216-393-0517

The caller left a message threatening me with jail time and left a case number. I returned the call and they demanded a payment for something I've never heard of. Scary and Illegal!

Judging from the phone number's area code and prefix and the message threatening you will jail, it's obvious the call was made by Georgia-based CMC Recovery. They also masquerade as working for the a law firm called "Robert Goldstein & Associates" and many other aliases.

In short, they are crooks.  As consumer law expert Bud Hibbs notes, there is no such attorney Robert Goldstein & Associates. These people are not only breaking federal debt collection laws, they're also committing numerous other frauds (impersonating law enforcement officials, impersonating an attorney, extortion, etc.) They are crooks and you should NEVER give them any information about yourself. Ignore their calls and report them to authorities. Here's Bud Hibbs' advice on dealing with the CMC/Robert Goldstein:

http://www.budhibbs.com/debtcollectorpages/cmc_recovery_bud.htm

Remember, the only difference between these CMC/Goldstein callers and thugs on the street is that they mug people over the phone.

I suggest you and everyone else who's received these calls contact your local police, your local FBI office, and that you file a complaint online with the Federal Communications Commission at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html (The FCC enforces the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act.) Also, since this batch of calls originate in Ohio, so you should file a complaint with the Ohio Attorney General by calling 877-244-6446 or going online to http://www.ag.state.oh.us/citizen/consumer/complaints.asp

For those who file a complaint with the authorities, I suggest giving them the weblinks to the several message threads on 800notes.com that concern abuse in the 216 area code by this same group of criminals (CMC Recovery Services, Inc./a.k.a. Robert Goldstein & Associates). Here are weblinks:

https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-216-393-0456
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-216-393-4473
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-216-393-4428
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-216-393-9240
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-216-393-1928
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-216-393-8225
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-216-393-0478
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-216-393-8223
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-216-393-4446
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-216-393-0455
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-216-393-9241
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-216-393-0472
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-216-393-0517

The only way we can stop these people is to pursue them as relentlessly as they pursue their victims.