866-205-8355

Scammers. When you answer the phone, they refuse to say who they are, where their base of operation is located or offer any tangible evidence they are a collection agency. If you call the number back, they answer as "Litigation specialist" and say that they're going to take you to court if you don't pay up by the end of the day. This is a red flag!! They are conning people into providing a credit card number to pay off a supposed payday loan. Don't fall for this scam. If you have, call your credit card company and have them reverse this fraudulent charge. If you owe money pay it to the original debtor. Don't give anything to these clowns. They have no teeth.

I got a call on my cell phone 2 weeks ago, on a Friday, from an Ohio number.  My father( who has an unlisted number) and my ex mother in law (who also has an unlisted number) got the same call.  A computerized woman's voice said that I was being charged with 2 counts of fraud stemming from a supposed payday loan taken out in 2013.  They said that they were a litigation office and that if I wanted to avoid going to court, I needed to call them at 1-866-205-8355 and pay with a prepaid credit or debit card.  My dad, being 66, called back and spoke to a Marc Johnson.  I called the number and asked what company they were.  The woman who answered said "Litigation Group--Atlantic" and said that they would not mail me any verification of supposed debt and that they had already mailed it once to an old address I lived at 3 years ago.  She read my social to me (scary) but I did not verify anything. I hung up, called my local police dept and county clerk of courts and pulled my credit reports.  Nothing, nothing and nothing were on it, except for my student loans and one credit card.  The phone was silent for 2 weeks until today, when a message was left on both my cell and my dads home number again.  Message was a man's voice, saying that I had provided them with an invalid card number and they were going to locate me and arrest me today and charge me with fraud and I had better call my litigation office back.  I deleted the message, so did my dad, but we called police again and called our state attorney generals office.  They said eventually they will lose interest and stop calling, but when?  This is nervewracking and causing me to lose sleep, even though I know I haven't taken out a loan or done anything.  It is also extremely embarassing.  What else can I do?

Don't pay these people one red Cent. Tell them when they call that you are audio recording them, get all the information get as much information as you can. Keep a log of all the dates and times that these people call you, then forward the information to your State Attorney General. The best way to do this is to just think like a lawyer. Unfortunately in today's technological Society this is the way that you have to think. Also, unfortunately many state government agencies do not really want to do anything. You're kind of left on your own which is unfortunate.

The only tool in their arsenal is your fear. They have no real teeth. They're frauds. Yes, it is disconcerting for them to keep calling and harassing you and other family members but don't let them take advantage of you. They are no different than the IRS scammers saying they're going to arrest you if you don't call them back and make payment on your tax bill TODAY!  I've gotten 3 calls from the IRS scammers today alone. PTOOI!

Think about it for a moment. How can a collection agency take you to court without performing due process? Do you really think someone can get a court date by noon tomorrow if they haven't filed well in advance? Also, wouldn't you need to know the date and time of your court appearance? For someone to take you to court, they will have to come out of the shadows and provide THEIR contact information which these clowns refuse to do. They would have to provide the full name of their company, who the original debtor is, a physical address and licensing information indicating they are authorized to collect debts in your state. Obviously they haven't done this.