While at work, I got a call on my cell phone from a number I didn't recognize. Usually I don't answer those, but my ringer was turned up and the quickest way to shut it up was to answer.
The woman on the other end, named Samantha, was a heavily-accented middle eastern woman. She said she was calling to inform me that I was due in court the next day to answer charges of check fraud. She then proceeded to read through a spiel, asking me to "wait until she was done" to answer any questions. The spiel stated basically that I had taken a payday loan and failed to repay it, and that I was now being charged with check fraud and a couple of other charges I couldn't understand. If I was on probation, I should notify my probation officer. I should contact an attorney immediately.
Once she's done with her reading she asks me what I want to do about the bill. I said I had some questions. I asked for her name, for a contact phone number, and for the name of the company she worked for. I asked for the name of the company I supposedly got a payday loan from and it was "quick payday loans". Then I asked for an address and she said, "why do you need to know the address". I said, if your company is legitimate, you shouldn't have a problem providing one. She said they were giving me the opportunity to resolve my issue but the details would be in the subpoena I'd be served the next day.
This is where it gets scary. She then read off all my personal info. My SSN, my full name and address, where I work, where I BANK AT... Everything. Then she said that they had the "right" to let my employer that I am involved in a criminal proceeding. That's when I was sure she was a fraud. I again asked for the address. She again asked me what I wanted to do about the bill. When I said nothing since I haven't done anything wrong, she muttered something and hung up.
I called the number back. "Samantha" answered. I asked again for the company address or the supervisor. She put me on hold and a man came to the phone (didn't catch the name). He also had a thick middle-eastern accent. Asked him for the address. He refused. I asked for the cause number. He said it would be on the subpoena I'd receive tomorrow. I asked which court it had been filed at and he said "your local court". Then I laughed and said that if he didn't know where it was filed, he didn't have a subpoena. Then I flat out told him "you're a fraud". He got mad and said we'd see when I was arrested tomorrow; I'd better get a lawyer. I told him he was barking up the wrong tree because I actually have one. (I have been wrangling with a REAL collection agency for the last year over fraudulent collection practices and have had to retain a fair debt and collections attorney to protect myself). He said again I'd see the subpoena tomorrow and I said to bring it on; because my attorney loves stuff like this.
Looked up the numbers they called me from online and several websites have people with identical stories to mine. Some are speculating that they are actually pulling credit reports under the guise of extending credit. I don't know how they got my personal info, but I called my bank to put a security alert on my account. I talked to my boss at work. I still have to notify the credit bureaus. Looked up "Quick Payday Loans" and of course got a million links to sites that offer "quick payday loans".
Folks, I deal in my job with fair debt and collection practices. Here are a few things that let me know they were frauds:
&You aren't going to get a subpoena the same day you're due in court.
&No collection agency has the right to discuss your financial or legal matters with your employer.
&Criminal court and civil court are two separate and distinct entities. Paying money doesn't get you out of criminal charges that have already been filed. That is up to prosecutorial discretion. And, being charged in a criminal proceeding doesn't give you an automatic financial liability. If you are convicted of something, you can be ordered to make restitution, but simply being charged doesn't give anyone the right to collect from you; and won't make it go away if you pay them.
I feel very sorry for people who don't have the same knowledge of the law that I do because of my line of work. It would be very easy to get roped into this and be stolen from. According to some of the complaints I've read, these guys have even resorted to repeatedly calling someone at their job to try to extort money from them.
I can't believe with all the complaints I've seen, these guys are still in business. They aren't even collecting legitimate debts.in an economy where there is so much fear about getting and keeping jobs, this sort of thing should be at the top of the list to get stopped, yet these guys keep going.
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