2108921308

I received a phone message on my cell phone and my home phone this morning from a company named Central Asset Bureau. The lady said she was a Special Investigator & that her name is Julie Anderson. She said that there is a complain filed against me with case # and my attorney to contact them within 24 -48 hours to stop the filing.

This lady said that I have 24 - 48 hours to resolve this issue or a restraining order and subpoena will be filed. I called them, and this lady asked me to pay over the phone. She knows my SS #, my birthday, & my home address. She said the collection company mailed me 4 first class letters in the past, but I have never received any.

I asked her to mail the certified mail so that I will be guaranteed to receive it. She refused and said it is too late to mail out the letter, and I have 24 - 48 hours to pay or go to court. I told her that I will have my attorney call her at the phone # she provided which is 210-892-1308. She said that she will see me in court.

After I hung up, I called my attorney and my attorney said it is a SCAM! My attorney had other clients with the same phone call from this Central Asset Bureau. My attorney advised me to ignore these calls. I will file a complain with the Attorney General against this company so that they can stop them from scamming other people. I am sick of these scammers.

I received a phone message from this company threatning a restraining order.

This is the third time I have been contacted by this "company" and I have notifiied my Attorney General's office, who actually did return my call, and they said all we can do it ignore the calls until they can shut down this scam operation......it is annoying though!

I received a message from "McKenzie" stating there was a restraining order put on me and I needed to contact my lawyer and respond within 24 hours.  The phone number left was 1-210-892-1308 and my case number was LURT3074.  When I called I spoke with "Grace Snow".  She said that I made a purchase with a HSBC credit card in May 2007 in the amount of $950 and never made a payment. They also said that I closed the account to avoid payment. June 2008 the credit card company supposedly started sending me letters to make deals on my payment. They also have been trying to have me served with court papers and unable to reach me. GRACE SNOW said she could not give me anymore info such as what was bought, which store the purchase was made at, or credit card number. She could only provide me with the first 4 numbers of the credit card which only tells it's a master card.  In order for me to get more info I had to go to court which she informed me would cost more money.  Her job was to make a payment deal with me.  She wanted a form of payment, debit or credit card, and she would set up a payment plan for me to avoid going to court.  Luckily for me I was in a rush to get out of the house and told her I would call her back.  I called HSBC and asked about any past or current accounts in my name and nothing shows up dealing with 2007.  All of my accounts are paid and up to date.  After researching this company and phone number, I found out that they have been trying to scam people using similar stories.  They call with a hook, a restraint order, get your mind spinning, and then act like they are trying to help you avoid court time and cost by taking your payment over the phone.  I did not call back but they must have ear marked me as willing to make a payment because they called me back the following day.  I told her that I was not comfortable making a payment on a purchase I didn't know about and that I would be further investigating the matter.  Grace told me that I will be receiving a supeona in 10-15 days so the matter will be handled in court.  I said great, then I can get down to the bottom of this.  She wished me luck in court and the call ended.  I received another call from them about 15 minutes later but when I said hello they stayed quiet.

Great job! The more people filed a complaint with Attorney General & the more AG will take action to stop this company from SCAMMING innocent people. I have a friend almost fall into this company trap. Luckily, he talked to his friends and all his friends said "It is a SCAM!!!

I just received a call from the same lady with the exact same message

Hi i receive a call today (02/17/12) from unknown number and they left me the same message stated above ; McKenzie a special investigator i'm contacting you regarding a complaint filled against you ......I was very scared when i heard the voicemail.3 hours later they call me again 1 661 380 3000, when i answer the phone  they hang up.I 'll definitely report it to my lawyer .

Just received this call at my work number and she left message on my home number.  Same as other complaints list above.....I don't recall her name but she gave me the exact same information when I spoke with her and the message she left at my home was exactly the same.  I have been harrassed by these kind of scammers so much over the past 8 months to a year.....it is absolutely mind-boggling how they continue to get away with this crap.......I have filed so many complaints it isn't even funny.

I have been harrassed by these callers over the past 8 to 12 monhs....calling my office, home, cell, my grandson etc.   I have filed complaints with the AG office, the gov agency listed on this 800notes site and other agencies.  It is just a shame they can't shut them down.  How many people have they gotten money from that were innocent.....they tell you to ignore them but it is very difficult to that when they continue to bother you.   I also live in the Pittsburgh area and I hope they can get rid of them soon.

Stop calling me~!!!!!

I was told I had a court order agaist me and I had to appear in court. They even call my daughter.

I was just curious to see who answered this number when I called......figures it is a recording that the "number you dialed has been disconnected"........

Called saying they were filing a restraining order.

Did you ever receive court paper from this company?

Same thing here , got the call today,, I called them back saying I was representing Janis ..... (me) and my Bar #, please tell me what this pertains to..   THEY HUNG UP ON ME LOL

I got the same call yesterday and its funny how all the calls are pertaining to the same thing. The lady told me her name was Stacy Marino and that I need to call her back at 210 892 1308 and that I needed to contact my attorney. I called the number and it was for Central Asset Bureu. I have never received any letters for any past debt, I am current on all my bills so I am not going to worry about these people. I have filed a complaint with the NJ state Attorney General and I hope we can put these people out of business.

febuary23 2012   I received a call from a lady claiming to be Tracy Farrell.Same scary court jazz.The same as everybody elses message.Shes been trying to find people related to me to call and leave harrassing messages.Dont know what its about..

I got the same call today at my work! About a payday loan I didn't even take out.

