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Advice About Calls From a Scam Collector - The Bills.com Blog
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Advice About Calls From a Scam Collector
Question: I had an attorney call me 9/25/08 over an unpaid payday loan. I was on the phone with my mother, this attorney beeped in and he said I owed money from a payday loan taken out in 2006. I told him to mail me the info I don't have time right now to set up a payment plan. He said and I quote, "Don't have time, ok, hireyourself a good lawyer because the state police will be picking you up from your home within a week for internet fraud and you'll be serving 10 years." and he hung up. I didn't get his name, but his phone number was 512-340-0745. Where is that?
Answer: Area code 512 is the area around Austin, Texas. I searched online for the number you provided in your question (512-340-0745), and I found that these “attorneys” have been calling consumers all over the country making similar threats. They also claim to be “inspectors,” “investigators,” and, my favorite, “bounty hunters.” Regardless of what these muckraker collectors may say, you cannot be arrested for owing any consumer debt such as a credit card or payday loan. In fact, making such threats is a violation of federal law (the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act). Any collection agency that would operate in such a cavalier and illegal manner is very likely a scam; I would strongly encourage you not to make any payment until the collector provides you with full documentation of the debt, including a loan agreement signed by you and a breakdown of how it calculated the balance it claims
you owe. Because of this collector’s possible violation of state and federal collection laws, I would encourage you to file complaints with your state’s Attorney General’s Office and with the Federal Trade Commission. In addition, you may wish to contact a consumer rights attorney in your area to discuss filing a lawsuit against this company, though pursuing legal action may be difficult due to the lack of identifying information provided by the caller. To read more about debt collection and your rights as a consumer, you should visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website.
As I mentioned, many people on the internet report receiving similar calls from this same number. In fact, your question sparked my memory of these same people calling one of my co-workers making similar threats, so apparently this is a widespread operation. If you visit whocallsme.com , you can read the reports of other consumers who have been called by these collectors. As you will see, others have reported
them to various state and federal regulatory agencies. Hopefully, these government agencies will quickly follow up on these consumer complaints and put a stop to these harassing phone calls. If you receive any more calls from this company, I would strongly encourage you to log the time, date, name of the caller, company name, and exactly what is said. If your state law permits you to do so, you may also want to record any telephone calls you receive from this collector so that you can substantiate your claims; however, make sure to check your state laws regarding the recording of telephone calls to make sure that you can legally record incoming phone calls.
This collector cannot follow through on the threats he is making, and is breaking the law by harassing you in this manner. I strongly encourage you to report these calls to the appropriate authorities so that they can investigate this company and prevent further abuse. I wish you the best of luck in stopping these phone calls, and hope that the information I have provided helps you Find. Learn. Save.
Best,
Bill
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