855-977-2166

SHORT VERSION: Received a message.  Called back.  Was told I had a 5 year old debt that was never paid.  Verified with the claimed parent company (Check Into Cash) that the debt claimed by Niagara Portfolio Solutions never existed.  Niagara rep gave high pressure push to financial cover the debt at the moment of the phone call else I would be issued a civil summons within the next 48 hours.  Upon calling a direct number back I was transferred to an exceptionally rude individual when I asked too many questions.

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Initial message from this number was a robocall which only repeated the phrase "this message is for <my name>" twice.  No other information was present in the message.  Upon calling the number back I was told that I owed a debt for an un-repaid loan from "Check Into Cash" from July of 2010 for $215.  The claim was that with the time elapsed the required payoff of the loan would be $722.63.

I asked for proof of the debt as everything sounded shady.  Upon request, they emailed some official looking documentation.  When I say official looking I mean very official looking.  The address, while old, was a correct prior address at which I lived in the time frame claimed.  The phone operator also had my bank routing number and the name of my bank correct.  They did not have my account number, but the conversation was designed to encourage me to give them the account number.  They also had my correct Social Security number.

The pitch was a very high pressure push to settle the debt right at the moment I called the number back.  I was threatened with a court summons for a civil trial to be delivered to my home or workplace within 48 hours if I did not make arrangements to pay the stated amount immediately.  I was strongly pressured not to initially get off the phone when I explained I would need to check bank records to verify the claims.  The operator told me that I had to either make payment arrangements before 4pm (within 4 hours of when I'd first called the number) or that it would be sent for legal processing at that time.  When I explained that I would need some time to check bank records the operator responded, "I'll have to mark your account with a refusal to pay."  I told the operator I'd call them back within the hour.

I verified through my financial records that I'd had no financial dealings with "Check Into Cash" ever, much less in the stated time frame, and called Niagara back with my findings (the operator gave me the direct contact number of 855-546-9043 and stated her name was Theresa).  The operator assured me that she could see the debt was valid and that she had the record for the deposit in front of her and that, "It must be valid because you can't just make up bank routing numbers."  I responded that such information is publicly available and that proved nothing.  I told her at that time to close the account with a refusal to pay.

Following that, I contacted "Click To Cash" directly.  The operator there, upon verifying that I'd never had an account with them and hearing my story, immediately transferred me to their corporate offices where a supervisor asked me to retell my story and then asked for the documentation sent by Niagara.  I'm in the process of getting that information to them now.  The reps at "Click To Cash" seemed genuinely concerned that the name of their company was being used in such a scam-like manner.

Upon calling Niagara back (at the direct number) and asking for some additional information I was transferred without warning to an exceptionally rude individual who responded more like an angry younger sibling than a professional debt collector.  She did not give her name and, following a unsolicited rude comment from her to which I responded "We're done here," she yelled, "Then why are you calling in?!" Following that exchange she immediately hung up the phone.

This is really an awful scam as it's so high pressure and would seem very official to someone who wasn't on top of their financial documentation.  It seems like the time frame is chosen specifically to make it harder to verify the claimed information (They're claiming the debt was from over 5 years ago).  Also, since it's claimed that the debt is to a payday loan corp, most people receiving these calls are probably already suffering undue hardship and the threat of a civil summons delivered by hand by a courier at your place of work would likely make more than a few hard-off people just pay up out of fear.

Have you had any further communication from them since you posted here? I'm wondering what happened next. I received a voice message today from these people and I've never dealt with Check Into Cash. Wondering if I should ignore the message. I don't really want to deal with the stress of listening to them lie to me and try to pressure me. My blood pressure can't take it!

I just bailed out... i wrote a hot check to check into cash a couple years ago and i never made my payment when these guys called.. spent 3 nights in the holding center.. wish i woulda just paid these guys... take it from me dont let them come pick u up for not paying... nobody should have to go to jail like i did

hey "don" there is no more debtors prison in the united states. lmfao. [***]