Payday lending is bad enough when it’s working like it’s supposed to. Now consider the rise of payday lending scams. Those websites and online ads you see offering payday loans may look like standard offers: You pay an upfront fee with additional fees and interest if you don’t repay the loan in full and on time.

You never get your loan. Now a stranger has your bank account information. The lender will continue to draw from your account until it’s empty.

Banks only offer traditional personal loans and they’re carefully regulated by both state and local law. They’re also bound by underwriting guidelines about whom they can lend to and for how much. Banks check your credit score for a reason when you apply for a loan – they want to know how likely it is that you’ll repay the loan.

With the recession driving consumers into financial difficulty, many consumers’ scores are still too low to get traditional bank loans when they can’t make ends meet. For that reason, some argue that banks are driving consumers into payday lending by refusing small loans to borrowers with bad credit.

But that’s is not the crucial link between banks and payday lenders. The real key is the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system. It handles direct deposits of paychecks and automatic online bill payment. It’s an important system – it makes sure your paycheck ends up in your account and that your electric bill always gets paid.

However, banks allow payday lenders to take their fees from consumers’ accounts using the ACH system, even if the payday loans in question are scams. The automation that makes the ACH so useful is dangerous to consumers who have given out their bank account information to bad actors.

How Can Predatory California Payday Loans Be Stopped?

Because of how abusive payday lenders have been in the past, several efforts are now underway to further regulate them or hold them accountable for their ill-gotten gains.

First, some borrowers are bringing suit against payday lenders. But that tactic has some flaws. Lawsuits are expensive and take time, which consumers who take out payday loans probably don’t have. And scam payday lenders often use temporary websites and route the transactions through intermediaries, making it very difficult to track down the culprit at all.

So, lawmakers and regulators are also stepping into the fight, pressuring both payday lending as a practice and banks as the facilitators of abuse. Likely, this will be the only way such practices can be reined in.

Alternatives to California Payday Loans

If you’ve tried and failed to get a loan from your bank or credit union, you still have better options than California payday loans. You can reach out to family and friends for a small loan. Speak to your employer about an advance.

Your credit card provider may offer cash advances – they have high interest rates, but nowhere near as high as those of payday lenders. Cash advances have an additional advantage over payday loans – they’re highly regulated and you’ll have the full protection of the law. (But be careful-cash advances are often as big a mistake as payday loans.)

If none of these options works for you, there are various government programs that can help you with a temporary cash shortage. Check out the California Department of Social Services website for a list of cash assistance programs.

You need cash, not a hassle. Payday loans aren’t the way to deal with financial difficulty. They won’t help you out of debt – they’ll just push you farther into it.