About one month ago I started receiving these phone calls but I kept missing the call and they left voicemail messages which said:
"This message is intended for (my first name and last name). (first name) the reason you receive this message I need you or your attorney of record to return the call. If you are here this is extremely time time sensitive. My name is Ken Roth and the hotline to my division is 213-805-0295 I repeat it's 213-805-0295. Please don't disregard this message and to return the call. Now, if you don't return and I don't hear from your attorney either the only thing I can do is wish you good luck."
Now of course I was extremely shaken because the voice sounded horribly distorted like a voicebox machine or at worse a monster. I tried calling the number they left which was a truncated number that did not receive incoming calls. It was different from the one mentioned above and the callers name was something Barker.
Eventually, they called again and answered and waited for the person to join the conversation. It sounded just like the voice message except less machine-like. This person was very rude and told me he was contacting me from on behalf of Fast Cash and that I had two days to obtain a lawyer because they were bringing an affidavit to my place of employment. I was being sued for fraud, theft by deception and something else.
I asked him how come I had not received anything in the mail regarding this before now and he became annoyed and told me to let the people I used as references (he knew both their names) know that they were going to be subpoenaed and that I was at risk for having my driver's license suspended (he knew the lic. # too). After getting know where I told him I would wait for them to come to my job.
When I got home I did research on this because I did have an active loan with this company yet I had never heard from them about being displeased with me or any problems they had regarding payment. I kind of knew something wasn't right but because they had so much of my information I had to research it. I found online that many people had been called by this person or this company of alleged lawyers in regards to lawsuits and affidavits.
I then contacted the payday lender through email explaining this and told them I had the voice messages saved. Someone called me on my home phone and I allowed the messages to be recorded from my cellular. They explained to me that they were not affiliated with this company and that they were working with investigators to try and find out who the people were. They said that they were scam artists who are said to be on an Indian Reservation (no offense to anyone) and that I should put a fraud alert on my credit reports.
After that I made sure that I paid the loan and I have a letter of confirmation stating this because I was ready to report this company which I believe they are getting a bad rep (maybe) because of these creeps from Federal Legislation or Financial Accountability Associates.
Today, the phone calls began again and there have been about 6 phone calls today including messages. They are calling from a number with only 9 digits which are 810-676-161 which if you dial it back it does not go through. I am thinking they are using this number and hiding the last digit ID or maybe it's a program of some sort. The phone company allows anyone to do anything these days.
I can not answer the call because every time I answer it's silence and I'm saying hello a bunch of times. I hang up and I have a voice message from this company and the message above is what the new voice messages are stating.
Luckily this time I was able to call the number back which has a different area code as you can see. I spoke to someone who I explained that I have already spoken with the company they said they were calling me about and for them to stop calling me because I've paid off the account, allowed them to record the message for investigative purposes and that they told me they were not affiliated with them He asked me "who said we were calling from 500 Fast Cash" and I told him about the phone conversation a month ago from someone named Barker and he says "Peter Parker, that's spider man" and I ask if he was trying to be funny and he says he was. I told him to have my number taken out of their system and that I was recording this phone call and he hung up on me.
So, I called back and told them I was hung up on and he asked me if my name was someone else's and I told him it was not and that am requesting them to not call me anymore. He asked for my phone number and I gave it and he pulled up my record. He then tells me he can not tell me the name of the company and he won't confirm it's a payday loan. So, now they are covering themselves based on what I've told them.
He gave me the spill again about how they were coming to my job with the legal papers and I told him that I had heard this before and that I had two days and waited two days and no one showed up to my job. He tells me I do not have two days this time. He then tells me my Social Security #, my bank account # and where I work. So, I tell him that I am putting a fraud alert on my account and calling the police about this. He hung up on me again.
The phone calls have gone on from about early afternoon up to 8pm and my last conversation was around 7:15pm so they are not listening. I have put them on call reject on my cellular and they continue to fill-up my voicemail. So, I came on here to see if I could research the company names they gave today and was surprised to see another report from today with that information.
My take on this is that they obtained my information when I applied for a payday loan. I used one of those "Fill out one application and will find a lender for you" online payday sites. I felt iffy about doing that but I was desperate to get an approval that was more than $300 and thought this was the best way. This was not a secure site I'm thinking.
I believe this company is affiliated with that site, whose web address escapes me, and they made themselves out to be a valid lender just to steal information and then call and scam people into believing they are going to be sued or sent to jail. One thing I can say is that they have not asked me for any money or told me an amount they needed in order to satisfy this. They've been consistent about the affidavit and lawsuit so I am not certain of their intentions.
What I will say is that no one came to my job the last time, the company I had a payday loan with did not admit to being affiliated with them and with all of the weirdness tied to this I do not think it is legitimate. Also, there are enough reports on the web regarding these specific calls.
I am no angel when it comes to credit issues so I know what a legitimate collections department operates like. Also, lawsuits do not come out of owing a bill. Collections departments do and you receive the notices in the mail. Not a threat of coming to your job.
I'm not certain what I will do since they have all of my information. I did close the bank account I had and that's the only advice I can give anyone as far as protecting yourself. I am going to have to figure out who to work with regarding the scam and possibility of being a victim of identity theft as they have all of my information.
I hope my report helps someone else as I was so very scared the first call I had gotten because of the charges and possible loss of my driver's license. So don't worry and don't allow them to victimize you. Be proactive and an advocate for yourself.
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