888-212-9884

Pretended to be a legal entity but would not provide any details or names.

A relative received a call from this number that I would be arrested if I did not call back. A return call to them took me 3 transfers before I was told who they were and why they were calling. Also the representative I spoke with violated 15USC 1692f 808 Unfair practices of the Fair Debt Collections act: (3) The solicitation by a debt collector of any postdated
check or other postdated payment instrument for the
purpose of threatening or instituting criminal prosecution, as I was told that if I did not give him a post dated check immediately that he would be referring a warrant out for my immediate arrest.

Received a call from a Barry Perkins at this number. Said he was with Law Offices of Kenneth Pelsinger (Lawyer in New York). Said he was looking for my stepson because someone had filed a lawsuit against him. Wouldn't give me any additional info.

Received a letter to my small business about a "SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT" account, originally credited from a company called "Xenex Merchant Services", a company that I have no dealings with both in the past and at present. Same complaints as above comments.

Letter claims to be from an attorney from New York.
Provided the phone number: 516/821-1118 and fax number 516/821-1129 (sic) as well as toll-free number.
Also provided web site at www.progressiveportfoliomanagement.com as option to pay online.

Also contacted recently by a collection agency- insinuating they were lawyer Kenneth Pelsinger's office- scared my near elderly mother to death saying that it would get very ugly for her daughter if she wouldnt tell them where I was and how to contact me. That they would hunt me down and be filing actions against me in the local county court. I contacted them angry and found out it wasnt a lawyer but instead a collection agency and got very angry as they had scared her. I found out it was about a debt long overdue. They then threatened to sue me over the debt. Saying that a 1200 dollar debt had turned into 7500 after years of late fees and interest on a credit card which I had asked them to close. They indicated they would win and id pay over 12,500 in court fees and for the card. I was so upset I started crying at work at how nasty they were. They threatened to sue, told me to stop crying and that I was being ridiculous and that I needed to pay the entire amount immediately even if I had to squeeze friends and relatives for it. They wouldnt accept payments and wanted a postdated check right then. I told them I wasnt agreeing to anything and didnt have it anyway. They then got even more nasty and tried to shake me down. I am not naive and knew I was protected under law. I told them I didnt have it, asked them not to contact my mother anymore and they said I had three days to pay up or there would be legal ramifications. I advised that I didnt have the money. They said pay up or else, call us back within three days in yet again very nasty tone and then hung up on me. I read some more online and it appears everything they did was quite illegal and also learned that there is a statute of limitations per state on open accounts (credit cards) and that in Florida its 4 years from the time of last payment which was probably ten years ago? The account has gone from agency to agency who keep trying to collect but by legal rights they cannot sue over it. They are using extreme scare tactics and im sure im not alone in this garbage from PPM (site listed above). All I can say is if you get contacted, consult a lawyer. A lot will tell you your rights under the credit acts and how to handle the situation. Doesnt look good for them. Bad part is, the original debt occured because of medical issues. If they had approached nicely, I would have done my best to try to catch up. Kindness gets people everywhere but I will NOT Have myself or my family threatened. Good luck all.

My sister recieved a call from them threatening to arrest me if i didnt call within 24 gours.They wanted me to give them the money now and said i could post date the check for the 31st or a warrant would be issued and the last time i have seen or heard from the credit card company was in '02.I told him he could talk to a lawyer and he said give me his name and number because i know you dont have one.I offered for a payment plan and he said time for payments is over i need the money tonight or i will have a warrant issued.He ask how much money i had in the bank , i responded i would have to check and he said well how much was in there last time you got some out.I was transfered  to 3 different people.He also said well looking at you you have more than $10,000 in assets so you can get the money.He said if i hung up he had my name and number and address.He was really cocky and demanding and wasnt really a nice person which will get you no where with me.He ask where i would get the money from and i said i would have to check around and he responded just tell me because i will find out where you get the money from anyways so just tell me.He was getting rather loud and persistant so i said im starting to record this and he hung up on me. What should i do?

