by the debt agency and the client's creditor. They should also charge minimal fees based on what they save their clients. www.personalcreditsolution.com operates with this fair fee structure and offers a full satisfaction guarantee to each of their clients. Remember, there are honest settlement companies out there...you just have to do your homework and see what you're really paying for their service. Contact Personal Credit Solution as they offer a free unbiased consultation to all their clients. They also inform clients of all the debt relief options out there, so that their clients are fully informed of their options. www.personalcreditsolution.com [protected]
NoteWorld Servicing Center is one of the largest third-party payment servicers in the nation for seller finance notes and a leader in debt settlement payment servicing. In business for nearly 30 years, NoteWorld is committed to outstanding customer service, and offering the best products and services available to meet its customers’ needs. As a third-party payment servicer, NoteWorld is not responsible for negotiating settlements with your creditors because it is not a debt settlement company (DSC). NoteWorld processes payments according to the written contract entered into by you with your DSC and offers you, who chose to use a DSC, a payment option for the safe and secure handling of the money you voluntarily committed for the purpose of paying your debts.
When a consumer contracts with a DSC for help paying down debt, they will also sign a agreement authorizing a separate payment servicing company (in this case, NoteWorld) to withdraw a specific sum of money from their bank account each month. This is a separate agreement that allows NoteWorld (or other payment servicing company) to make electronic withdrawals from the consumer’s bank account to satisfy the amounts payable under the terms of the contract with their DSC. NoteWorld follows the instructions stated in the NoteWorld contract and at no time acts without authorization from the consumer. By selecting NoteWorld for payment processing, consumers are assured their money is being handled by an objective third party who is not involved in negotiating settlements with creditors. NoteWorld provides its services to consumers for a nominal fee of not more than $12.50 per month. NoteWorld is not responsible for any fees charged by the DSC.
If at any time a consumer no longer wants to use NoteWorld’s services, they may opt-out of the NoteWorld contract by notifying NoteWorld. When NoteWorld receives this notification, the consumer’s NoteWorld account is closed and all remaining funds, if any, held by NoteWorld are remitted back to the consumer within two (2) business days. Again, NoteWorld is not responsible for any fees charged by the DSC that the consumer separately agreed to pay. At all times, NoteWorld takes on the payment servicing obligations as an independent and objective company and does not act at the direction of the DSC.
I hope this explanation has helped you to understand NoteWorld’s services and obligations. If you would like to contact us directly, we would be happy to address any specific concerns you might have about the way NoteWorld has handled your money or provide you with a full accounting of the monies received by you and disbursed on your behalf. For more information on NoteWorld, our licenses, policies, procedures or services, please visit our website at www.noteworld.com.
Lifeguard Fiancial is a fraud. They make claims that they can settle your debt for 50 cents on the dollar of your debt. They claim that they neogiate your debt with your creditors, a lie. The client does all the work contacting the creditors that Lifeguard is handling the clients debt. Lifeguard takes monthly payments from your checking account through a escrow agent, namely Noteworld. The problem is most of all of your payments through Noteworld go back to Lifeguard Financial as fees leaving little funds to accumulate to go towards the settlement with the creditors. I was in this program almost a year and found that little amount of my monthly payments were accumulating towards settlement. In another instance, I was threated with a lawsuit from one of my creditors, I was told by their legal department to respond to the court clerk sending me notice of the potential lawsuit which I also had to copy to the plaintiffs attorneys. Lifeguard is of no help. In additon the creditors explained to me that they refuse to deal with Lifeguard Financial. So what does that tell you. I will file a complaint with Florida's attorney general. I don't think that contacting BBB will get anywhere. I cancelled my contract with Lifeguard Financial and expected a cordial converstation and that they will refund of my monies that I paid them. Instead I got this "pitbull" whose name is "Robert" on the telephone that started screaming at me about cancelling the contract with threats of suing me. I ended up screaming back at him, needless to say at this point I out several thousand dollars. If there is a class action suit, I want to be part of it.
