I hope I'm allowed to copy your post. I have a binder with information that has been made available (here) on a variety of subjects. Coming to this website is like attending a class. Heaven only knows how many scams I've avoided by just coming here and soaking up information.
Every chance I have, I give out this website's address. There are so many trusting or naïve people in the world. I'm trying to spread the word about learning to outsmart the scammers. It upsets me to know that any hard working person can have his/her bank account emptied and/or his/her identity stolen.
The information Res47 posted is stuff he has found Linda-freely available so it should be all right. It is good to see someone that gives out the site to others-forewarned is fore-armed after all! Look around on the threads and you can see what we do here cuts into the profits of scammers deeply!
+2
Mortimer
I'll bet the clowns who run these "collection agencies" don't even pay their own goons, or short them on the pay they promise. I can't understand why spoofing isn't illegal, ESPECIALLY if you're spoofing the number of a law enforcement agency.
Rule of thumb - if I don't recognize the number (especially if it's a tool-free or private number), I don't answer the phone. Mine is one of those rare two-party states, but if they leave a message, it's implied consent. Plus, I don't have to fire up a voice recorder every time they call. If they want to leave nasty messages, go for it - I'll take their [***] to court too. Let 'em hang themselves! I'd LOVE to secure a $10 MILLION judgment against them! Not that I'd ever see a dime of it either, but at least every coin they collect in my state from that day forward can be garnished from them, and if they ain't gettin' a dime in any given state, there's no point in them calling anyone.
None of us have automatic copyright control of anything we submit to websites we don't own. If you want to clip 'n' save what you find here, there is not much contributors can do. It's for Admin to decide what's "fair use" and what violates proprietary rights. I'm not sure what your binder holds or to whom it is "made available", but you should be certain it doesn't count as unauthorized "reproduction or redistribution".
Personally I take an approach like Creative Commons. If you like something I wrote here two whole years ago and find it useful, I'm pleased if it indirectly helps others with their problems. Sitting in your own files for personal reference I can't control or object to. I myself clip 'n' save things frequently. If the material is shared somehow, I only request attribution. This isn't about claiming credit, I stress, but clearing a path for people to find and verify their own answers.
The topic in that specific post is a good example of why provenance matters. The rules are clear enough to read but vary by region. How and when they apply is less clear as we now struggle so often with privacy issues. Recording, retaining, and sharing of data, and also abuse of privilege, has never been simpler or cheaper. Corporate powers enjoy that privilege when they get to snoop on us and trade our data like baseball cards, yet they can't stand when we monitor and record *them* to protect ourselves. Hence the hiring of costly defense lawyers to pump fog into the courtrooms every time a right to information meets the right to privacy. Defeating those who want their sins buried at any cost to our liberty is a matter of strategy and not formula. Until you reach your own understanding and conclusions, you don't have a sound strategy.
What I'd written is a mix I can't measure of official material, personal experience, and unofficial wisdom collected from people who've had to operate where the "official" won't reach. If I wasn't confident in any part of the submission, it would not be there, yet I still urge people to seek multiple perspectives. Maybe like you, school is in session for me every day that I study businesses running on models of fraud and chicanery. I think my comments are reliable but not the last word.
The legal system, regarding these cases, is an absolute joke, and a sick one at that. When the side reverse, the "law" runs into the wall to protect the "campaign contributors".
The legal system is a tool which can be used well or poorly. I'm sorry you weren't satisfied with your experience, but don't let that shadow someone else's. Mey and her team have done a lot to "afflict the comfortable", continuing to hound Thai Han and his cronies wherever they pop into view from their lairs. Litigation is a means of reaching compromise you can live with. Those expecting more are often disappointed. Her defendant fiends have ducked a crippling judgment, but Ms. Mey can sleep without a pistol near her bed, and has made it harder for the Corona Cabal to ply their ugly trade.
+4
Chewbacca-the-Wookie
For what it's worth, I contacted a law firm in Michigan who specializes in suing debt collectors for FDCPA violations (I saw their banner ad on this site). They were quite cordial, but they informed me that they only pursue legitimate, registered collection agencies, and don't go after the illegal scammers. The gentleman said they receive calls about phony debt collectiors every day, but there's no point in suing illegal operations because you can almost never collect. He mentioned payday loan collectors in particular, as most of them operate illegally. Since most of these attorneys work on contingency, that means they would only collect their fees if the plaintiff collects on the judgment, which is why I suspect they don't pursue such cases. He advised me to report these calls to the Attorney General. I asked if that really does any good, and he said that if the AG's office gets enough complaints about a particular scammer, they will take action against them.
I've only spoken to one firm so far, and perhaps it's worth getting a second or third opinion on the matter. If anyone knows of some good law firms in Michigan I can contact, I'm all ears!
Walker is a registered member of this site, and anyone who makes the effort to register has a certain degree of accountability for what they post. I believe she is telling the truth.
The people who are harassing her are not legitimate debt collectors - they are criminals. A legitimate debt collection agency is licensed by the state, and has to adhere to certain ethical rules of conduct to maintain that license. The harassment she speaks of is illegal....period. Any legitimate collector who engaged is such practices would lose their license in a heartbeat!
I believe this to be nothing more than an attempt to extort money from a senior citizen. Unfortunately, seniors are prime targets for scams and extortion schemes. We see these stories in the news all the time. Too many of them just give in because they're either not informed, or they don't want to go through the hassle of fighting back. Sounds to me like the scammers picked on the wrong senior here, and good for her for not giving into these criminals! It's unfortunate that she has them living on either side of her, and who knows if they're really collecting for anyone besides themselves? It could just be a case of a couple of felonious neighbors who teamed up to get some money out of an old lady by posing as "collectors". This stuff happens.
Here is another scammer that has been caught one time already and now is doing it again. Legacy Reliance 855-440-4197, 714-922-9001, 888-443-8130, 855-441-3331, before this name he was using another name and when he got found out he/they opened under Legacy Reliance...LETS SHUT EM DOWN PEOPLE
Try reading the story. The card debt was allegedly owed by Mey's son, who by then was long gone from the homestead for eight years.
It's typical bullying practice across the industry to needlessly hassle parents and relatives of younger alleged debtors. Even absent the depraved threats lobbed at Mother Mey, no one should contemplate paying a lawbreaker or paying a creditor which hires one. What in hell would be the point of taking an extortionist collector to court only to agree to reward it with money for unverified debt?
Reply to topic