Dont pay them a dime. Statute of limitations has run out on that in most states- check yours on the debt by searching for debt statute of limitations, credit cards are considered open accounts. If you pay them anything, you renew their ability to collect on the debt itself. I called a lawyer today, will let you know what they say but harassment is not cool. They cannot legally state they will take legal action unless they can. Its a scare tactic but im verifying with an attorney and will let you know.

Thanks i have look at different things and all i can find is thier a debt collection agency and the statute of limitations for open accounts in texas is 4 years and i dont want to renew that so they are way outta line.HEy i might just sue them for wasting my time because they are some real jerks.I deal we people on the phone alot everyday as a purchasing manager and if i acted like that i would be fired on the spot.

They dont care, they just want your money and will use any and all methods to get it- preferably saying they will sue, put you in jail etc. Which legally is illegal. They cannot say they will do such things if they legally cannot. I am still confirming with a lawyer and will let you know when I know more. They have no right to be nasty. When I talked to them I was at work and the loser put me in tears in front of everyone. It was beyond embarrassing and then he mocked me for having cried and tried to get a check and issued a deadline on payment. They like to scare and wont stop until you advise them of rights. If theres any leg to stand on sue wise, I may just pursue it back against them. Its ridiculous what these jerks get away with. If the account hasnt been touched in years etc, dont pay them and they cannot renew the statue limitation. According to what ive found on line their practices are less than legal and if they get a dime, you give them all the power in the world to get you and get you good. As soon as I hear something, ill post it on here. Also, anyone else that has had a bad experience, please post it on here as well. Thanks!

i was out of town for a couple weeks for work and in the mean time, my family received several calls per day asking for me. I was asked to call a Hugh McKee who aparently works at this Pelsinger's office. When I did call I was transferred to several people, threatened with felony charges, threatened to be served within a couple days (holiday weekend) etc. Where I know that I did not open this account, the dates match up to when i was married. Let's just say that my ex did open credit cards in my name and i'm only finding out about all of it NOW. it's been 5-6 years since they were opened. and after checking online I found out that it is indeed a real debt, but I could find no information on this particular office. I told them I couldn't pay it out right but i'd be willing to make payments and they said it was all or nothing and continued threatening me. Okay.. I'm not the brightest person in the bunch when it comes to being threatened and did do a check by phone for part of it. As of this morning it has not gone through and my bank is putting a hold on any and all checks from my account. For the love of god, i hope nobody else was stupid enough to make the mistake i did. This has turned in to a real mess and i'm still not sure what to do. I have an appointment with an attny. for wednesday and i was advised by the local pd not to do anything whatsoever until i have a more information from everyone.

A Keith Malone claiming to be an "attorney" representating the "law offices" of "Kenneth Pelsinger, Esq" contacted my elderly mother regarding a Citibank MC that she & I were allegedly listed as co-owners of (I've NEVER used her even as a reference on any credit matter) & told her that unless she paid them almost $6000.00 immediately that they would file a lawsuit against her & that the only way she could avoid prosecution was to file fraud charges against me. She hung up on them & called me. I called the number given 1-888-212-9884 & was told the same thing, that unless they received the entire balance within the hour, the suit would be filed. When I told them I had no idea what they were talking about & had never had a Citibank MC & especially not with my mother & asked them to fax me information regarding the charge & payment history on the account to prove the debt was mine, the "gentleman" told me he'd been patient enough & hung up on me. I spoke with yet another person when I called back the second time & she too refused to give me the information, & would only fax me an "letter of confirmation" regarding the debt. The fax came on obviously homemade "letterhead" from this Pelsinger character with a NY address & the same numbers mentioned in the other posts here. They did include an account number but it matches no account number I've ever had anywhere on anything. We will be contacting an attorney first thing in the morning. These folks are obviously up to no good & I shudder to think of the folks who have fallen for this scam.