Check out FAST Debt Advisors, LLC. Very ethical and caring company. [protected] or www.fastdebtadvisors.com
I was taken by this company as well. I paid them $3200 over an 8 month period, and not one of my creditors was paid a dime. After being sued by 2 credit companies, I was forced to file for bankruptcy. A letter was sent to Lifeguard to stop taking money from my account. They took money from my account without permission and my bank stopped payment on it before they could get it. My bank also blocked them from being able to take money. My lawyer sent a letter requesting my money back, but that has not happened, and I am not sure it ever will.
Just this week, this company Noteworld, which I have seen mentioned, withdrew money from my account for LIfeguard without my permission. I contacted my bank and they are disputing the withdraw. I then contacted Noteworld, they closed the illegal account and are refunding the amount they still had after sending some off to Lifeguard. I now have to contact Lifeguard in hopes of getting back the remainder of this current money they took.
I will be contacting the BBB as well as the Attorney General's office to report this. I can't believe that this is able to go on. How is it that this kind of illegal business has not been shut down or sued. If there is a lawsuit, please count me in on it. Because of them and their lies, my credit life is beyond repair.
I was so desperate I signed up with lifeguard last March...after making 8 payments of $264.84, there is
$472.86 in my "reserve" balance. The rest is in the setup fee balance and the maintnance fee balance. Let me tell you, they have done absolutely nothing for me, except let me rack up, overlimit fee/late fee after fee after fee, for the last nine months as they specifically told me to pay nothing on my credit cards. Beings that I had 6 credit cards that I couldn't keep up with in the first place (mainly due to high interest), now I have all those fees to pay for too.
I was sketchy all along. I should've trusted my instincts. I contacted noteworld and they closed my account, supposedly I will be getting my $472.86, I will be contacting the attorney general- maybe I can get some of my other money back. SO far, I have contacted two of the credit card companies and they told me they do not do business with lifeguard...that's funny because Lifeguard had told me that they received offers from ALL of my cards. It would take a long time to pay anything off since I've only accumulated $472.86 in 11 months.
If you have an account with Lifeguard, I recommend Closing your account with noteworld and handling this on your own.. I have not closed it with Lifeguard yet because in the contract it says that they will charge me $399.00 to get out of it. At least closing it with noteworld it said nothing else would be debited out of my account. It was brought to my attention that Lifeguard is being sued? so I want to get as much info and contact the attorney general before contacting them again.
If you are thinking about going with a debt settlement company- really think it through, do research, don't do any sudden acts out of desperation. I did this thinking I could cancel and I just got the runaround, and decided to hold on to hope that it would work out.
in the Summer of 2009 Will Dart and Eric Arlt @ Lifeguard Financial Branch in Charlevoix, Michigan hired phone sales people to work on a straight commission basis.
Branch Location: Lifeguard Financial
206 Bridge Street
Charlevoix, MI 49720
Phones: 231.237.0600 and 877.434.1036
Will Dart x 104, Eric AUlt x 122
Faxes: 231.237.0402 and 248.786.6964
Website address: http://ez1debtfree.com/
Email: wdart@ez1debtfree.com and earlt@ez1debtfree.com
Main Office: Lifeguard Financial (name changed to Safe Trust Financial on 09/17/2009)
4 West Las Olas Blvd 4th Floor
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phones: 954.376.4790 and 954.495.2044
Client Services / Phone: 888.333.3860
Faxes: 954.524.2441, 866.954.3782, 866.9LGSVCS
Website: lgf101.com
Eric Arlt is also the President of a company called "I Tradirect Com Corp"
with office located at the same above address in Charlevoix, MI
and Eric is the Chairman of the Board of same company name with an office located at:
I Tradirect Com Corp
5340 N Federal Hwy, Ste 106
Lighthouse Point, FL [protected]
Typical activity of the managers in the office consisted of:
Drinking Beer During Working Hours
Coming in after 10 AM
Going to long lunches daily
Knocking off at 2 PM to go golfing
Very little work, and no good examples set for the other employees
In September 2009 the following email was sent to the employees:
from Will Dart
to all employees
date Thu, Sep 17, 2009
subject LGF has been sold
Hey everybody,
Just to inform everybody at one time, Lifeguard Financial has been sold to an attorney group. We are now going by Safe Trust Financial. STF has sent a required pitch that we must use on all calls. Take a look at it and start working with it a little bit over the next few days. I imagine it will be changing again soon:)
If you have any questions, give me a call [protected].
