888-711-7577

Caller  stated that there was a problem with Social Security information and needed to verify ss number.

Did you ever speak to them and what did they say?

First call showed as unregistered this morning, caller identified himself as an attorney but would not repeat his name nor give his firm. Told him I was not the individual he was looking for, refused to provide personal information asked for, then asked him not to call back and hung up. Phone rang again, again showing as unregistered so I did not answer. It rang a third time, showing once more as unregistered and caller left message stating again he was an attorney and I was being named as a defendant in a case filed in Alachua County, FL. I checked the case number with the Alachua County database and no file was found. He left the number 888-711-7577 asking that his call be returned. A fourth call came in this afternoon, this time showing as 888-711-7577 (I did not answer and have not listened to the message since this is a cell number he is calling.)

The caller called my home and told my son he was from the county courthouse, and his name was Mr. Gilbert, and left this # (888) 711-7577. I called the number, and the receptionist answered “CMG can I help you”. When I asked her if she said CNG or CMG, she got very short with me. When I finally got Mr. Gilbert on the phone he asked my name, and said there was a problem with one of my credit cards, and gave the last four digits of some social security number (not mine), as if to prompt me to give him some information on my card. He said he was in Buffalo New York, and was just checking on some problem with a Wells Fargo credit card. He did not seem nerves, he was not mean, and he sounded like he was in his 50s. I could hear work going on in the background, like it was a very busy office.I believe it was a collection agency, I have no proof, I just believe that.

I have a message leaving this number. Trying to reach person not now nor has ever been at my number(my mother in law)in reference to US code title 15 forwarded to Marion County. Said it was required that she return the call within 48 hours to avoid further activity in accordance with federal and state statute. Did not leave a name only the number and a case number. Sounded very stern and grumpy.

you will get sued--they served my sister

What is US code title 15 .  Is taht what they served her with.....

IN ALL SERIOUSNESS IF I WOULD NOT HAVE REVIECED THE CALL FROM CNG I WOULD STILL BE ON MY WAY TO A HALF MILLION DOLLAR JUDGEMENT ... WHOEVER YOU PEOPLE ARE JUST CANT GET IT IN YOUR HEADS THAT SOMETIMES YOU JUST GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO BITE THE BULLET AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES.... AND FOR PO'D ... ? WHATS YOUR PROBLEM YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN PLACE BLAME ON SOMEONE WHO CALLED THE WRONG NUMBER ? ... DOESNT MAKE MUCH SENSE ... ESPECIALLY WHEN SOME OF YOU ARE FEW AMONG MANY THAT DO NOT TAKE CARE OF THE RESPONSIBILITY YOU HAVE TO PAY BACK YOUR BILL? ...OUR COUNTRY IS IN A BAD STATE RIGHT NOW AND IT HAS GREAT PART TO DO WITH BAD DEBT ... ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY

Well, well, well!!!!! Look who's back berating the very people he's trying to rip off! You really need to change your writing style and stop using the same phrases that you used on the CMC Recovery-Claims America-RSI message threads when you pretended to be someone who dealt with those so-called companies. You are easy to spot! In all seriousness, it sounds like some con artists just changed "CMC Recovery" to "CMG Recovery", filed as an LLC in New York on March 28, 2008, registered a website domain on March 31, 2008 and resumed the same old debt collection scam, and are already being sued in federal district court. --->  O'Rourke v. CMG Recovery Services, LLC filed on June 17, 2008.  That didn't take long!! I don't know too many business that get sued with a few months of their creation.  I may be wrong about all this, of course.  But if I am right, does this mean you will be closing down your HUGE pretend office in Snellville, Georgia? LMAO!!!!

Hey folks-if you receive calls from these clowns, don't believe a word they say. It's against the law for a debt collector to impersonate court officials or police, or to threaten you with lawsuits or to fail to identify themselves, or to make any other bogus threats.  The key thing is to demand that they validate the debt in writing. If they can't, you don't pay.  Keep this in mind-if the debt was for real, con artists like this wouldn't feel the need to make bogus and illegal threats.  Best thing to do is report crooked operations like this to the attorney general of NY, the federal trade commission and, most fun of all, the fbi. Just google those government names to find out how to contact them.

I've just now got off the phone with "Sal" (in another call, a co-worker referred to him as "Mr. Salvatore") and he's not happy. Today was my deadline to make a decision regarding how to pay a debt of some $5,000 that they claim I owe. The decision was that I didn't believe the debt existed and so I would not be sending them any money.

I pride myself on being an honest person and I have to say that I think these guys are very good at what they do. They never set themselves up as my adversaries. In fact, their approach of "we're here to help you resolve this matter once and for all" was so persuasive that (I almost hate to admit this) as of a couple of days ago, I had decided to send them a check for the reduced rate of a one-time payment of $1,900. Why? Well, $1,900 is obviously better than $5,000. So why am I not sending that check? Zero dollars is better than $1,900, and that is the figure I believe I owe.