Oh my it happened exactly as you all are saying. My mom received a call and they told her that I need to call immediately for I had a law suit against me. My mom called me and told me to call the right away. I did! Big mistake there on my part. Someone answered so quickly I couldn't catch where I was calling. The took my info and transferred me, I then gave my info again, of course transferred for the third time and AGAIN gave my information. I then was put on hold and the third person got on the phone again and said Hi I'm Suzan Messinger with KP ESQ Attorney at law and I am the litigation manager here and you are speaking with the right person now. She went on with her whole speach about how she has drafted up papers with the police department in my area and they are being sent out in an hour to arrest me I was asking why, she ignored me and kept on with the threats. Finally after what seemed like 30 minutes (but was actually only a few) she told me what the call was about. She asked if I knew who Citi bank was? Uh yeah I do. She mentioned they are pressing charges against me for frauding a banking institute. What? That's all I could say. She said I have never paid them and I thought I had but this bill was from 97-99 I know 9 YEARS AGO!!! Those two years were really hard for me I thought it might be possible. I asked if I could go home and get all my paperwork, no she replied. I have one hour to send my paperwork in and if you don't voluntary pay for this then you will be arrested. Let me remind you I am at work I started crying please don't. I have worked so hard on my credit. I look at my credit report every month to see how I can better improve it and I was thinking but it doesn't show on my credit report. But she was good and mean. I thought I was gonna pass out. Suzan so how are we doing this are we going to send someone out and Citibank sue you for fraud or would you like to voluntary take care of this. Barely speaking with tears and snot running down my face while at work I said of course I do. Okay then she said I have your credit information infront of me and know you cant afford it, you have had almost 10 years to pay so you have to pay in full who are you going to call to help, I again choked and said my mom. She called my mom and said your daughter is having fraud charges against her she has agreed to voluntary take care of this out of court but she doesnt have the funds so we are calling you to help. My mom said how much Suzan replied $10,770.and change. My mom gulped and said I don't have that much. Well let me see what our lawyers will settle for. Suzan then came back and said $8880.70 and that is as low as we can go. My mom paused and Suzan replied mam do you want to see your daughter arrested? Then you have bail to pay and lawyer fees? My mom quickly replied okay okay I'll pay. All this while I'm crying and panicking in the background and saying mom I am so sorry. I thought this was all taken care of. They took my mom's credit card info sent me a letter and that was it. I get home Tuesday night 1 day after this all happened and what do you know I have a letter in the mail from them a collection agency? WHAT? I thought this was a lawyer's office is all I could think. I quickly ripped open the letter and saw my REAL balance was $7,770.00 and they would settle for $3800.00 until July 1, 2008. WHAT I paid more than my balance. Don't you know I called them of course Suzan wasn't there. I called yesterday yep you guessed it no Suzan still. The man that answered was like didn't you call yesterday uh yeah but I need to speak to her, well she's not here. Well then let me speak to her manager. He wouldnt let me. He kept saying he could help me and said you can't you are her assistant and I want her manager, mam what is wrong. I firmly siad you can't help I want to speak to the manager. He again said what is wrong. My reply whats wrong you guys broke all the laws according to the attorney general, you ripped me off, and I want to speak to the manager. He rudely started yelling at me and said don't yell at me and don't threaten me. I said are you kidding me you guys can threaten innocent people then when you get threaten you get upset. I was placed on hold then Tom Clark claiming to be the VP got on the phone and asked why I was upset and crying. I told him. Well my computers are down so I will call you in an hour no matter what. (computers down, yeah okay) I faxed him copies of everything politely to resolve this issue together. Then a phone call right away from Misty Smith the Accounts manager. No help there. That was worse of. I told her my story and she told me I can't accuse anyone. I said accuse I'm not its what happend. Mam that is hear say. No it's not it happened. Whatever what about the letter that says I owe $3800. I want $5000 back. She replied you agreeded on tape recorder to pay more. I asked her why would anyone be so stupid to agree to that if they owed less her reply was well you did and you had the letter no not until after my mom paid out of distress. She replied well our tape will hold up in court so do what you got to do, why would we charge you more if you didnt owe it, why would we lie? Thats all she could say and then hung up on me.