I am working on getting a version of the contract sent over for faxing or mailing. I should be able to get it out to each of you shortly...maybe...it doesn't really involve my doing though, so it could take weeks:)
New leads were loaded today. I apologize for the delay, but my cell phone is having issues delivering emails that I was unaware of. No wonder I don't get answers back eh?
If nothing else, you are always more than welcome to give me a call and let me know if you are running into trouble with rebuttals, explaining different procedures, or just don't know what to try next. The sale of LGF goes through on October 1st and I have been told that we will now be able to sell our product in all 50 states, so there will be new lead opportunities that I will want to pursue and hopefully it will give us a chance to get back into Wisconisin, Virginia, and a couple of others.
Thanks,
Will
Here is the Required Pitch attached to the above email...
SAFETRUST FINANCIAL PROGRAM PRESENTATION
Hello ______________! (Always assume it’s the person) This is __________ from SafeTrust Financial. How are you doing today? The reason for my call is I received your file earlier today from my upper management here at SafeTrust Financial due to a high amount of ________ (Use exact debt amount) and a credit score of _____. What I need you to do is grab a pen and a piece of paper. I’ll be brief on the information that I show here.
My job is to provide you with a program that may get you completely debt free in 1-3 yrs. I see here you are paying ________ each month for your unsecured debt now! (Refer to you savings calculator 3%) Do you have a pen? (Wait for a response) Your file is showing an unsecured debt amount of ________ (use exact debt) That can be credit cards, personal loans, medical bills, or collection accounts. We work with one of the first true groups of attorneys who can potentially negotiate your debt down to .55 cents on the dollar. So when you enroll with SafeTrust your debt may become approximately ____________. We back our program with up to 60 hours of representation by our attorneys.
If I were to put you into a ________ month program, your new monthly payment with all your fees included will be ________. That is what you would pay every month with no hidden fees of any kind. (Wait to see what the response is, then adjust until they are comfortable with payment. After the payment is decided on, go over how much you’re going to save them on overall debt, and how much you’re going to save them every month. (Either continue or go to close). To continue: Review the two tracks based on their needs 1) Providing more disposable income per month which would allow the benefit of having more to work with per month 2) Paying quicker at around the same rate they are paying currently to be debt free faster usually within 12-18 month terms).
In order for us to determine the exact amount of your current debt and how much each creditor shows as far as total balance, monthly minimums and whether it’s delinquent, is to have you pull your creditor statements. That will allow me to do a full analytical review of your finances and how much we can save you on each account individually. Go ahead and grab those statements and I will open my Finance Calculator for review. It takes about 20 minutes to review the documents and send you out the Packet in the mail. I’ll share with you everything that’s on your Financial Review Form at no cost to you for Free Consultation. We’ll list the various accounts, arrive at a total, I’ll advise you of the amount we can settle them for and we’ll come up
2
with an affordable, interest-free monthly payment that may eliminate all that debt and bring your credit score back up.
[Grab Statements]
DSP Fill out- with Financial Review Form
Is your current address…..?
And your phone number is…
What’s your date of birth?
Your social will not be needed unless we get to the point that I send you the paperwork….to protect your identity you would only give your Social Security No. at the end once we have gone through all the other steps.
Assume the sale: “Which creditor do you owe the largest amount to?” Are you finding your statements?
(Make a decision)
Either try to close it or
Say while I’m drafting your Financial Review Form as a convenience to you we set up an automatic withdrawal from your checking or saving acct. and we let you pick the date that’s most convenient for you prior to the end of this month. In the mean time think of what day you want your payment pulled this month, and have your account information available.
