its called an Advance Fee Loan scam - they count on people to NOT KNOW and NOT CHECK that requiring payment upfront is ILLEGAL.  They prey on those with bad credit and badly need money.  

ALSO WIRING MONEY IS A HUGE RED FLAG -NEVER WIRE MONEY TO ANYONE YOU DO NOT   KNOW!  When you wire money - you can never it get it back

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION WEBSITE HAS CONSUMER PROTECTION INFORMATION
Includes info on most of the scams out there.  

Advance-Fee Loan Scams: ?Easy? Cash Offers Teach Hard Lessons
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/telemarketing/tel16.shtm

Just When You Thought It Was Safe...Advance-Fee Loan "Sharks"
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt028.shtm


ALSO 800notes covers this same scam in
16 Ways you can be phone scammed.
http://800notes.com/articles/Article.aspx/LFRVNXyqwQBNrAjLF8wQyg

was contacted by a Jamie Grant from a company called Weston Lending and said i was approved for a loan for $5k but i needed to make the first five payments. like a sucker i did when i asked where is my money they said that thier employer needed more down payment, thats when i knew i had been scammed. don't do anything with a guy named Jamie Grant or Paul Cook from Weston Lending

someone from this number keeps calling me saying that I applied for a loan.