I FELL FOR IT!!!! Please everyone here who has been a victim help me get my money back and help those who this could happen to. Call the Federal Trade Commission they are responsible to hold all financial institutes to be honest and fair but without multiple complaints they can't do anything. Make sure to give all names if you have them, company and personal. All addresses and phone numbers as well. I'm thankful most of you didn't lose your money but let's stop these scum bags.

The number is 1-877-382-4357.

Sorry for the long story but this just happned to me 3 days ago and it still is fresh and needs to be told. Thank you for taking the time to read my story and helping us innocent people stand up to those dirty scum bags.

Good Luck to us all

What's the connetion between this company and Pelsinger? Most attorney's offices don't have a bunch of people in the back ground making calls. It sounds like a telemarketing firm with all the noise. I got quite the threatening tone from Bob Winters. There must be a training facility that turns these people into [***] (pardon my French). He used the same two phone #'s listed above. They're harassing me about something I didn't autorize to have done 2 1/2 years ago.

caller left a message on our answering machine & said that I need to call 888 212 9884 because I had assaulted someone . They said I needed to make a personal statement right away or a summons for my arrest would be made out. I called our Sheriffs office & they were not aware of anything & said it would have to come through their office first. They as I thought it was a scam. If you get one of these calls call the police to report it. My son did a google on the number & found that it was a scam & that the call hd come from New York

I was called on 7-14 and they left a message on my machine that they were doing an investigation. And that I needed to call them immeadiately.And the woman left a name of Misty Smith. I don't have any idea of why these people would be calling me. What do I need to do?

these people are a fraud and clearly violating the law

Everything this company does is illegal.  They are working on deliquent paper that can not and should not be collected.  The term you want to use on them is "OUT OF STAT" They are trying to make a nickel.  You should ignore their calls and call their bluff.  Do not pay them a cent and contact your Attorney Generals office.  File complaints about them and make sure that you mention that they are in VIOLATION OF ALL FDCPA LAWS.  Advise any callers from the company that they are on notice and they are not to call your number anymore or you will sue them.  Any calls made after you ask them not to call are in Violation of FDCPA.  Request that they contact you and make any further communication via mail.  Consult your local counsel regarding FDCPA violations.  Any proven violation pays out 7-12k per violation.   This company preys on the ignorance and misfortune of people.  I myself recieved a call from the Bob Winters mentioned before and once I spoke up and he relized that he could not scare me he has resolved to sending letters.  He transfered me to Ms. Smith-the alleged lawyers assistant-they made numerous threats regarding a debt that is over 12 years old.  Furtunately, I knew that the Statue of Limitation on the debt was expired and addressed the situation with certainty and also explained that the bank collected on the security of the debt.  Just want to share with those who may not have all the facts of how Collectors sometime work so that you do not allow for this company to scare you out of your hard earned money.

July 31, 2008 Got a call from this company "PPM Associates" stating I had an outstanding balance with a credit card company from ten years ago then it went to five years ago when they talked to my husband. I asked them a lot of questions, and started to get upset they started to get aggresive with me so my husband got on the phone and got different information. SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE!!! My husband started to get aggresive with them trying to get more information from them an they kept changing the story an would not give me details. when I asked for more about the debt they even hung up the phone. He called them back and the person he was talking to(Keith Mallon) would not get back on the phone with him. One of the other [***] at PPM said he would have to call back in the morning. So my husband started to do some home work. He went to Freecredit report.com and found that we had no outstandig bebt and even called a few banks ......... so check your self before you pay anyone money........... takes to long for us to make it so don't give it away to them.

A person from this phone number called a relative of an in-law and said that they were inquiring information about me for Progressive Auto Insurance that had something to deal with an auto accident I had several years ago.  This is unlikely since all my auto accidents have been resolved and closed for several years.  Don't give this person who called themselves Mr. Brooks who works for Progressive any information!  If they were legit, they would contact my insurance co. direclty.

If you have received threatening calls from these people, call a lawyer. What they are doing is illegal.  I called a lawyer, the first one I called, took my case immediately!