I received a terribly distressing call yesterday from a man pretending to be with a a law office, telling me I was being arrested for check fraud and money laundering and that he would be filing the papers in Federal Court if I did not settle immediately out of court.
He had all of my information, social security, telephone numbers, where I bank, so it seemed official except there were nagging doubts in my mind because he didn't know what a subpeona really was when he threatened to serve one. When I questioned him, he insisted that I was not (my name) and to have her call back because he did not "hear fear in my voice."
He was very rude, spoke with a distinct, foreign accent and threatened to serve my employers with paperwork. He called me at work and on my cell phone and would not validate the debt in any way. I was away from the computer so could not verify if the loan was real or not as I had taken one out. Turns out I had and had paid it back. The one he suggested was phony. I almost threw up I was so intimidated and scared. The number was a San Francisco number and I live in Southern California.
When I got home, I found this article on West Virginia's state Attorney's site. I posted complaints to the FTC, the police, and California's state attorney's site. He said his name was David Cooper and that he was a paralegal. I listened to my message at work again today and he used a different name.
This contains info from BBB about this scam:
"http://www.thinkglink.com/article/2009/08/06/debt-collectors-scams-spre…;
This contains info from abc news:
"http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5621205"
Here is from the Attorney General in West Virginia:
http://www.wvago.gov/press.cfm?ID=444&fx=more
Please spread the word!!!
[Links deactivated as per forum rules. Thanks.]
Collection agency
Hi SCVMom,
Dealing with the collection agency (CA) is a really bad business. They generally contact debtors over the phone and harass. Most of the times they are rude and threatening. But it is better to take the calls rather than avoiding them. However, before the collector can say anything, the debtor can always calmly deal with the situation and, say that he/she is willing to pay the debt and is willing to work out a plan with them.
If the CA threatens or is rude over the phone, one can let the CA know that under the FDCPA rules this is not allowed. That if they don't stop threatening and harassing they can be sued.
Then the debtor can request for the details of the company- the name, address, phone number. The next step would be to send them a debt validation letter. After one receives the debt validation, he/she can decide whether or not he/she owes the debt. If one wants he/she can contact the original creditor(OC) and request them to pull back the account from the CA. If the OC agrees then its well and good. One can later settle the due amount with the OC. However if the OC disagrees, one can try to workout the settlement with the CA. Before settling request them for a Pay for delete agreement.
However, all these should be done through certified mail, so that one retains the proof of all the communication with the CA. One can also check about the details of the CA with the Better Business Bureau.
Not a real debt
Hi Aaron,
The debt in question was not a real debt. I had never taken out such a loan. The scare tactics were meant to frazzle the person to such a degree that they didnt even check the validity of the debt before paying it. Any valid debt can be verified with proof. The key here is that the phony collector REFUSED to validate the debt.
reply
Hi SCVMom,
If a collection agency fails to validate a debt, they must cease the collections under FDCPA rules. One can always send them a "cease-and-desist letter" after they fail to validate a debt. Even it can be mentioned that the person can sue the CA, if they fail to stop harassing the person. :)
I gave my info
I faxed them my account info but my letter was not as they had requested and they said I had to resend the letter exactly how they tel me. I thought after I gave my info to call the real office who advised me this was a scam and that the real attorney wanted to speak with me but she was out to lunch and she will call me back. When Mr. Cooper and Jack kept calling me the flag went up and I advised them I was going to call my attorney and sue them for stress and harassment for telling me I was brought up on criminal charges... (theft by deception, collateral check fraud and fraud). When I told them to buzz off they piped down and said ok and hung up. The address they gave me for their location is: 1365 Chulovista Dr Irvine Ca 92602
Orange County Ca
THE LETTER I DID NOT SEND:
Attn: Gabriel Kannoy
Sub: Payment Authorization
I Aminatou Samuel SS#9842 is making an application
to fix this issue by making the outstanding payment of
545.32 in two equal payments. The first one will be
272.56 on March 7, 2011 and the second payment on March
22,2011 from my master card listed below for
card #
name
exp
cvv
and
mailing address which the card is addressed to
and a copy of my driver's license
credit
Hello, DUMMY (of course, non of us our). What PDL did you deal with? If you (supposely) already dealt with them and received a PDL from them (sounds like you didn't, but, according to them you owe them money), they should already have all of that information in their file. Don't give anymore personal info, bank account numbers, etc. to anyone if you don't know who they are. Just curious..were you able to speak to a legitimate attorney about this issue??
Got a call this evening from these same people. After arguing with them for over 50 min then another guy got on the phone names Josh. He was the Senior member of the lawfirm. After me telling them I knew that it wasnt legitimate and discussing this with him for another 30 min he asked me if we could be friends. Asked if I was single. I told him that I thought he was just trying to have a good time on a Friday night. He said huh? I said oh yea, I guess it isnt Friday night in India? He admitted then that they were in India and admitted that it was just a call center. So I believe that this is the most ridiculous way to try to screw people out of money. Do not fall for it and stick to your guns that the info they have is not correct. Good luck getting them to leave you alone, it isnt easy!
pdl
PDL's are illegal (in most states..). They will try and get money from you any way they can..how sad for them. We all have gotten into that 'PDL cycle' at one time or another. I think PDL companies want ot be your 'best friend' and loan you money to "help you" until you have trouble paying them back and then the threats come. I've had companies call me, concerning PDL's I've gotten so many years ago. They tell me about this great "plan they have for me to pay it off". Oh please!! Don't give them any money or make any kind of arrangments with them.
pdl
Any CA collecting on a PDL (in Pennsylvania, anyway) is illegal.because PDL's in PA are illegal. they will make every threat possible to get money. Don't be fooled!! Since I went through the PDL nightmare (as I'm sure alot of people did) I did alot of research on PDL's, CA's, etc.
David Cooper
I too was called by a man with a foriegn accent. Said there were areest warrents for me in california and that I would be arrested at my job I live in north carolina. Says I defaulted on a payday loan and they files criminal charges. Had all my information. I had applied for a loan in Sept but he said this was August. I had no such loan. After going to ripoff.com I found that he had done this to others David cooper is the name he used. When I called him back to tell him I knew he was fraud He cussed me out
question
I got an email from an attonwy stating that there is an arrest notice out for me for theft by deception, collateral check fraud and violation of federal banking. I have no idea what this means ? there is no date on this paper they emailed to me and doesnt or go to jail for 5 years. There is a name and numberon the document but it is from Maryland and I LIVE IN uTAH. could this be a scam. Do they send such document theough an email? I have already aid back payday loans that i didnt ven take out bwcause i believed that i woukld go to jail and im sick of it. how do i check to see if it is legitimite?
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QmDczK I really like and appreciate your post.Thanks Again. Much obliged.