949-438-2546

This is West and Associates using a different number to call from.  This is a scam -- they have called before from other numbers in the Irvine area saying to have our attorney contact them about an "incident" in a town we have lived in previously.  This same tactic was used for a different location where we previously lived, but same scenario -- there are no incidents.

Such a scam! Got a call today from a "Jennifer Shapiro with the offices of West and Associates". She left a voicemail on my phone saying her call was regarding an important business matter. She left a message on both my mother-in-law's and my husband's stepmother's cell phones stating that I was involved in an incident in the city I live in and they need to return her call immediately. And she left a message on my husband's cell phone stating that she was calling regarding his employee (ha!) and that she needed to know what his office's policies were regarding serving papers during business hours. All these calls occurred within ten minutes of each other.

Fortunately, a Jason Duff with the same company called all of us a month ago about my important business matter, (he was at least smart enough to leave the same message for everyone!) so we're already on to this scam.

This "company" went so far as to send me a letter from their "legal department" after that very first call saying I supposedly owed them over $3k for a credit card with Wells Fargo and that it was the final notice and if I didn't immediately pay they would sue me. I sent a certified mail, return receipt letter then requesting validation and a cease & desist letter, but alas, USPS has been unable to deliver this letter as their address is a mailbox in a strip mall.

UPDATE: I found out someone from this company called my father-in-law twice yesterday, first on his personal cell phone claiming to be calling to get contact information about his employee and wanting to know what his office's rules and regulations are for serving papers on the premises. She also left a message on his work phone claiming that there was "a legal complaint filed against [my maiden name] persuant to an incident in [city I currently live in] and I need to call back immediately" or have my attorney do it.

My mother-in-law also got a with a message on a different phone line of hers claiming that she was listed as a reference on something and they're trying to get in contact with me. I have never EVER used my mother-in-law as a reference for ANYTHING. Major red flag!

My husband is the director of HR for the company he works for, and told me it's actually against federal law for anyone to call an employer and ask for any information beyond dates of employment and salary. They cannot ask for contact information other than what belongs to the company (i.e., your office extension, etc.), and even then, your employer has the right to refuse to give that, and they absolutely cannot mention or even imply to your employer that you are being served papers.

Based on what my husband told me, it's very clear these people have no problem breaking the law, so I filed complaints with the CFPB, FTC and my state's Attorney General. Upon speaking with someone at the AG's office, she said this is absolutely fraud and also sounded like a version of identity theft, and I was advised to put a fraud alert on my credit reports and look over my credit reports and then go from there. Sure enough, this company had pulled my credit for the first time before ever contacting me, which means they have my SSN. From what we can tell, they have basically been using the information on it (like previous addresses) as a starting point to contact my family, then taking that information and probably doing searches on sites like Spokeo. They've never contacted my own mother, or anyone else on my side of the family, which I thought strange until I put two and two together and realized my credit reports don't list her home as being one of my previous addresses, nor does it list any previous address in my home state. They also picked an old account to claim I owe a debt on, probably thinking I could be tricked into paying it.

Since this company has basically pulled a report on me everyday since the first day (seriously, my Experian report lists at least one inquiry a day for almost two months from ONE company! Excessive much?), I am contacting the credit bureaus to bar this company from being able to do that anymore. I'm also filing a police report for identity theft. I would love to sue these crooks for very single violation too, but the AG's said that's probably not likely to happen since it definitely sounds it's a fake company.