949-612-0462

This woman calling herself Mrs. Shapiro keeps calling my boyfriend, stating that she is calling to collect on a debt for a car loan. He never had a car loan. His ex-wife did, that he cosigned on 14 years ago. His ex declared bankruptcy 14 years ago and he has NEVER received anything about the car debt. He tried to pull his credit report 3 weeks ago and about 2 days later started getting these phone calls. However, the lady was not able to tell him Who the creditor was, nor the amount of the debt owed. he demanded a letter from them, as they said he had been ignoring all their attempts to contact him and they threatened him with legal actions if he did not pay. Tried to get him to agree to payments. We got the letter in the mail and it is laughable. Says it is from West and Associates at 2967 Michelson Drive Suite G178, Irvine, CA 92612, yet I cannot find a West and Associates located at that address. When I look that address up online I find that it is an Xpress Mailbox location. so the suite G178 is mailbox 178. THIS IS A SCAM! I have seen another post referring to another phone number attached to the same address, different "suite" number and several different company names and all of them are scams. So please be aware!! We are from Illinois and that is where the car loan was taken out at 14 years ago. So why are they calling from California, yet don't have offices in IL? SCAM! SCAM! SCAM!

BE AWARE!

THIS COMPANY IS A COMPLETE SCAM!
Don't be fooled by their illegitimate, threatening phone calls.  
These people are criminals.

Thank you for this information. I received the same exact call in addition to the letter. I did ask them what debt are they collecting and if they could send me a letter specifying the lender and the amount; however, they sent me a letter with an amount owed, but no lender listed. I tried looking up the company and address, but they're unlisted.

Thank you all for your posts . I have received several threatening messages from this company and finally a letter stating that I owe a large amount and if I do not reply in 10 days they will be forced to file a lawsuit against me. When I have tried to verify that this company is real I get no results .

Report them:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0149-debt-collection

They will have a hard time filing a lawsuit if they don't have a legal existence.   California secretary of state shows no record.  This is just a bunch of people getting together doing kitchen-table debt scamming.   If they sent you a debt validation letter it has to have all the specifics of the debt.    It has no real existence as a company.   So unless they are a sole proprietorship with a doing business as or a fictional business name and a business license issued by the local authorities then they have no way of filing any valid lawsuit.  They are basically criminals.

Yes, I too after SEVERAL long years received a call from Jennifer Shappiro giving details of a credit card that was opened over ten years ago in by my ex husband without my knowledge when he owned his own business.  Then she attempts to proceed to explain that even though the account was based on fraud I can still be held liable and in fact arrested so for this reason it is imperative I enter into a settlement agreement with her immediately to avoid this from happening until the details of the card can be litigated and I can be cleared from all the original charges from the card.  I explained my ex had discharged these through bankruptcy court after the divorce was settled but still had problems because  this particular bared my name.  Now, Jennifer went to the trouble to find out the details of this information to explain to me that since was not able to be discharged for that reason the debt fell back on me (even though it still was Fraud)!  Jennifer begins her persuasive talking of because of the long extensive time of how long the date has been in limbo without action, the fact that I live on an army base , that an arrest warrant would be very likely if should I not agree and move very quickly with a settlement agreement and I really didn't have time to act because if I waited and I was arrested this settlement offer would be withdrawn.  I asked her if I could possible have time to speak with my husband who is deployed and needed to know what to do in order to proceed.   Needless to say SCARED out of my MIND , I entered into an agreement! much UNDER duress!!! i WAS ASKED TO FAX THE INFORMATION I had about the card to Jennifer from 2001.  I went to the local library and sent the information she had requested.   In the meanwhile because this was 6/13/14. i COULD NOT get in touch with anyone from the office and I phoned the bank to see if there had been any transaction on the account because at this time Jennifer Shappiro had not given me an actual name of her company she was working will just a case number assigned to me.  
Meanwhile, I spoke with me husband who is deployed after giving the information about mine and Jennifer's conversation and her wishes to enter into the agreement to avoid legal ramifications.  I was left with no alternative or so it seemed.  I still had yet to see any type of settlement offer or agreement because it was not sent to me or received in my email.  I continued to check my email and had had not gotten this from Melissa Pratt, Jenniffer Shappirro, Mr.Cole, or John Harris.  
What I find DETRIMENTAL between parties entering into a covenant is mutual trust and respect and honesty by both parties to move forward without the distrust the other party is going to live up to their agreement or meet the terms set forth within the terms of the agreement.  Certainly things happen beyond ones control, but then each party should be notified of this for necessary action to be taken.

The Card FAXED INTO JENNIFER AND THE COMPANY WAS NOT EVEN THE SAME CARD IN QUESTION THAT JENNIFER CALLED ME ABOUT!!!!!!!!! THis to me is when the deal she CALLED me about should have called me about SHOULD have called me about because were then TALKING about TWO COMPLETELY different accounts.  THE account she called my about had already been paid several years ago by my father through a settlement agreement and my father was given property for doing so. This was done through a banking account so for some reason that may not have have the entire transaction to see what transpired.  When it was done this was that did not give me the information on the accoun so I wasn't sue what they were referring to .....again as soon as they got the fax about the account they clearly could see we were talking about two different accounts! BUT instead of calling me and clearing up the confusion..... THE RAN to the bank BEFORE I SIGNED ANY SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT  OR EVEN READ THE AGREEMENT THE WITHDREW THE AMOUNT OUT OF MY ACCOUNT FOR $600.00!!!!! ON An ACCOUNT THAT WAS ALREADY SETTLED IN 2004!!!!!!! NOT even the account Jennifer tried to start with getting me to pay for in the beginning from my ex forging my name (CAPITAL ONE)!/
Clearly, the tactics in the office that Mr. Cole has operated with for 23 years needs to be reconsidered when customers such as I seem to have the same issues of how their claims are being addressed.  I really feel that respect is a two way street and being talked to like I am a low life- flight risk that you will go after to the fullest extent of the law when in fact your company has made several errors with regards to my accounts, fraud on my accounts, laws pertaining to fraudulent accounts, flight risks n fugitives, credits card risk of flights, contacting individuals regarding credit cards that have previously paid off balances, Please note, any further harassment from your company regarding collecting dept that has already been paid in full will result in notification to the Better Business Bureaus located at phone number 1-714-985-8922