Now, $1,900 may not be a huge sum to many people but the fact of the matter is that I'm an older guy living under the poverty line. I'm not proud of this, but there you have it. Further, I am facing some medical situations that may prove to be extremely burdensome financially. All this and yet I was still just about ready to write the check. And where would the money come from? Once a year, I deposit a substantial (for me) sum of money into a savings plan devoted to my grandchildren's education. I was going to have to basically rob them this time around AND put off getting some much needed car repairs AND put off paying electric and water bills until they were some 45-60 days overdue AND live on PB&J sandwhiches for two months AND pray that no unexpected bills came up during that time. That's how persuasive these guys are.

The thing is they never proved to me that the debt existed or that, if it did exist, that it was still good. I checked my credit report and TransUnion DID show an account with the account number they gave me but WITH A ZERO BALANCE. Another credit agency listed the debt and gave what they said was a balance high of some $2,700 many years ago but there was nothing but a blank space where the current balance would have gone.

I googled "CMG Recovery" and got nothing. I checked with the Better Business Bureau on the national level and they had nothing as well. At one point Sal had said that with my credit report score being as high as it was (he was nice enough to look it up and mail a copy of the results with me), that any credit union in the country would be happy to loan me the money to pay them off. This was just one of many red warning flags. As my credit union explained when they turned down my loan request, your credit rating doesn't count for squat if your debt-to-income ratio is high, which mine is. I asked for proof of the debt to be sent to my credit union (they have a fax machine and I don't) and they did sent a notarized "Affidavit and Assignment" letter saying that they were the owner of this supposed debt, but my credit union was less than impressed, saying that anyone could have drafted this up and that it really didn't prove anything one way or the other. They advised me to contact a lawyer, great advice except for the fact that every lawyer I've contacted wants several hundred dollars for me to just walk into their front door and I simply don't have it. The letter sent to my credit union was signed by John D. Yim, a name mentioned on this site and others as one that is, let's say, not held in wide regard. Further digging revealed that the address given in the letter, 481 Oliver Street in North Tonawanda NY, was actually listed as being "Bob's Sew and Vac Center" although, again in all honesty, this could be because CMG, as Sal admits, is just four or five months old.

There was one other very major factor that lead me to believe that everything was not on the up and up, pretty much proof positive that I was dealing with, at best, a bit of a fly-by-night company. Forgive me for not saying more but I've decided to keep this item to myself for the time being just in case I actually do have to face a judge over this. Sal was openly hostile for the first time with this last call (I quoted from this site--he definitely wasn't happy about that, another red warning flag) and promises that he will sue. I really don't know one way or the other.

I have never acknowledged the debt seeing as how I literally cannot remember ever owning a credit card issued by Wells Fargo as they claim I did some eight years or so ago. If there ever was a debt, it seems to have been discharged one way or the other. If not, it would show up on my credit reports, right? And the account is right there but with a zero balance. Sal's explanation for much of this (this site in particular) is that the world is filled with deadbeats who don't want to pay their legitimate bills, a point of view hard to argue with. Still, as they say, where there's smoke, there's fire, and there is an awful lot of smoke here. If I were to cheat my grandchildren in order to send these people money just on their say-so, I know I would regret it for the rest of my life.

If ever I get served with papers over all this, I'll come back to this site and let you all know. In the meantime, does anyone have any feedback on this situation?

A.P.

The true nature of Bob's Sew & Vac...oops...I mean, CMG Recovery can been seen in the messages left above by Baha and Jan.  One and the same person who has treated us to some wonderfully entertaining fairy tells where he poses as a someone who had a near-nirvana experience with CMG. I am no expert on the debt collection laws but I do know that the feds forbid a debt collector from making bogus threats of lawsuits. So you may already had a case to sue them.  I would not be surprised to find out that this group is affiliated somehow with a crooked operation that goes by a zillion names such as CMC Recovery (!!!!) and Claims America. Google those names and you will see enough hits to require another hard drive. You will also notice the similarity in complaints.  If you have a lawyer, try asking about all this. If you need a lawyer or want other online advice, go to the national association of a consumer advocates - NACA.net and to Bud Hibbs - BUDHIBBS.COM  Lotsa good info there and free attorney referrals.  For what it is worth, you made the right decision keeping your money.  Take care

First of all, I myself am a bill collector, although it is not the most prestigous job in the world, it pays the bills! Yes that's right, we pay OUR bills! If we didn't then we too would have to deal with other bill collectors. Because that is the way America works. Are you people all new to this country, or what? When you get a loan, line of credit, utility or any other type of bill, that is a company either doing you a favor or providing you a service. The people at those companies all have bills they have to pay too and families to support etc... etc... so when they lend you money or provide you a service you are supposed to return the favor by paying them back or compensating them. That is "The American way" Do you people realise there is like 2.5 billion dollars in debt more then there is actual currency? That is because of people that use credit for things that they cannot afford or just have no intention of paying back. That is stealing!!!! I am not sure about the rest of you but I was brought up thinking stealing, was wrong!. I am not saying there aren't legitimate hardships that come up, but doing this job yourself you would all realise that 9 times out of 10 that is not the case. And for you people out there that are buying into the utter crap that has been written on this sight, about laws and companies that you obviously haven't researched the facts on, than you are all as ignorant as the adolescent that has written this nonsense. Get the facts, the real facts before the next time you decide to spew garbage on a subject that you obviously need to hire a new fact checker on!!! In conclusion thank you to all you lazy, thieving bums who don't pay your bills, because of you I can sleep at night knowing my bills are all paid and my kid will have a decent college fund. Oh and did I mention it pays my bills?!?!?!?

