FTC Brings First Case Alleging Text Messages Were Used In Illegal Debt Collection Scheme

Local governments rarely go after these rouge collectors as they are a huge tax base for the local community.  Virginia Beach/Tidewater is a huge meca for these collectors.  Same goes elsewhere too!  They have the entire city on payroll.  Yet they rarely pay or will the local government go after them.  Most of them are LLC which means limited liability corporation and don't have any money as once they get any funds in they transfer it off to another showing zero funds in the kitty.  Also the board members are all straw figures so no one to go after.  Big racket is what it is.

971-229-8770 calls me daily some times 5 or 6 times... I don't owe anyone any money. There is never a message, text or voice mail. Real tired of this as I only text. I Want it to stop.

I just took the biggest ѕhⅰt of my life.  My аѕѕhоⅼе is burning.

That is why I got away from the contract phones so I would not be charged more for the same crappy service and other harassment they

What about if I do not owe anyone money what so ever?
I have told a collection agency they have the right number but no one lives at my address/house bye the
name they give. I have told them over10 times in the last 2 1/2 weeks. I've sent them a cease and desist
letter by certified my. They still call asking for a person I DO NOT KNOW and I have lived at my address
for the last 13 years.

How do you expect someone in my situation to respond.
Only thing I can do at this point is obtain an attorney and file a lawsuit
against them and win so they can't sell the debt to another collection agency.

How ?

I have an idea for another type of lawsuit against debt collectors, one that could change laws for the benefit of consumers, and it would likely be a successful suit (though it would be heavily-appealed, I'm sure).

Currently, debt collectors are allowed to call you and leave a message (usually a recording, btw) along the lines of, "Hello, this call is for John Smith. If you are not John Smith, please hang up, as you are not authorized to hear the rest of this message. If you continue listing to this call, you confirm that you are, indeed, John Smith... This call is to collect a debt. Please call Dewey Cheatem and Howe, LLC, to arrange for payment of the debt or else further action will be taken..."

So, my point is that the collector can't guarantee that only John Smith listens to that message. Collection agencies are allowed to leave that type of message because the law currently sees that recorded disclaimer as them having taken a reasonable precaution against someone else hearing the message and learning that John Smith is being sought by debt collectors. But is it really a reasonable precaution? How often does the person who answered the phone continue to listen to the message, even if the call isn't for them? Or even if the recipient does hang up, it's pretty clear - at least to anyone with an IQ above room temperature - that it was a debt collector who called, based on the message/disclaimer. So either way, they are, in effect, disclosing the fact that they're a debt collector to others, violating the spirit of the laws relating to fair debt collection practices.

Suppose someone has a company cell phone, which goes to a colleague when he or she resigns (or even a land-line work number, for that matter), and logically that person's bills don't become past-due until after they lose their job. So the debt collector starts robo-calling the person's former number, and reaching his former colleagues, with a recording identifying themselves, either directly or indirectly, as a debt collector. The problem is - that is currently legal (!), so long as 1) the guy hasn't asked the debt collector not to call him at work (which he wouldn't think to do, since they didn't even try the work number until he no longer worked there, so he wouldn't even know they called), and 2) the voicemail left by the debt collector contains the disclaimer at the beginning to "hang up if you are not ___." That law needs to be challenged using the above arguments.

Btw, the collectors aren't really great about updating their records, ether - I get those calls for strangers all the time (and they make it nearly impossible to reach them to get your number taken off their system - the recording won't let you transfer to a live person, and the number on caller-id doesn't ring back to a live person and typically won't accept incoming calls - I don't know how they expect people to actually pay the amounts they claim are owed (it's clear the purpose of the calls is simply harassment).

It really bugs me that the collection agent robo-calls are allowed to continue. So, I'm hoping to find an attorney who wants to join me in trying to set legal precedent on this issue and effectively eliminate robo-calls by collection agents. I have a great idea regarding evidence and how best to make the winning argument here. So, if you want to talk further, feel free to get in touch with me at tr19087 at yahoo.

Cheers!
TR

Note: I'm not an attorney but I have an extensive legal knowledge. More importantly, I have a PhD in a relevant field and I could serve as an expert witness. (alternatively, I could be a plaintiff - I'm sure I was the subject of quite a few collector robo-calls when I was injured a few years ago and not able to work for more than a year or two).

I have car insurance, I prefer to pay by mail, and receive a bill, yet every month, I get two or three, e-mails telling me this or that...never even give out your e-mailaddress, these people, try to confuse the hell out of you, just ignore them all...if bill is late then call, if they try to get your card number, tell them, NO, my preference was a monthly bill...if you give out any more infoo, they will start taking money from your account which is as illegal as you can get, they want to save every dime by not sending a bill, but God only knows what they would do to your personal accounts, we didn't always have computers, we don'[t need them now!

He is a fraud and scammer from India. Telling us to transfer money. He operate from New Delhi, India and his Indian Phone No. +918130704305. Screw him guys.

Look on the bright side! When you lose your house you won't need to worry about the illegal papers littering your yard. And even better, you won't have internet access to clutter the world with your sob story.

You may be referring to the law firm of Michael Agruss based in Chicago IL.
1-312-5720176.
I have used him twice for a total of $1500.00
He will discuss the case and if the law has been broken state and federal, they will take the case pro bono!
Do not acknowledge any info over the phone other than your name and address!
Demand a letter stating what you owe, to whom and how much.
Also any debt collector attempting to collect a debt that is beyond the statue of limitations is illegal, UNLESS you acknowledge the debt which starts the clock all over again!
Statue of limitations varies by state.

Second part of my response was regarding the collector, NOT Agruss law firm, LLC.
AL

It depend on what state you are in. In California they cannot sue you for a debt that is older then 4 years, but they can try to collect. if you make a payment or sign an agreement acknowledging the debt  that will start the clock again.

You had my agreement with you until you decided to throw a xenophobic comment at the end.  PLEASE Stay factual...its unnecessary and unappreciated when you do that.

Just a matter of time before Philippine and India con artist figure out how to use this scam to drain more funds from U.S. citizens. It seems that they operate unscathed because the feds don't see it worth their time/money to pursue these crooks.

my phone is so hacked, i cant even get in toiuch by mail or phone to get involved. my 2565583352