Just received a threatening call from Jennifer Shapiro from this number. She insisted my name was something other than what it is and that a person with that name resided at this number--all ridiculous. Said she was "calling in regard to an incident" somewhere (I was too distressed to recall town name) in Florida.

She actually argued with me about who I was!!

This is a scam message trying to scam money threatening legal action. They didn't have my name correct, I've never been in the county in Florida that they said the "incident" occurred, etc.

FILE a complaint with your local police department AND with the Business Consumer Alliance (714)985-8922. ( www.businessconsumeralliance.com).  Only way to stop this FAKE company which is a Collection Agency NOT in ANY WAY a law firm, they use FAKE NAMES, and scare INNOCENT people AND their LOVED ONES. If we all take 5 min of our time and do this, the COUNTY can build a case against them and shut them down. Thank you.

FILE a complaint with your local police department AND with the Business Consumer Alliance (714)985-8922. ( www.businessconsumeralliance.com).  Only way to stop this FAKE company which is a Collection Agency NOT in ANY WAY a law firm, they use FAKE NAMES, and scare INNOCENT people AND their LOVED ONES. If we all take 5 min of our time and do this, the COUNTY can build a case against them and shut them down. Thank you.

FILE a complaint with your local police department AND with the Business Consumer Alliance (714)985-8922. ( www.businessconsumeralliance.com).  Only way to stop this FAKE company which is a Collection Agency NOT in ANY WAY a law firm, they use FAKE NAMES, and scare INNOCENT people AND their LOVED ONES. If we all take 5 min of our time and do this, the COUNTY can build a case against them and shut them down. Thank you.

These people called me from a different 949 number! Said this is the final attempt to contact me about a legal action and they have tried several times to contact me! They called me last year with the name Chelsea associates with the same old crap! I don't have anything with the high dollar amount they claim I owe nor are they on my credit report except as a hard inquiry for pulling my credit!  I think they are indeed scammers!

This so called west and associates called from a 949 536 8205 saying this is the final attempt to contact you there as been several attempts to contact you with no response ( never heard from this company before) and need to contact them within 24 hours to avoid legal issues didn't speak with them they left this message on my voice mail!

These people scammed me also!  They were taking 100 pymts out of my bank account.

I recommend filing a fraud dispute with your bank or CC holder and also filing reports with the FTC & CFB..
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#&panel1-1
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
http://www.stopfraud.gov/report.html
http://www.fraud.org/

To File complaints FDCPA/TCPA violations:
Your State Attorney General
Their State Attorney general
www.naag.org (you can find your state AG at this link).
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#&panel1-1
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
http://www.rcfp.org/reporters-recording-guide/state-state-guide

https://800notes.com/arts/Jb8EW-eDhQA/harassi ... ou-need-to-know
See Residents post here also:
https://800notes.com/forum/ta-34af6a034ba34b6/unending-collection-calls
Templates of Letters:
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-319-242-7350

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpajump.shtm
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/askcfpb/search ...
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/pdf-0096-fair-credit-reporting-act.pdf
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0149-debt-collection

And see:
http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety
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http://www.ic3.gov/media/2014/140627.aspx
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https://800notes.com/forum/ta-944ec1426a8bcbb ... service-attacks
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http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/ ... r-phones/ndF4c/
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http://www.net-security.org/article.php?id=1828
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https://800notes.com/forum/ta-86217073a9c8dad ... 077595690349410
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http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0258-fake-debt-collectors
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http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/pressreleases/extortion_scam.htm
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http://www.fdcpa.me/fake-process-server-injunction/
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https://800notes.com/forum/ta-9413b3202bc8b6c ... net%27s-tactics
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http://dfi.wa.gov/consumers/alerts/cashnet-payday.htm
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http://www.cashnetusa.com/consumer-notices

Got the same message from everyone else above and a letter in the mail...

Yep I just got a letter from them saying owe 2 grand. I look at my credit report I owe 600 so some how these people are getting our information . And I been getting calls from an unknown number

I just now got a call from Jennifer Shapiro at my government job. It scared the HELL out of me. I filed a complaint with the police department and consumer affairs. These people need to be stopped! Don't give them ANY MONEY, personal information or let them threaten you! The need to be arrested.

I got a call from West and Associates last week and also a letter from them...I called them and they told me that it was from a Bank of America account I had back in 2011 but sound fishy to me because I have not been contacted by them before and also I looked them up online and they didn't have good reviews...So I called Bank of America and talked to their collection department and they end up sending me back to them...I end up working with them to pay this credit card off.

Thank You Mel for your post. I have received the same letter stating that its a final notice. I however had not received any letters prior to the one that says final notice. I talked to someone by the name of Mr Duff who expressed to me that if I could make a large lump sum payment today that they would stop the attorney fees of another $2,300. and so I tried to look up this company online. I could only find two separate locations that match the same address and they were saying the same things on the post as I am reading on this on these posts.. Thank you to the person who began to research this company and those who have continued following posts of their own. I will be following up with my creditors to make sure that no one is trying to you defraud me thank you