(NO CALL BACK Unless they don’t have their statements available)
Call the customer back and ask:
1. Who the creditor is
2. What type of account it is
3. What the total balance is – Write up the breakdown of the Financial Review Form
4. What the monthly minimum payment is
5. Mention is it is delinquent 30 or more days
6. Do they want to include it in the settlement
3
Be interactive with them and let them begin to understand that these bills will go away. After you and the customer have determined which accounts need to be settled:
(Make sure the customer has a pen and is writing down all this information)
1. Read them back with each amount
2. Total them
3. State the settled amount
4. State the amount of monthly payment options as well as the total savings, each account savings and if possible, an average of 18% Interest Accumulation over the time period they are in program
CLOSE
As a convenience to you, we set up an automatic withdrawal from your checking or saving account as we let you pick the date that’s most convenient for you. What day of the month do you want to set your first payment up for? (Get payment in the same month explaining that if they wait until the next month, there will be accrued interest that will hit their accounts. Anything over $10, 000 would be a few hundred dollar savings just for getting started). What I need you to do is grab your check book, you’re going to void out the first check for your own records. Who do you do your banking with __________________ and the RT No. is ___________________ and the Acct No. is ____________________, and the next check number __________. Keep in mind the payment will come out the same day every month, which is recommended. To get started we need the FIRST and LAST payment upfront, which will drop your ____ month program to a ______ month program. So the total amount of the first payment is ________, and after that every month will be ___________. So congratulations, I would like to be the 1st to welcome you to the program. (Refer to DSP APPLICATION; make sure its filled out completely).
Yes I hate this company, today after giving them 5 payments...I cancelled...I am getting back hopefully my reserves and I am fighting them for the money I gave them in fees.
I do not agree with that they get to keep all the money cause they did NOTHING! You only pay someone when they do / finish a job for you...
If you signed with them...LEAVE and hopefully get your money back.
If someone will initiate a class action suit against this company - count me in.
The FBI must be really busy, as Alex Vilk and his debt settlement offices around the Country are lying to consumers by calling them to get their business and taking their money - HELLO? How can you let this go on? ALEX VILK - thief, money launderer, tax evader. Does anyone else know this goon?
They're not LGF, but two of the offices still say Lifeguard on Google. One of your guys came up with the lamest excuse trying to explain that. The checks still say Lifeguard, and you were so sloppy that you even left the Safetrust name in the training module as of November 2009! Those documents have already been loaded and can be seen here-Lifeguard Financial — Are They Going Out of Business Now?
Lifeguard / Safetrust is located in Florida -
4 West Las Olas Blvd
Fort Lauderdale
Florida 33301
National Debt Relief is not lifeguard financial
The office on 52 Street is actually 263 52nd St, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn NY. Here's another page you can check out for more info on these ghouls
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/settlement/lifeguardfinancial-12.html
Lifeguard Financial is now the National Debt Relief Group. Their new headquarters are at 2502 86 Street, Brooklyn NY 11214. There are also additional offices located at 714 3rd Ave, Brooklyn NY, and 252 52 Street, Brooklyn NY. The new website is www.nationalrelief.com They've set up shop not too long ago, and unopened boxes can still be seen at the 86 St location, which was formerly a Sprint office.
I was an employee there until I found that these guys were crooks. Sensitive information was seen lying around the office, such as credit reports. The office located at 252 52 Street is in a shady, run-down building in a desolate area of Brooklyn. The scripts were given out in the office had a name crossed out, and later i found out why. It used to say Lifeguard Financial! How did I know? These guys actually left some Lifeguard Financial manuals lying around the office, and it was from there that I compared the two scripts. That is what also lead me to investigating the company. From there, I found a myriad of complaints about Lifeguard, and people asking, "where did they go?" Well, the answer is clear now, folks. These vampires have moved, and when the heat turns up in a few months, the process will just repeat itself.
The debt settlement industry is a shady business, and complete unnecessary. You can negotiate with your creditors on your own, and most companies don't give any special concessions to debt settlement companies. While working at National Debt Relief Group, I spoke with many people who said they saved 4o or 50 percent while working with the creditors on their own. If a debt settlement company calls, HANG UP THE PHONE! If not, you'll just end up making a bad situation even worse
What will it take for these guys to be busted? The entire debt settlement industry is unregulated, which allows ### like these to run wild. Can somebody please do something about this?
What has happen since? have you tried to cancel the contract? I have been stuck with them since 4 payments and I am afraid of the same thing. I have other people calling about debt solutions but i dont know if I can get my money back too...
I hate this, people in this world are stupid losers taking advanage of our luck...
Please if you or anyone have any stories about getting out please post.