I received a message yesterday from 210-892-1308 to call back within 24 hrs.  Special Investigator Leon Smith left a vm to call back.  I did return the call and found out they did NOT have the right person, same name only thing we had in common.  It is sad that just because your name might match someone else you get these types of calls (that at first you get scared...thinking what is this all about).  I agree, these places need to be shut down.  What if they would have gotten ahold of an elderly person who doesn't have anyone watching over them.  They could do so much damage. I also think that BEFORE they leave that kind of message on your machine, they SHOULD make sure they have the RIGHT person.  Isn't there some type of law regarding this?

Even scam artists are outsourcing. On Tuesday in its first crackdown on fraudulent telemarketing in South Asia, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it was shutting down two California-based companies that used a call center in India to defraud Americans out of more than $5 million over the past two years.

Workers in India made threatening calls to Americans getting them to pay money on debts that they didn't owe, the FTC charges. At an FTC press conference in Chicago on Tuesday, fraud victim JanLaree DeJulius explained that she had received a call from someone claiming to be an enforcement officer from the (phony) "Federal Department of Crime and Prevention," who threatened to have her arrested and have her wages garnished if she didn't pay a bill of more than $730. The scam artists had gotten her name and information from a payday loan her ex-husband had taken out in her name.

"It was very embarrassing," Dejulius said. "He knew everything about me so I agreed to set up an installment." She is not alone. According to the FTC, more than 8 million calls were made since 2010 and at least 17,000 transactions processed across the United States related to the global scam.

On Tuesday under request from the FTC, a U.S. District Court in Chicago stopped the international operation, charging Varang K. Thaker and two companies he owned, American Credit Crunchers, LLC, and an affiliate Ebeeze, LLC, with violating the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

"This is a brazen operation based on pure fraud, and the FTC is committed to shutting it down," said David Vladeck, director of the FTC's consumer protection bureau. "Consumers should not be pressured into paying debt they don't remember owing. Legitimate debt collectors must provide consumers with both written information about the debt, and instructions for protecting themselves if they don't think they owe the debt."

According to the FTC's charges, Thaker used Social Security numbers and bank account numbers obtained from payday lenders to identify the victims for his scam. He outsourced the work to an Indian call center, where workers made threatening calls to American consumers to pay fake debt or collect on bills for which they were not authorized.

Thaker was not available when contacted by telephone on Tuesday. A woman who claimed to be Thaker's older sister and asked not to be named for privacy reasons said he is working with the FTC to help the Indian government pursue the fraudster call center operators. She also said he was innocent in the scam. "He was being used by somebody. He didn't even know where they got the information," she told The Huffington Post by phone. She said that her brother got 10 percent of the earnings from the scam operation.

The FTC charges against Thaker are the latest in a series of police actions by the government agency to put an end to rogue debt collection operations that have become more frequent in the aftermath of the Great Recession. In January, the FTC struck a $2.5-million settlement with debt-buying company Asset Acceptance, LLC, charging that the company had falsely represented itself to customers, including making up phantom debts that customers no longer owed. Last October, the FTC filed a complaint against seven other fraudulent debt collectors, alleging that they had engaged in the same techniques -- demanding money from customers who owed nothing at all.

The growing number of Americans who are unable to pay their bills has meant there are more companies looking to profit from their economic difficulties.

Debt collectors have been taking more aggressive tactics as fewer people are able to make ends meet or are in a cycle of debt. More than 30 million Americans are in debt collection, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Since 2010, more than 4,000 complaints have been filed with the FTC and state attorneys general about fraudulent debt collection calls, the FTC said.

Charles Junitkka, a personal bankruptcy attorney who represents clients in the New York City area, said, "In the last few years, the desperation of the collectors and their efforts have intensified because of the economy."

This story has been updated to reflect comment from a woman who says she is the sister of Varang Thaker. Thaker himself was unavailable for comment.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/21/ftc- ... _n_1289751.html

Consumers across the country report that they're getting telephone calls from people trying to collect on loans the consumers never received or on loans they did receive but for amounts they do not owe. Others are receiving calls from people seeking to recover on loans consumers received but where the creditors never authorized the callers to collect for them. So what's the story?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, is warning consumers to be on the alert for scam artists posing as debt collectors. It may be hard to tell the difference between a legitimate debt collector and a fake one. Sometimes a fake collector may even have some of your personal information, like a bank account number. A caller may be a fake debt collector if he:

is seeking payment on a debt for a loan you do not recognize;
refuses to give you a mailing address or phone number;
asks you for personal financial or sensitive information; or
exerts high pressure to try to scare you into paying, such as threatening to have you arrested or to report you to a law enforcement agency.

If you think that a caller may be a fake debt collector:
Ask the caller for his name, company, street address, and telephone number. Tell the caller that you refuse to discuss any debt until you get a written "validation notice." The notice must include the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor you owe, and your rights under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
If a caller refuses to give you all of this information, do not pay! Paying a fake debt collector will not always make them go away. They may make up another debt to try to get more money from you.

Stop speaking with the caller. If you have the caller's address, send a letter demanding that the caller stop contacting you, and keep a copy for your files. By law, real debt collectors must stop calling you if you ask them to in writing.

Do not give the caller personal financial or other sensitive information. Never give out or confirm personal financial or other sensitive information like your bank account, credit card, or Social Security number unless you know whom you're dealing with. Scam artists, like fake debt collectors, can use your information to commit identity theft – charging your existing credit cards, opening new credit card, checking, or savings accounts, writing fraudulent checks, or taking out loans in your name.

Contact your creditor. If the debt is legitimate – but you think the collector may not be – contact your creditor about the calls. Share the information you have about the suspicious calls and find out who, if anyone, the creditor has authorized to collect the debt.

Report the call. Contact the FTC and your state Attorney General's office with information about suspicious callers. Many states have their own debt collection laws in addition to the federal FDCPA. Your Attorney General's office can help you determine your rights under your state's law.>

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt076.shtm