877-423-0654

They left a voicemail messages and knew mine and my brother wife name saying there’s a case file with Los Angeles County Public Social Service Complaince Department. I’ve spoken to my sister-in-Law and told her it’s a red flag, fraud, scam. Don’t return this phone number they left on our voicemail messages. My sister-in-law she’s wondering how they got her mobile phone number. Also, both of us aren’t currently receiving Calworks, Calfresh, General Relief. We currently live within Los Angeles County. We both know county office will always mail Notice if Action letters by mail, and have always had our mailing addresses. The individual my sister-in-law talk to yesterday on Thursday, September 6, 2019 lied and said they don’t know exactly where we were. Don’t answer the phone. I’ve block this phone number on my home & cellphone. Also, have been reported online on several websites as Unsafe Caller too.

If your looking for someone why can't you [the caller] find them without calling family members.  Doesn't make sense to me.

It makes a lot of sense if you are an extortionist.

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 extortion attempt 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

Came up unknown on my calendar ID.  Then they called my father who has heart issues and got him worked up.  So I called them back.  Did not give them any info.  But when I asked them questions.  They could not give me answers.  Imagine that.

They called me saying there was a case filed on my husband....FREAKED ME OUT...made me have a panic attack.