833-937-3381

Repeated calls from this number to multiple family members. States they are looking for my brother in law. Alludes to court action. Acts like a debt collector but is breaking every debt collection law. Calls my brother in law’s place of employment so they know where he is but keeps calling everyone else and leaving messages directed to my brother in law. Refuses to provide company name. Refuses to stop calling when asked. If you manage to speak to this person your number will then get blocked and you’re directed to a non existent voicemail. We believe it to be a scammer and have reported the number and constant harassment to the appropriate entities. I cannot locate any owner information for this number.

One of the tricks they use is to call your family, friends, neighbors and/or places of employment (past or present or both) to create panic and embarrassment so that their intended victim calls them so that they can scare that person into paying extortion money.  They will usually also state information that would be illegal for a real debt collector to state to a third party such as that you are being sued, that you owe money to someone, etc. They threaten that if you do not call them back, they will contact your HR department and tell them that you are a deadbeat who does not pay their bills.  They often call people that have never even been associated with you because they get erroneous information off the internet.

The fake process server/location finder extortion SCAM usually consists of the following:

They mention that they have received a Fax document or some sort of complaint and that there is a pending legal matter or action about to filed against you to create the sense of urgency.  They tell you that they are a “process server” and cannot give you the particulars of the case since the file is sealed. This is simply ruse to get you to call another number (often with a made-up case number) where they will ask for money to “make it go away” (this is actually the same place, they work in teams, one pretending to be the server, and the other usually pretends to be a lawyer).  They threaten to serve you at home or at work.  They tell you that if they serve you at work then they will need a supervisor, security, or HR person there as a witness, hoping that will cause you to panic over the alleged embarrassment of being served at work.  They also tell you that you will need two forms of ID.  None of which is true.  Process servers do not ever call ahead so that you can dodge them.  Process servers get paid to serve papers, nothing else.  They certainly are not going to pass up a paycheck by telling you that you can avoid being served, they are not going to give you an extra day or even a few hours to get a “stop order”.  Court documents are time sensitive and must be served within a certain amount of time.  Remember that you can always call the local courthouse to see if there really is a lawsuit that has been filed against you.

It is incumbent upon them under the law to prove that the debt exists and that you owe it, and (this is the important part) that they have the legal right to collect it.  You are not obligated under the law to prove that you don’t owe or that it is paid.  

Federal law (FDCPA) requires them to send you a letter (US MAIL ONLY) postmarked within 5 days of their first contact that contains their name, physical address, the creditor’s name, and the amount of the alleged debt. It also must contains “mini-Miranda” telling you that it is an attempt to collect a debt and that all information will be used for those purposes.  The one other important thing that this letter must also have in it is that you have a right to dispute the debt within 30 days of receipt of the letter and if you do so, all collection activity must be stopped until the debt is verified.  If and when you get that letter you should immediately send that debt validation letter by certified, return receipt mail.

First, you should make a complaint at this Federal Agency, and while there you should also read up on how debt collection is supposed to work as well as what your rights in this matter are: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/

Also file complaints with the FTC: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1

Also file a complaint with your State Attorney General's office.
List of State AG’s offices:   https://800notes.com/faq/attorney-general

Repeated calls from a restricted number indicating that they have documents they have failed to deliver to my home regarding a case number (that doesn't even exist - I checked with my county and state for any pending legal actions against me due to a recent divorce) that they miraculously have a default judgment rendered against me on. They are now threatening to deliver these documents to my work or to my emergency contacts residence. The woman calling is very monotone and trying to sound "scary or threatening" and she fails miserably at doing such. I refuse to answer the calls, am keeping the messages and WILL NOT call back to the 833 number left only once in the messages. No company name is indicated, no personal name indicated and they are even addressing me by an old last name! If I was someone who didn't stay on top of these kinds of things and didn't manage my finances and life well, they may stand a chance of illiciting a call back! PLEASE WARN YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS ABOUT THIS SCAM AND ALL SCAMS COMING FROM THE 833 AREA.CODE NUMBERS. The 833 area code has numbers available for purchase by ANYONE willing to pay and they are almost always used in scams!

This posting is so comprehensive and full of excellent information! Thank you so much for sharing your experience and really useful information to help keep others from falling prey to these scam attempts! Happy holidays!

They gave me a docket number that's not a real number. They never called me first. They called my employer first. Something is off

Well of course "something is off". Your Caller is a SCAMMER & a FRAUD!

Answered a call (no caller ID) from a process server trying to get in touch with one of my tenants, referencing this phone number and a case number. My spouse received a voicemail with the same information. Googling the name the caller used shows she is an attorney, but I suspect the caller is someone else and is fraudulently using her name. These people are doing their homework!

He said he was a lawyer and threaten with felony charges he got me for about $300 he had some info from an old online loan.

Called my dads house saying they had been unable to reach me. But called him from an unknown number. 833-937-3381 is the number they gave him to give me to contact them. They also gave him a reference number and the last 4 digits of said reference number is the last 4 digits of my social. I’m sure it’s a complete scam.

Scam, scam, scam. They threatened and used intimidation to get me to pay something I have no business paying. Also resorted to name calling and belittling me over the phone after I asked questions about the company he represented and asking for the names of his ‘higher ups’. After calling me stupid he hung up. Whoever they are trying to represent they have no professionalism and they did not even give me the ‘this is to collect a data’ line nor was it being recorded. Fishy!  If I did not know better they could definitely cause harm.

They keep calling not only me but my mom and brother from an unknown number, then leaving a voicemail stating they are looking for me and have a case number with the last four of my social. After reading all the comments, I can definitely tell this is a scam.