888-673-4546

Left a message for some fake sounding named person. Doom speaking about check fraud in my "name and my SS# in my county" vague threats about prosecution and for me or my attorney to call immediately to avoid harsh penalties. Sounds like an offshore pfishing scam.

Same thing.  Called me and my family. This is not legit. First of all, I have never committed a crime in my life. Second of all when you do commit a crime they don't call you they show up with a warrant. This is either a debt collector doing things the wrong way but I don't have any Debt I owe or just some scammer

Same here. Basically the same message that Wookie67 received.  I like how at the end she says, "In accordance with state law you have been notified".  Nice touch!

Same scenario as all above,  a Maria Rodriguez asking me to verify my social and using my name from which I have not used since 2004 since my divorce.  I proceedeeding.  This woman and another one that called stating I am being charged with writting a bad check and fraud criminal, WTH.  Rude and will not give any information.

Criminals are masquerading as debt collectors in an attempt to extort money from people by scaring them into believing that:
a.    You are going to be sued and it will cost you lots of money when they allegedly “win” their case.
b.    That they are about to file criminal charges or that you will be criminally charged (they use the bad check or hot check claim a lot) and go to jail.
c.    That they will take away your driver’s license.
d.    That will garnish your wages without actually being suing you, going to court, or even winning a case and obtaining a judgement followed by a judge’s consent to the garnishment.  They also claim that your wages will be garnished in amounts far above all legal limits.

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 and they can scare that person into paying their extortion money.

They will use the words “Mediator”, “Arbitrator”, “Law Office” or claim that they are a “Lawyer or Paralegal” to make you believe that they are something other than a debt collector want-a-be and that they don’t have to follow Federal and State collection laws, even though they do have to follow those laws, but they won’t.  They also tell you that if you fail to call them back you are "waiving your right to council", which is pretty much nothing but hogwash.

They claim they are officers of the court, or that an officer will accompany them, or even that they are sending officers to arrest you.  All hogwash.  They tell you to lock up your dogs and guns for “everyone’s” protection.  More hogwash.

They use the phrase “govern yourself accordingly” a lot, something they should do themselves.

They mention that they have received a Fax document, to create the sense of urgency and tell you that they are a “process server”. This is simply ruse to get you to call another 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).  Process servers do not ever call ahead so that you can dodge them.  Process servers get paid to serve papers, nothing else.

If your feel you SSN has been compromised, in addition to putting a fraud alert at the 3 credit bureaus, you may want to notify the IRS.  Here is the link, fill out the proper form (probably 14039). Also file a report at the FTC Identity Theft web site as well as learn what else you need to do:
http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/How-Do-You-Rep ... aud-Activity%3F
https://www.ftc.gov/faq/consumer-protection/report-identity-theft


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

The Maria gal said she's with a firm a s her call was on a loan and her number keeps changing and it's odd that she calls places people bavent lived at or have since they were little and to young to take out loans

Big A,
Can you please write back ASAP as these people have called my entire family. Stating that they are sending someone to my house to "serve" me. I don't know how they got any of my families information and stated that if I don't call back today with a payment that I will be getting served. That there is a arbitrator on their way to my house to serve me and that if I don't make a payment by today that they will come and embarrass me at my place of employment, etc.
Can you confirm that this is not possible?

I got a frantic call from several family members (who I don't even know how they got these family members information) saying that this woman was looking for me and that they were sending a process server to the house (which is my parent's house that I have not lived in in over 6-7 years) and that I will be sued and taken to court and responsible for all the court fees, etc. I told the woman that I don't remember this particular loan, that I had a loan in 2012 but that I know that I paid it off. She tried to get me to pay immediately and stupid me was almost ready to pay when the fact that they had not sent me any paperwork, they could not provide a link to pay online, they only took credit card payments, etc...all these red flags caused me to search the number and I came to this website. Please any info is appreciated. Thank You

I believe the answers you seek are already in this thread.

This is an out and out extortion scheme.  Everything they told you is spelled out in my post.  Arbitrators do not make house calls, they work in an office or in a courthouse.  They called all your family for the reasons I specified above.  All you have to do is call your State Attorney General's Office and ask them.  They will tell you the same thing.  I put the links to both the CFPB and state AG's up there.  Do not pay them one red cent or you will be paying them for the rest of eternity.  That is how extortion works.

I appreciate it. I just got scared because #1 they called my family (again no idea how they got their numbers) and got them in a tizzy thinking I murdered someone or something by how they were talking #2. I did take a payday loan or 2 back on 2011 or 2012 when I had some emergency health issues but I was almost positive I paid them off #3 they did offer info on the creditor and all that bit it still just didn't sit right with me. Saying they needed me to pay today before the end of the day or they could not stop the process server from coming to my house. I thought that was pretty short term notice, don't you think?! Saying I'll be responsible for all the legal fees and I need to obtain an attorney and pay for all their legal fees as well as court fees but if I just pay the  $385 they will put a cease and desist on the process server. I'm really aggravated

You've described the sadly typical ruse: "Pay us now and we'll make all the scary people go away." There is a right way and a wrong way to collect a consumer debt both in and out of court. I think you can guess which way your new playmates lean. If you learn your rights, you will never have to second-guess creepos like these again. In fact, you might want to see that your whole extended family reviews what the CFPB and FTC have to say, so they too cannot be co-opted into assisting fraud.

CFPB Q&A: Can a debt collector try to deceive me to collect on a debt?
FTC alert: "Fake Debt Collectors"