866-840-0383

They called my husband first, then me, and then my sister from an Unknown number. They used my maiden name with my sister but my married name with my husband and me. The person calling left a voicemail saying that there was a delivery of legal documents that were sent to me but were sent back for whatever reason.  I called the number provided back (866)840-0383 and they told me they were Avery and Associates.  They said I had a debt from 2008 and I was being sued by Capitol One for “Malicious intent to defraud a financial institution.” They would not send me paperwork in regards to the allegations and they would not provide an address or PO Box for me to check their validity. When I told them I doubted that they were an actual company they told me I would be served legal papers that would summon me to court. (Which would mean they would have to send me paperwork though they refused to do it earlier in the conversation.) I’m assuming this is a scam because they refused to provide any proof of their legitimacy.

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 department and tell them that you are a deadbeat who does not pay their bills.  They often call people that have never even been 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 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

Just got the same voicemail today did it turn out to be a scam.

Received a call from First from national process serving with a local number which I assumed they think I would pick up. Call the 800 number spoke to a young lady who threatened a lawsuit against me in excess of $6000. I asked them to send me via email some type of settlement offer so I can see who I’m dealing with. Coincidentally I haven’t received it. Spoke to an FDCPA attorney who told me not to volunteer any information to them whatsoever

Emails, like phone calls, faces, and texts, are not legal methods of debt validation. Only documentation sent via US mail.

What do faces have to do with it?

I would guess she meant "faxes" and it is merely a typo by hitting the "c" key by mistake, which is right next to the "x" key.

They actually emailed me something they wanted me to sign within 48 hours. I spoke to an attorney he said don’t you dare. It’s fake from top to bottom.

Of course it's fake. As I said, emails are not a legitimate method of debt validation. Real debt collectors know that.

I received a call from a debt collection agency from this number. It was regarding a medical bill from over 20 years ago and settled directly with the hospital not too long after that.
They claim they sent paperwork to an address that I haven't lived at in over 7 years and called my family to reach me. They were unable to tell me what the amount was or anything beyond who held the original debt, but threatened me with litigation if I didn't do what they wanted me to do, which was give them a current address ( why would I make a scammer's job easier?) and admit that I needed to pay them some undisclosed amount of money.
I told them to stop calling my family and they said they would, but that they had recently bought the debt and so hadn't been told to stop previously.
This is the third or fourth time I've heard from collection companies about this alleged debt, each contact a few years apart. Each time it's the same script, they're unable to tell me any details and threaten me with litigation to get me to admit I owe them an undefined amount of money. Each time I tell them to bugger off and they claim I'll be sued into oblivion, which never happens.

It would seem at this point collection companies are just selling it to each other to perpetuate the scam, which means they're just scamming each other.

So I just got in a huge fight with them on the phone today because whatever they claimed I found was untrue. What eventually happened with your situation?

Nothing happened since, as had already been stated, this is a scam.