on line advertising scam
Complaint
Buddy Mayeux
Country: United States
I have been receiving call from this so called company for two to three years every month. They will not tell me their name and I tell them to send me a contract and they never do. Today I received a collection letter from ACA Recovery. I called and a so called attorney told me if I don't pay I will face consequences. He did send me an invoice, but no contract. This is the first invoice I have ever received and I did not order this. I have never advertised on line.
Comments
"I called and a so called attorney told me if I don't pay I will face consequences. "
Your wording indicates that you already suspect its totally bogus.
So why do their practices avoid normal expected business practices?
Any hint of deception is an indication that other forms of deception are likely, such as that the whole "bill" is bogus.
If past experience is any guide, debt collectors seldom have any "attorney" sitting around ready to receive your call when you call in. More common are deceptive claims by some debt collector to be an "attorney" often couched in deceptive language like "legal department", or that they are "with" some attorney, etc. The goal is to leave you with the impression that you better pay and not dispute, which itself implies they expect you to dispute. Why would they expect that? Maybe because they already know its a bogus "debt", but that didn't stop them from sending you an "invoice" anyway.
"He did send me an invoice, but no contract. This is the first invoice I have ever received and I did not order this. "
You've been in business long enough to know that not receiving an invoice from the original vendor, at the time of the alleged "agreement", is suspicious in itself. You would also expect a contract at that time, delineating the terms, and if you were in their position you would have sent one and required that it be signed and returned, since otherwise not only might you not get paid, but the lack of spelling out your obligations in exchange would expose you to risk of both misunderstandings and liability. For example, normal "advertising" contracts generally spell out liability for errors for that reason. (Compare to a legitimate "Yellow Pages" contract, for example.)
Complaints against ACA Recovery, and goyellowpages.com.
https://complaintwire.org/Complaint.aspx/ocbgPRSIQAD4ogjMKixQeg
Complaints against ACA Recovery, and Regional Yellow Pages Online.
https://complaintwire.org/Complaint.aspx/qctkW871IAAh_QjMbnbe6Q
Note that both goyellowpages, and RYPO/OYP Group are reported to be engaged in similar "business directory" scams, involving deceptive telemarketing, fraudulent claims of "recorded authorizations", false invoices, followed by harassment and threats to obtain payment, etc.
This fits a common pattern of "business directory" fraud, and has been seen in various simlar frauds for many years. Several of them engaging in similar tactics have been shut down by FTC, including another, recently, in the south Florida area, GoAm Media.
Also note the regulatory actions taken to two state Attorneys General against OYP Group.
ACA Recovery has been collecting on the debts of both outfits for many months, so we may assume they are fully aware of the nature of complaints against them (i.e. that the "invoices" are bogus).
Note that goyellowpages failed to send an "invoice", not even a phony one, yet ACA Recovery managed to produce one. ACA Recovery is also reported to claim to have "recorded authorizations", just like goyellowpages is reported to claim.
It is illegla under U.S. Postal Regulations (specifically 39 USC 3001) to send invoices for unordered products through the U.S. Mail. Specifically, it would be "mail fraud". It appears that goyellowpages is trying to sidestep this little problem by "laundering" the sending of bogus invoices and having ACA Recovery send them instead, who can then claim they didn't know there was any problem and had some right to rely on the original creditor's claim. The overall pattern, including ACA also collecting for another scam, indicates they are working together, with full knowledge the "debts" are bogus. Treat them as one entity.
Send a written dispute to ACA Recovery, certified, notifying them that the "invoice" is fraudulent, and that you have filed a complaint with the U.S. Postal Inspector.
File complaints with the U.S. Postal Inspector, FTC, your state Attorney General, and the Attorneys General of New Jersey, and Florida. Include copies of all comminciations, such as the fraudulent "invoice" and memorialized notes of any phone conversations, in your complaints.
Check on the legitimacy of anyone claiming to be an attorney. If some ACA employee is claiming to be an "attorney", verify it through the NJ state bar. If they then claim they are "with" some attorney (perhaps "Mr. Kalina"?) check out that attorney and whether that statement is true. File complaints with NJ state bar, as appropriate.
Withholding information is an indication of deception. (That is why it's called "denial and deception", in intelligence circles.) In debt collection, threats are another indication of probable deception. They are used to deflect legitimate questions, i.e. as part of denial, so they are a red flag for deception, and therefore fraud.
"TITLE 39 > PART IV > CHAPTER 30 > § 3001Prev | Next § 3001. Nonmailable matter
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Harassing calls, threats and use of obscene language can pressurize you to the edge and moreover, a collector may embarrass you by contacting your employer or even be pursued to disburse for a debt that is not rightfully yours.
