Bogus Debt Collectors Sweep the Country

This story was written by Kathy Kristof.

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The Better Business Bureau has sent out an emergency alert, warning consumers about a widespread scam that involves phony debt collectors who have significant private information about their victims.

According to reports received by BBB offices in several states, the scammers accuse the victim of defaulting on a loan and claim they are about to be sued. In some cases, the con artists claim to be lawyers with the "Financial Accountability Association" or the "Federal Legislation of Unsecured Loans," BBB officials say.The victim is then given the chance to wire money or provide bank account information for the debt collector to nab it electronically before the matter goes to court. In many cases, victims are subject to dozens of nasty, abusive phone calls in a matter of hours.

More disturbing is that the bogus collectors have the victims' Social Security numbers, home addresses, information about employers, some credit references and even old bank account numbers. The victim is asked to "verify" other private information that could make them subject to identity theft.

"Even though they have sensitive information, they are not real debt collectors," said Alison Southwick, spokeswoman for the Council of Better Business Bureaus in Washington, D.C. "We have to imagine that this is the result of some serious data breach. We don't know what it is yet but it was so serious that we wanted to get the information out right away.

"It is extremely frightening how much information these people have about their victims," Southwick added.

The BBB has already reported the scam to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Trade Commission. However consumers remain at risk.

If you get one of these phone calls DO NOT provide any verifying information. Either hang up or demand that the debt collector send verification of the debt in writing. Then:

* IMMEDIATELY put a fraud alert on your credit file with all of the major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Transunion. Because the scammers have consumer Social Security numbers, your risk of becoming a victim of identity theft is through the roof.

* You will automatically get a copy of your credit report when you issue the fraud alert. Be sure to read it carefully and identify any item that's not yours.

* If there are numerous new accounts or "hard" inquiries-those are where you have supposedly requested credit-file a police report. (Soft inquiries are when a creditor has requested general information about you to provide a pre-approved offer of credit. They are nothing to worry about.)

Also report the fraud to your local Better Business Bureau, which you can access by plugging in your zip code to the BBB link above, and to the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Meanwhile, if you have gotten one of these harassing phone calls, please share the details and how you handled it for the benefit of other potential victims.

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[graphalfkor]

I had these guys calling me over the summer. I called em back and tried to verify what was going on, and it immediately triggered that vibe in me that they were full of crap. I told the dramatic toned duechbag on the other line that I believe I'm the victim of ID theft and he said that he'll report it to the D.A. with computer-like auto response (if any of you have had to deal with a Mumbai call center before you'll get the idea of this guys scripted responses). The sole fact that they are vague about anything and everything and relentlessly try to extract/verify information is obvious.

When I got back to my desk after wasting 5 minutes of my time with a phony debt on a credit card I never had, they called me 5 minutes later at my desk continuing the charade. These guys are resilient and tough talking, but throw a question to them and they'll get annoyed. I called back the number and someone answers 'corporate offices' and if you talk to them for a minute (e.g. corporate offices of WHAT company idiot?') the person gets really irate, especially when you're wasting time. It sounded like they were scrambling to get one of their con-artists to talk to me and while I matched a case number with a name, they couldn't produce the 'case worker' with the same name. Another piece of their amateur pie outfit.

Unfortunately for these bastards I happen to LOVE crank calling and having a legit reason in doing so. Try calling them multiple times, it'll drive em mad.

[Annoyed1973]

I have been getting these scam phone calls for about a year. The first time I got one and the person on the phone was regergitating all of my person information, I got really nervous. I got pretty irate and demanded that everything he was telling me be sent to me in writing b/c I had NO idea what he was talking about. He said something like there was no time, etc.
I have left several messages regarding the phone #s left for me to call back these scammers and the most recent call I got was from a number that was not on any of the scammer phone # sites. For a minute I thought it was legit. I am actually in a program to assist me in getting out of debt and the company that this person said he was calling from was part of the program. I forwarded this information to my counselor and they called and advised my counselor that she was going to be sued. WHAT? So, it was confirmed that this new phone # is a scam.
For the record, the new # is 760-588-2200. Other scammer phone #s I have received calls from are 818-659-5863 & 760-300-4019.
This entire scamming business is unbelievable.

[mycreditgroup]

Here's another bogus debt collector 760-851-0932 calling themselves Internet Credit Investigators. I decided to call him back and it was actually pretty shocking. There's a audio recording of the call.

http://www.mycreditgroup.com/blog/debt-collector-scam-follow-up-theyre-even-collecting-from-cartoon-characters/

[mwisdom7]

i live in texas and i have been getting calls all day from this so called Federal Bureau of Legislation saying i had a case aganst me in california for five grand they told me i would be arrested. the number they are calling me from 4159328710 and also 4152518004 the name he used was peter jackson. threatning me saying theyre going to pull me out of my home. i am hoping these numbers might assist someone maybe investigating this matter. misty in texas

[dianeski1]

I know this thread is old, but I hope someone can help me.