I am sure now I have fallen for this scam as well. When I was first considering it, I went on to the BBB website and it said B+, maybe it was just when they changed names the first time. Anyway, I am freaking out. I am a college student, struggling to make even these payments, alone and scared.
I do not know what I should do at this point. Call the police? Should I attempt to get my money back/cancel with them? I really just dont know what to do right now. I called my credit card company in tears, but they can't help me.
Please if anyone has any advice for me, please..
Thank you
BEWARE:
Lifeguard Financial is now SafeTrust Financial - These scam artists just switched their name from Lifeguard Financial to Safe Trust Financial because of being barred from all the States for multiple complaints.
Their new website still says Lifeguard Financial on the top left header - fools.
Can you say - dumb thieves just won't stop!
Alex Vilk - National Sales Director and Safe Trust Financial are your new team of Con-Artists moving from one roach motel to another.
BEWARE - http://www.myfinancialsolution.org is the NEW - FAKE Website for Lifeguard Financial which is now SafeTrust Financial.
These are the same people with the same complaints and legal problems for bilking their clients out of their money.
Do not accept calls from SafeTrust Financial - they're trained phone terrorists pitching debt settlement, but they're really just going to take your money. If you get a call and they say they're calling with Safe Trust Financial; hang up.
This company is already on the radar of the Attorney General's of each State and soon will have to find another way to con you.
It's tough out their folks, so hold on to your wallets and make sure these people meet Justice head on!
Thanks for all your help in identifying Alex Vilk as he builds more rat traps.
We were scammed as well. Lifeguard never contacted any of the companies who we had debts with. their payment processor company Noteworld Servicing Center refused to take any action or return our funds. They said they would only email Lifeguard and would not do anything about the fraud involved. We have reported both of them to the Better Business Bureau.
I heard Alex is now moving on to some colon cleaning scam. lol
Met the guy in FL at the Company conference, what an ###.
He wanted to show me his new watch, as if I gave a ###.
Can you say insecure Alex?
Lifeguard Financial now has an "NR" - No Rating as listed on the BBB Site.
A business may receive an “NR” (No Rating) instead of a rating under the following circumstances:
* BBB has determined business is no longer operating
* Business has filed to dissolve business in bankruptcy
* BBB has recently received numerous or serious complaints about business but BBB has not had sufficient time to receive and assess business’ response to those complaints
* Type of business is not appropriate for BBB rating
* BBB thresholds for report development have not been met
WOW
Have you made a police report? I was ripped off also by them. I was first dealing with Xtra financial (Hugh Obrien then changed to Life Guard Financial and then Quantum Loss Mitigation ( Joseph and Scott McIlvaine). You can contact the police department at [protected], Please also file a complaint with the BBB and Attorney Generals Office. Contact me if you need assistance.
Susan
Indeed it is a very unfortuate situation when a debt settlement company steals money from those who are in need of financial relief. I am a C.E.O. and owner of an ethical debt settlement company. So here is my advise! When seeking a third party to handle your debts please do the following. 1) Check the number of complaints on the B.B.B. 2) Verify that they are members of the U.S.O.B.A. or T.A.S.C. 3) Check if they are members of the I.A.P.D.A. and 4) Find out if they offer a money back guarantee. Here at Manageable Debt Solutions, Inc. we comply with all of the above. Our money back guarantee ensures that if we don't save you money we don't make any. So please do your research because we are one of the five companies that actually offer such a guarantee out of thousands of debt settlement companies. Also, when checking a B.B.B. rating only pay attention to the number of complaints. The reason for this is because the B.B.B. automaticaly rates all debt settlement companies with low rating due to the practices like those above. The true way to rank a B.B.B. listing is by the number of complaints. Also, debt settlement isn't for everyone so make sure your debt settlement company properly qualifies you. Otherwise, you may be put in a worse position than where you started. With MDS we explain everything simply and upfront. No hidden information or charges. So try us out and give on of our Debt Specialists a call. To get our number just google our name and visit our website. If you'd like feel free to ask for me personaly. If I am available I will be more than glad to assist you with your financial hardship. If not I can assure one of my agents will be more than glad to help you out. I wish you and your family the best of luck with your financial situation and hope you choose the right company. Best regards, Ricky Lopez.
I think the word their using nowadays is - hated; right Alex?