866-400-0112

They trying to find someone on a first name but not kmowing their last name

They also id themselves as a  law office. But when i asked for the name of.business. it was ignored

Dicen le es una Corte y se llama Michel

Scam, don't bother calling back

Call back today!  Extremely time sensitive matter, if you don't call back I will be forced to proceed.....  gave acct(?) number  as LJ 002568.  Stated call is being logged as an attempt to resolve this matter......

Monica with Bernstein, Murke, & Markcowitz Law firm called me from 866 400-0112, Ontario, California stating that I owe $34k for a Visa card opened in 2006.  She named the person that opened the Visa in my name and he does not have access to my personal info.  Is this law firm legit or a scam?

I can't find anything on these people, but there are some simple solutions (this does sound like a scam to me, one that is repeated a lot here).

Whenever someone tells you that they are a "lawyer", the first question you should ask is what state(s) they are registered in and their BAR number for that/those state(s).  Then go to that state and check them out, contact them directly using the information in the state registration, as these crooks have been known to research real law firm names and attorney names and impersonate them.

You should also ask them for their state registration number for the corporation and the state they are registered in.  This can easily be checked by searching for (name of state) corporations.  It should bring up an entity search for that state's Dept. of State.

Also, since they talked to you:


It is incumbent upon them under the law to prove that the debt exists and that you owe it, and 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.

Read up on your rights here and also make a complaint at this government site:  http://www.consumerfinance.gov/

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

As well as the California AG’s Office:   http://oag.ca.gov/

And since they claim to be attorneys, file a report here so that they are either disbarred or brought up on criminal charges: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Attorneys/LawyerRegulation/FilingaComplaint.aspx

IT's a scam.  No legitimate attorney calls you out of the blue and tells you you owe money.

If you were the subject of a pending civil lawsuit, you'd have received a letter from the attorney for the other party.  You'd have a paper trail.

Then, if a case was filed, you'd have received a summons delivered to you by someone licensed to serve process in your locality.  You would NOT have first heard about any civil law case from some scammery-scummery debt collector who cold calls you and starts demanding money.

You can check this out yourself by simply going down to the local main civil court and checking the defendants civil list.  The court clerks are usually glad to help and are familiar with these kinds of scams.

Bernstein, Murke, & Markcowitz doesn't exists.  It's a phantom group made up for the purpose of scaring money out of you.

Ignore and block these calls.

Just because someone on the phone calling you says you owe a debt does not mean you actually owe it.

If a voice on the telephone claims you owe a debt:

1.    Demand the person give you his or her name, company name, and address
2.     Demand a debt validation letter by US mail.  E-mail no good.
3.    Do not pay  the collection agent or anyone else a  dime until the debt is validated

Of course they won’t do this, no scammer ever will, so simply ignore them and block their calls.

If they are bothering you, report them:

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0149-debt-collection (Threatening civil proceedings with no intent to follow through, or threatening criminal process in order to collect a civil debt is a  violation of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.)  The same goes for endless telephone harassment

Note that the US Supreme Court in the Case of HENSON ET AL. v. SANTANDER CONSUMER USA INC., has recently ruled that the provisions of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act do not apply if the creditor owns the debt in question.  As a practical matter this probably won't effect the kinds of scam debt collectors who often show up on 800notes.  The scam collectors don't give you any information about themselves so it is impossible to know whether or not they in fact "own" the debt in question.  Most do not send debt validation letters and many often say they are collecting for someone else.  So, make the complaint anyway if they are bothering you.  Let the FTC sort it out.

Also contact your local attorney general

If they continue to bother you,  and you know you do not owe any money, tell them that you know this is  a debt scam and that you are making a complaint to the police for extortion.  Once you get a copy of the police report and they call you again , just read out the  file number and the name of the PD or Sheriff’s office involved.   Tell them you’ll be glad to send a copy to them at whatever address the jack***es are working out of now.

You'll probably have to yell at them and talk over them.  Tell 'em  no scammy debt collector is going to push you around.

You have to get tuff with these people because,  being akin to thugs, brute force is (metaphorically speaking).   the only thing they understand.

I dont know how they got my mothers phone number but they said i had taken out a cc back in 2007 which is not true, stated i would be served at my place of employment, still waiting for that to happen, they are rude af! When i asked if they would appear on my credit report they stated yes we would i said okay let me go pull that because i monitor it closely. She ended up changing her story that they only put an opinion towards my cr. Her name was monica and ended up hanging up on me, when i called back to speak to someone else other than monica i was on hold for the longest time then came on a gentlemen that didnt give his name but only said he was the medical director and he didnt have to give any information to me yet they were calling to "collect on a debt" these people have got to have better things to do then pretend to be scam artists. A monkey could have done a better job then them

Monica called and left a message stating to call the law office back regarding a complaint being filed. When I called back and asked for her bar number she stated that they are not a law firm. When I said the message stated to call the law office back she called me a liar, was rude and abusive. Stated the debt was from 2009, which is well past the statute of limitations. When I mentioned that she called me names and told me to play the message, when I did that she hung up.