On Monday, August 4, at around 4:30P local time, I received a call on my cell phone—from a blocked number—from a man with a thick French accent stating that he was John Hudson from the "Legal Affidavit Office of Los Angeles County". I assume the "Los Angeles County" was added to make me think it was some sort of county government office. He asked me if my name was... And I said yes. He then proceeded to tell me that I had taken out a payday loan in December that I had defaulted on the loan, and that the lender was suing me for fraud.
I immediately denied that I had taken out any such loan. He continued with his speel as if I hadn't said anything. He said that the lender had transmitted the funds via electronic funds transfer to my bank account, and when the lender sought repayment of the loan through electronic debit, that the funds were insufficient, and after several attempts at trying to recover the loan and interest from my account, the lender had sued me for fraud.
I again, vehemently denied taking out any such loan and told him that I could easily produce bank statements that would show that no such payday loan had been electronically transferred to my account. I told him that I had applied for some payday loans on-line in June of but what was offered was so small, and the interest so userious, that I declined them. Again, what he was accusing me of was taking out a loan in December and defaulting on it. He then asked me more questions, and like others who have posted reports, he had pieces of my information. He didn't ask me for information, but rather to confirm information that he had. He asked me if the last four digits of my ss# were... And I said yes. He asked me if my bank account number was... And I said yes (he had all of the numbers except the leading zeros) He did not ask about my bank name or routing number. He then asked me if I listed... As a reference, and I said yes. Then a light came on in my head—the pieces of my information that he had (particularly who I had listed as a reference) made it clear to me that the information I had provided on the payday loan applications I filled out in June—on sites that were supposed to be secure—had been compromised. "SCAM" hit me like a ton of bricks. I contended with him that the personal information he had of mine, he must have gotten from the applications I filled out in June and that I had not applied for, nor received any payday loans in December.
He just continued talking over me.in addition to his thick accent and broken English, he used terms that I knew were not legal terms. He said the case against me had been "downloaded" and would be "executed" on Friday, August 8 at 11:00A. I finally had enough of the insanity and hung up. He called right back—from the blocked number—and I let it go to voicemail. I was out to lunch at the time, and when I got back to my office I listened to his voicmail. His message stated that he was John Hudson, calling this time from "The California Court—Los Angeles County". When on to state how he didn't appreciate me hanging up on him, and stated "now you will know the consequences you will have to face". He said I would have to pay legal charges of $5,484, excluding bank charges, attorney charges, and the amount due on the supposed loan. He NEVER mentioned the amount of the payday loan, nor who it was I was supposed to have taken the loan from. He futher stated in his voicemail that I should prepare to be "picked up"—I assume that was code for being arrested. He further stated in his voicemail that if I wanted to save myself a lot of legal and attorney fees, to call him back to resolve the case. He never said what exactly he could do to RESOLVE the case.
I called him back on the number he left—which is listed at the top of my report. I knew it was a scam, and I wanted to tell him so. I knew that if I were being sued for anything, I would be served a complaint in writing, and would not be receiving a phone call from some county government office. The same voice answered the phone "Legal Affidavit Office", but this time stated he used a different name, that I couldn't distinguish through the accent, but I knew it was the same voice. I asked to speak to John Hudson, and he said "let me get him, and got back on the phone and said "John Hudson speaking"—and it was the exact same voice. He continued with the "case has been downloaded and will be executed" line, and I asked him what did that mean, and couldn't answer. He said to give him my attorney's name, and he would forward the affidavit to my counsel. I told him I didn't have an attorney and didn't need one, that I could prove I didn't receive this alleged payday loan, and that he was a sham. He then said "you will find out" and he hung up.
If I had agreed to RESOLVE this ficticious case with him, I'm not sure what else he would have asked for—I assume he would have asked for more personal information, such as my entire ss#, credit or debit card #, complete bank account information, etc. Or maybe he would have said he could RESOLVE the case for some kind of fee—I don't know. At any rate, I am very disconcerted that my personal information was compromised on the online applications that I filled out—on supposed secure sites. I do have I.D. Theft protection with one of the credit reporting bureaous, and I check my bank account daily.
I am so grateful that I found this website. I am so angry I could chew nails! I think people like this are the lowest of scum, and I would love to contribute to putting them away. I am more than happy to be contacted by consumer advocates, attorneys or government officials regarding this.
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