877-719-5041

One of those recorded messages asking if you know (insert name), then calls them a defendant, blah, blah.  New number, same old scam.

Recetved a call stating that I was going to be prosecuted from 2010 for a payday loan if I did not pay them today

What was your call about

I just got a call today from a Special Investigator saying I committed fraud to a bank and dispatchers will come to my location. Seriously dude????

Received call from this number. I don't answer calls when I don't recognize the number. They left a VM stating that I was a defendant and to call them back. Not happening when you don't tell me who you are.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, is warning consumers to be on the alert for scam artists posing as debt collectors. It may be hard to tell the difference between a legitimate debt collector and a fake one. Sometimes a fake collector may even have some of your personal information, like a bank account number. A caller may be a fake debt collector if he:

•is seeking payment on a debt for a loan you do not recognize;
•refuses to give you a mailing address or phone number;
•asks you for personal financial or sensitive information; or
•exerts high pressure to try to scare you into paying, such as threatening to have you arrested or to report you to a law enforcement agency.

If you think that a caller may be a fake debt collector:

•Ask the caller for his name, company, street address, and telephone number. Tell the caller that you refuse to discuss any debt until you get a written "validation notice." The notice must include the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor you owe, and your rights under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
If a caller refuses to give you all of this information, do not pay! Paying a fake debt collector will not always make them go away. They may make up another debt to try to get more money from you.•Stop speaking with the caller. If you have the caller's address, send a letter demanding that the caller stop contacting you, and keep a copy for your files. By law, real debt collectors must stop calling you if you ask them to in writing.
•Do not give the caller personal financial or other sensitive information. Never give out or confirm personal financial or other sensitive information like your bank account, credit card, or Social Security number unless you know whom you're dealing with. Scam artists, like fake debt collectors, can use your information to commit identity theft – charging your existing credit cards, opening new credit card, checking, or savings accounts, writing fraudulent checks, or taking out loans in your name.
•Contact your creditor. If the debt is legitimate – but you think the collector may not be – contact your creditor about the calls. Share the information you have about the suspicious calls and find out who, if anyone, the creditor has authorized to collect the debt.
•Report the call. Contact the FTC and your state Attorney General's office with information about suspicious callers. Many states have their own debt collection laws in addition to the federal FDCPA. Your Attorney General's office can help you determine your rights under your state's law.

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0258-fake-debt-collectors

Just received a call from my sister in California. sHE STAted they called me the "Defendant" and wanted to know my new number. It is obviously a debt collector as no one and I mean no one is allowed to divulge any information regarding the call to a third party without written consent so BEWARE! Also called # back and it rang once then went busy. I am a collector and I know these laws VERY WELL!

For at least the last year, an illegal group of debt collectors have been terrorizing consumers, their family, friends, and employees threatening to arrest the individual of an unpaid loan or other debt (their generally don't even owe). Be aware debt is a civil matter, not a criminal matter, and you can't be arrested. They threaten a warrant if the victim does not pay a sum of money by the credit card over the phone.

Some of the people they are calling do not owe a debt.  Others they are calling have already settled their debt with the organization who owns the accounts. Even if you do owe a debt, do not be deceived by the actions of this group.  Many of the accounts they are attempting to collect they do not own.  In other words, if you pay these people, that is not going to clear your debt with its rightful owner.  

Although when pressed the callers give the victim an address in Columbia South Carolina (usually a vacant lot) or Atlanta GA (often a parking lot near the bus station). They are actually out of the Charlotte North Carolina area. The scammers are using the following business names (and there are many others, and they seem to create new ones daily).  They will normally answer the call back number as “Investigations”

Reynolds, Hill, and Associates
Berkley and Associates
Kaufmann and Associates
Sanderson Blaine & Associates
Blaine and Associates
McKenzie Reid Associates
Kennedy, Kline, & Associates
Nationwide Asset and Recovery
Piedmont Investigations and Procurement
Raffino, Garrison, & McCoy
Greenman, Schwartz & Associates
McCoy Law Group
Salem Associates
Reynolds and Associates

Here is a set of links to a variety of threads on this forum that document this group and its behavior. They include the experiences of victims as well as a former employee or two that quit within a week of finding out exactly what was going on. They also include responses from consumer advocates and people who are really criminal justice professionals advising victims of what to do

https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-748-8367
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-719-1725
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-676-3492
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-805-5549
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-751-1084
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-803-2349
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-775-2417
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-775-2418
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-755-3417
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-746-3946
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-676-3485
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-966-3768
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-699-9749/2
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-966-6246
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-678-5437
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-967-0061
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-746-3948
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-791-2353
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-699-6246
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-735-8624
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-751-1083
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-736-3678/2
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-966-8529
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-967-2633
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-460-1576
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-609-3074
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-576-6210
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-601-5849
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-230-1283
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-658-0438
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-510-9327
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-509-0338
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-803-0755
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-511-0627
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-509-3033
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-509-0339
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-511-0631
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-883-2350/2
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-244-3381
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-512-0269
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-295-9550
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-966-6277
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-511-4248
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-725-5312
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-756-9997
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-512-1278
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-512-0531
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-512-0273
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-719-5041