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I have not done business with that firm, and cannot say whether the company is legitimate or not. There have been at least two posts in this community by members who indicated that they represented that firm. Neither provided any information in their profiles, and both provided Yahoo e-mail addresses in the posts. The company only seems to have a "presence" in business and social networking sites like this one. Does that mean the company is not legitimate? Not necessarily, but consider this:

Doesn't it seem likely that a legitimate lender would provide potential customers with every possible way to get in contact, and that the institution would have its own Internet domain? Isn't is common practice for a bank or lending institution to insist that all on-line financial services inquiries and transactions be processed through that domain on a secure site (rather than sent unencrypted to an employee at a personal address)? If you were a government regulator or a stockholder in a bank, wouldn't you see a problem if this was the institution's standard business practice? I would not send my personal information to my best friend via non-secure e-mail -- there are just too many ways for it to be exploited. In other words, whether or not the institution you named is legitimate or not doesn't necessarily preclude this from being a scam.

I hope this helps. If you find out anything else, be sure to post it. Thanks, and best wishes.

Lighthouse thank you for your input. It was not perceived as being condescending. I have come to the conclusion that it is a scam. I told the individual I was skeptical about sending my personal information and this was their response. . .

On Tue, Mar 4, 2008 at 12:33 PM, Terry Ballack <petersoninvestmentloans@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hello,
I got your email. I dont know how to explian this to you but you make me think i should stop this transaction but i can see it in your face that you need this loan for real and i am ready to do all possible best to make sure you get this loan.
This was the reason why the World Loan Coporation said when loaning out, there must be a collateral to be putted down but not all people have collaterals to deposit then there was another option that requires a deposit of payment.
I am not taking your money but it is an envidience that you loaned from my company so that if you are unable to pay back, i can use that payment as a prove that yes you ask for a loan then also showing the western union slip which has your name on it.
God knows i was surprised to receive such an email from you. This is an international business loan transaction, it is been full of doubts and mistrustful. I am a christian, so I believe you are too. I understand that you are trying to protect your self from been scammed. But this is quite unfortunate that you are ignorant about the fact that out of every there must be a Judas.
Just make the payment, and I assure you that you will receive this loan. If I were you, I will take this fee to be a challenge. If you should take this fee you are about to pay to be a challenge to you, it then means that you will receive this loan. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he lies in times of comfort, but where he stands in times of controversy and preasure. Believe in me, I assure you that you will receive this loan as soon as you make this payment.I want you to believe that you will get this loan. I told you before, i have tasted the bitter side of life so i will never want to hurt others.
The reason why i am taking this pain to explain this to you is because the idea of a good business man and woman is to make clients good friends to enable them come next time when they need help which means winning them for future use. The thing is that i will not force anyone to do business with me.
I will not force you to do business with me but if in your next email you still want me to stop this transaction, then i can do that.
I will be expecting your email.
Mr Terry Ballack

Asking for money via Western Union is one of the first clues that this is a scam. The Yahoo email address is another clue, being from a foreign country rings a bell or two. And while there are those who may disagree with me, his poor command of English is another clue. Add it all up and is spells scam in my humble opinion.
Send him the money and you'll never hear from him again.

Keep your money in your pocket! This is a scam.

One of the first ways to determine whether or not you are going to be scammed is to look at the spelling, grammar and capital letter usage. If a post, email or advertisement does not pass that first test...I consider it a scam.

Apple, if you have read any of the nigerian scam emails you should notice that there is distinct confusion with the writers concerning the placement of pronouns, modifiers, verbs and adjectives. This comes from the fact that many in Africa speak French (sorry Nat) in addition to their native languages. When reading a post from someone who speaks French and English placement of these is easily noted, however adding a third language to the mix makes things really interesting. It is this 'interesting' factor that points to these scams.

Further proof of what scumbags these people are.