Let me see if I have this right...

People are horrible, despicable creatures that don't pay their debts, yet you're thankful to them for providing you with a source of income.

The logical reverse of this reasoning is that if everybody paid, you would have no job and presumably the debt collectors would be harassing you.

It seems to me that the current situation should make you happy, so stop complaining.

It seems to me that we could make better use of this website than simply posting a series of insults and name-calling.

It also seems to me that the key to dealing with individuals or agencies that one might consider unscrupulous is to be armed with good solid information. Note that I am not accusing the CMG people of being unscrupulous but I think I can safely say that a reasonable person, if given the full story of my involvement with these people, could not be faulted for being at least a little bit suspicious. Case in point:

Sal pointed out, correctly, that the state I reside in has one of the longest statutes of limitations for debt collection in the country--10 years. What he neglected to add, however, is that this applies to promissary notes (like through a bank) and written contracts. The statute of limitations for credit card debt, an open-ended account, is far less. What MIGHT have happened could have involved someone telling Sal and company, "Look, this old guy once did business via a credit card. Why don't you call him up and see if you can talk him into giving you some money?" Is this what happened? I really don't know.

I pride myself on being a fairly intelligent person so it is more than a bit embarrassing to realize how close I allowed myself to come to being slickered this way, IF this was, in fact, what was going on. I never thought I'd be one of THEM. We've all seen the stories of lonely old ladies being talked into buying several lifetime dance courses, for example. I'm more than willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, though. Maybe the 10-year statute of limitations thing was an honest mistake.

Someone mentioned earlier that harrassment on the part of a creditor or a creditor's agent is illegal. To give the CMG people due credit, I do not see this to have been a factor for the most part. They never said "We will sue you," since to phrase it that was would be to overstep a clearly established line. They did often say, "We'll refer this to legal," which means the same thing, of course, but I get the impression it's just on the legal side of what they're allowed to say. Sal once also said, "We'll get our money one way or another," and that seemed a bit much but, as I say, aside from blowing a gasket during this last phone call when I made it clear that I wasn't the patsy that I apparently had appeared to be, the give-and-take between us was more civil than the average interchange of this sort seems to be. Possibly they picked up, in an early phone call, on the fact that I would respond better to logical points presented politely (if not always 100% accurately) and made the decision to proceed in that way. Different approaches work with different people, I'm sure.

Bottom line, though: as long as these people are successful at least part of the time, the calls to people not fully aware of their rights will never end.

A.P.

I guess as long as people continue to try to get out of paying bills that they know they owe, then collectors will always have a job. But we know that we owe them, and we do what we can do try to get around it either because we dont have it, or dont want to pay it back, wich is wrong to begin with, but I guess overall if we paid our bills like we were supposed to then we wouldnt have them calling us now would we ?? We give them jobs by not living up to our obligations, and at the same time we are basically stealing from creditors, so matter how you cut it, if you are reading this, you are in the wrong !!!!!!!!  think about that !!!!!!

If the debts that your company attempts to bully people into paying were valid and and legally collectible, then there would be no reason for you to waste one second of time posting messages here.

my suspicion is that you mr. b.s. detector have a vendetta against a company that told you that you needed to pay your bill now you just look ridiculous. get a job pay your bills and quit trying to impress weak minded people who also dont pay their bills.  GET A LIFE !
 I am willing to bet your the king of dodging bill collectors. you probably have a dirty attorney that helps you dodge your responsibility.
good luck in life. maybe in your next life you will be raised to pay your bills and respect agreements that you place your social security number on. it is not anyones fault but your own. grow up

Just admit it--most of the supposed debts that you're trying to extort aren't valid nor legally collectible.  If I'm wrong, then the law is your side and you would have no reason to be online debating me.

the reason for the debate MR BS is the simple fact that I like to prove those who think that they know more than everybody else wrong ... DONT FLATTER YOURSELF. and if I was a bill collector think about this ... A BILL IS A BILL ... just because you dont pay it for years then a bill collector calls you does not mean you are relieved of your debt ... IF YOU HAVE A JOB YOU SHOULD PAY YOUR BILLS... (PERIOD)no matter how long it takes for a bill collector to call you.

how does what you said make sense.... maybe you need to re-read lo lifes paragraph... where does he say he owns a company?... and why cant people with an opinion post messages to people who try to BS their way out of everything