There are limits on how far telemarketers can go, that is why we provide information on how to put an end to telemarketer calls and more efficiently, how to correspond with them about your account and/or to dispute a collection action and can teach you what are your rights in terms of privacy.
You can find out more information on our website: www.spgconsultants.com
By informing each other, we protect each other.
Sincerely,
SPG Consultants
IF YOU HAVE ALREADY PAID BY CC, CALL AND REVERSE PAYMENT.
RYPO CONNECT (Written on Door) REGIONAL YELLOW PAGES ONLINE
1425 Rene Leveques West
Montreal, Quebec Canada
4th floor - Suite 402
Calls made from Montreal* and Pakistan.
*Building: http://www.imtl.org/montreal/building/Hotel-Ford.php
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Regional Yellow Pages Online - Script
May I speak with the Office Manager please. . .
Hi, my name is - -. I am calling with the Regional Yellow Pages. I am calling regarding your request that you made about three months ago, that you want to remove your listings from our database and cancel all your future listings. Is that correct?
YES/NO
Yes = Closer. No = Opener
An opener means you do not want to cancel and will be charged the $479.95. This rarely happens so it will be mostly a Closer.
Closer
Alright - What I will do today is that l will close your account and provide you with a cancellation file # and also, we will send you a Letter of Closure stating that the account is permanently closed with us, which means that we will not be contacting you for any renewals or updates, and we will also put it on our do-not- call, do-not-renew list, OK.
Since the listings were started in - - they will expire in - - and will be purged from our database.
You will also receive the balance of the invoice, which is $ 479.95 and the invoice will be marked FINAL on it.
Do you use purchase order numbers down there or should we just mail this invoice to your attention?
Alright, and the address we have on file is - - OK and your name is- - ? And position - - . Are you authorized to approve and accept this Final Invoice for your Company? (Must be Yes)
OK someone from my Quality Control Department will give you a call later on today and will confirm the mailing address and provide you with your file number.
Anything else I can do for you today?
Thanks for your time and business, and have a great day.
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AMERICAN COLLECTION COMPANY INVOLVED IN THE CROSS BORDER SCAM
ACCREDITED COLLECTION AGENCY
76 N MAPLE AVE STE 141
RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450-3212
USA
800 356 3713 fax: 201 670 8272
http://www.acarecovery.com/
1-800-356-3713
rhascup@acarecovery.com
accounts@acarecovery.com
As the directory scam itself is usually based on trumping up some employee "verification" into a fraudulent "authorization" claim, pressuring an employee they may have caught on tape may work as well as pressuring a manager or owner by claiming some employee "authorized" the charges.
Similarly, pressuring the owner by threatening to sue him personally fits this goal as well, since they can imply that they can damage the owner's personal credit.
That is one of the advantages of targetting this type of scam against small businesses rather than larger corporations, since most larger corporations have limitations on authority along with controls to prevent unauthorized payments.
Can't find anything on a debt collector connected to the name "Trans Continental". Real debt collectors typically are easily found via Google, due to complaints. This may be just a name made up by the "on-line advertising" scammers themselves. In fact, pretending to be a "collection agency" is a common tactic in such scams, for the reasons outlined above. Partnering with a licensed debt collector is less common.
What is the name of the original "company"?
Any phone numbers or addresses?
The funny thing is, they gave us a "case number" today. Well, a girl here had a situation a few months back where some SSM group had put $200 into her checking account without her knowledge. The place claims to do payday loans, which are illegal here in NC. She had to close her bank account, let the bank take out the illegally deposited $200, and open a new checking account less the $200 she didn't request from SSM. The odd part about this that ties into our situation with these "yellow pages" folks is that the case number for them matches the cases number that my coworker has for this so-called payday loan that was given to her without her consent.
I find it really strange; I mean these are two totally different things, with two totally different dollar amounts. It almost sounds like this SSM group is somehow tied in with these "yellow pages" idiots.
I am so sick of these scams, and it's getting really aggravating when they're calling our place of business left and right like they are.
If you are having problems with this entity, including harassing or deceptive sales or collection calls, or attempts by ACA Recovery to collect on their bogus accounts, contact FTC.
"FTC v. 6253547 CANADA, INC., No. 1:09-CV-01211 (N.D. Ohio)
Parties: 6253547 Canada, Inc., d/b/a Thompson Hill Publishing, The Official
Yellow Pages, and The Oyp Group
Opus Media, Inc.
Karl Garon
Claude E. Berthiaume
"