Hawaii residents are being advised to exercise caution when searching for a loan through an online lender.

Consumers searching for a loan online actually may be dealing with an online lead generator that may sell the personal financial information to data brokers, according to the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Office of Consumer Protection. Data brokers then resell the information to lenders, OCP said. The lenders may use this personal information to gain access to personal checking accounts to deposit unauthorized loans and debit unauthorized fees without consent.

Last week, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acted against the Hydra Group, alleging that Hydra operates through a maze of corporate entities such as SSM Group, Hydra Financial Limited Funds, PCMO Services and Piggycash Online Holdings, created to avoid regulatory oversight.

The CFPB alleges that consumers’ trouble began after submitting sensitive, personal financial information to online lead generators that matched consumers with payday lenders. The lead generators auctioned off the information to firms that make payday loans. In some cases they sell large volumes of leads to data brokers that then resell them to lenders.

The Hydra group would buy this information, use it to access consumer checking accounts to deposit unauthorized payday loans and then begin debiting unauthorized fees.

When unsuspecting consumers complained about the unauthorized loans, they were presented with bogus documents allegedly justifying the withdrawals. If consumers closed their checking accounts to avoid the unauthorized withdrawals, Hydra may have sold the bogus debt to third-party debt collectors, who then pursued repayment of the bogus loans and charges.

For information about online lenders, visit the Federal Trade Commission website at 1.usa.gov/1ro1CTd.

Consumers can also contact OCP in Honolulu at 586-2630 with questions or visit the office’s website at cca.hawaii.gov/ocp.