We think we are "under attack" by one of these scamming operations. They keep leaving voice-mail messages telling us we owe debt and urging us to call back about it. We have not yet called back, so we do not know what else they plan to pull. However, we are very suspicious for the following reasons:

** We are totally debt free. We own our house, we own our cars, and we pay off our credit cards in full every month. Initially we thought that perhaps there had been some mix-up with medical insurance payments or whatever...but it turns out we're all fine in that regard.

** The self-styled "debt collectors" NEVER send us anything by mail or even by e-mail. They operate strictly over the phone. This strikes us as kind of weird. If we really owed somebody something, wouldn't we also be informed in writing? How is something like that even "legal" unless it's in writing?

** Recently we received word from one of the companies with which we do business that their customer information had been stolen. Coincidence? I think not.

On the other hand, the purported debt collectors do leave their phone numbers (800 numbers) on their voice-mail messages. If they're scammers, why do they take that chance? We can so easily report them (and probably will). That is the one thing that makes me wonder whether this is really a scam...but everything else indicates that it *is,* so I am VERY reluctant to call them back. (Of course, I would NEVER give out ANY personal information over the phone!!)

Any advice?

Thanks!!

Diane Kamer

[tmgrood]

Hi Diane,
It does sound like these could be scammers. I wouldnt call them back either. Wait until they call you again and ask for proof of these debts sent throught the US Mail, not email. It is the law that they have to send you this info.

[JayAdler1]

Someone said it so I will further it, go cash and debit like my entire family always does. You will not need dozens of postage stamps or Ambien anymore.

[JayAdler1]

Too many individuals are unaware of third party collection agencies and the specific laws that they must follow. In New York if you file a written dispute with the debt holder, no collection attempts may be instituted for thirty days giving you time to resolve the demand. Collectors may only call during certain hours. If they write you off your credit rating may be affected but the agencies by law have to post a written explanation on your report for all to see. If you really are a scofflaw with maybe a $8,000 credit card debt maybe you can settle it with them.They usually will stay wiht arbitration where you can go pro se (no representation). As a corporation, they cannot so the longer you hang around in court the more likely they will cave and either make it $6,000
or much lower payments. Bad economy, use what you got.

[JayAdler1]

As a former Pinkerton and Burns International Security Services Sales and Operations employee I was able to assist in the stoppage of two identity thefts on me. I also once had a man come to my door and identified himself as a State Police official desiring information on one of my neighbors. Something did not seem right so I told him I did not know anything personal about the residents. Then I asked him to show ID. He flipped it but no picture and the writing appeared to to be not professional. These are the little drips and drabs that can save you a lot of trouble. I would say that anyone in a official capacity should have a professionally drawn picture ID. I sent him on his merry way besides which, standing in front of my screen door he could readily see that my two 80 lbs shelter dogs did not want him to enter my home either. Remember, it is always better to 1/4 open a window and converse with a stranger before you decide to open the front door. Too any people do not even lock the door or open it subject to the ring. If a bad guy gets in you are stuck with him inside your house. Also invest in a shredder and destroy any and all documents with account numbers. Scammers pick through the trash and get lucky.

[mincalconsumerlaw]

One of the best things consumers can do is get informed about your rights. A great starting resource is the Federal Trade Commission's website on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), accessible here: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf. This federal law regulates debt collectors.

If anyone's rights are being violated, they should file a complaint. In addition, many consumer rights law firms, including ours, can help consumers stop abusive and harassing debt collection.

Best,

Ehson Salaami
MinCal Consumer Law Group
888-678-5550
www.mincal.com
[e-mail]

[Debbiebr]

Dear sirs: I would like to have you check into the complaints on Citi Mortgage company as they hold the loan on our property and we have been working on the so called stimulus for homeowners through the government and have been on a roller coaster ride of no return. We have been working with Citi for the last 7 months and were told the modification process would only take 3 month of trial payments as well as filling out a loan modification paperwork that then would be accepted and completed in a month time. That month has now taken 7 months and still we are harassed everyday with phone calls, threatening letters, and people taking pictures of our house for foreclosure and processing our modification. The people don't knock on the door just take pictures and leave notes to call Citi within 24 hours or immediately and then when we call they tell us our final paperwork has been accepted and the modification is now final. Although no modification is final and after I recall to talk to a supervisor which takes three hours of transfers, they tell me our modification papers on in the final process and just keep making payments on time and to the address we have been. We have complained and asked why it has taken so long and why after making all the trial payments and signed the final drafts were we sent two other sets of paper work with different amounts and asked to make more trial payments for another 4 months. It may not seem very unnerving to some but our neighbors are watching these people put notes on the door and pictures being taken and now are asking if we are selling or what? Our phone rings off the hook with harassment calls, we have received threatening letters every week and are told it will continue until they finalize the modification which we were told was threw 3 months ago. How can this company keep doing business this way and get bailed out by our government dollars while stealing homeowners money and harassing them until they are sick of it? I would ask you to do a followup on this company as one of the biggest frauds in business today. They have received all the payments on time and even after we still are trying they can harass us to this extent. What is the government doing to protect homeowners from the bank scams.