Posted on: Saturday, July 10, 2004

BUSINESS BRIEFS
Loan firm's ads part of scam

The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is warning consumers not to do business with a loan company calling itself Direct Finance Co.

The company is advertising in newspapers around the country and purports to be a loan company operating out of Maine. But the firm, which asks loan applicants for hundreds of dollars up front, appears to be a "a scam operating out of Canada," the DCCA said in a press release. Regulators in Maine say they've been flooded with calls from as far away as Hawai'i and Texas from consumers who responded to the ads.

HVCB group at 2 trade shows

A delegation from the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and its industry partners will travel to two key Mainland trade shows this month.

The HVCB will host a Hawai'i trade-show exhibit July 12 and 13 at the Meeting World Grand Central in New York City. That will be followed by a stop July 25 to 27 at the Meeting Professionals International 2004 World Education Congress in Denver.