Harassment
Complaint
Debra M. Persiano
Country: United States
I got a call today at home from a man stating he was a process server for Collin County DA's Office and he is with the Sheriff's office and needed to come serve a warrant on me. I was shocked and asked why? He stated do you live ....are you still at this address are you now at this address and I stated who are you? He again, stated he was from the county going to serve court papers on me today. He gave me a toll free number for what he stated was the county's office which is 1 866.872.6116 gave me a case no. which he called a Cause No. 008307-TX. I called the number was transferred to a Mr. Fisher's office who stated that law suite in the amount of $6,214.24 was filed in Collin Co., Tx and that warrant was out for me. He then after back and forth said let me get more information from my secretary and state this was for an outstanding debt in from Capital One a credit card that I obtained several years back and had disputes over interest charges etc. He stated that if I did not want to go to court or jail that I could pay $1,951.00 in full by end of business today and this matter could be cleared up. I explained that I recently lost my job etc. Anyway, he stated that I needed to call him back by EOB today or they will serve the papers. Ok, so that was a heads up for me. I called the DA's office nothing is filed on me as of today, after searching PMG it is clear that they do not practice best practices for collections and have been in trouble for this before back in 2004. I need someone to give me advise. I want to pay off my debt, I don't want this type of collections to continue this upset me, made my blood pressure raise, this type of collections are not the right thing to do. Had they called and ask to make arrangements or give me an opportunity to clear the matter, rather then threaten me by taken legal action, or harassment stating they are sending a sheriff over today. This is wrong, bad business, and should not continue this company is bad news.
Comments
FYI, received a call today from an individual claiming to be Wayne Lunsford. It was lcearly not Wayne Lunsford. I beleive it was an individual by the name of Lowell H. Meyer but I would have to cross reference the voice on the YOU TUBE video and the recorded converstation I had with this unknown caller.
The following names have shown up (separate from the aliases used over the phone):
"Aaron Honda" appeared as signature in on-line posting of Riverside County DBA for HGG, as part of PMG.
"Wayne Swanson" showed up on BBB report on PMG, and has come and gone from BBB reports.
"Jason Begley" and "Wayne Lunsford" show up on corporationwiki connected with several CA LLCs connected to the Corona cluster. "Jason Begley" shows up in ripoffreports, and as a defendant in a couple Justia lawsuits, including in connection with some "debt negotiation" company a couple years back.
Several (maybe 4 or 5) complaints indicate credit inquiries through Experian. Reported CRA client names have included "HGG", "ARM", and "Mason".
A very recent complaint indicated an inquiry through Equifax. Not sure whether this indicates any action by Experian.
A "Lowell H Meyer" shows up in the general Corona/Riverside County area. A number of postings on various sites have claimed he is behind this.
Most of the consumer complaints (and LLC formations) against the various names go back 1 to 3 years, yet the operation shows up in its current form from the initial complaints, just growing and adding names.
The "Jason Begley" debt negotiation operation appears to predate the "debt collection operations, but it is not clear what preceeded this recent cluster.
Same tactics show up in complaints against "D.C. Brown", also in Corona, back further.
Several other similar operations under about 10 names in the general area from Corona down to Santa Ana.
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-333-5260
Mail drops started with most in Corona, more recently in Lake Elsinore, and one in Fullerton. The several identifiable real addresses all appear to be in Corona.
All Corona cluster complaint threads show evidence of heavy use of shill posting as part of the deception, both for those that are apparently closely tied, and for several other possibly separate operations.
That means they are not real "process servers", who would have to have been hired in your own county in order to serve you at your own address. If the "process server" is fake, then the "lawsuit" is fake. If the "lawsuit" is fake, what about the alleged "debt"?
What they accomplish by this charade is that you pay them, on a debt you may not even owe to them, without any proof you owe anything.
Check your credit reports. Odds are, you will find a recent inquiry from one of their "companies", just before their calls started. That would give them access to your old account and creditor information.
They are also going to much trouble to hide the ownership, scope, and locations of their operations, using multiple layered LLCs, owned by other dead LLCs. Multiple changing phone numbers, multiple mail drops, under their various names, scattered about the Corona, Lake Elsinore, and Fullerton area, but will most information pointing to Corona CA as their location.
What did they claim the "debt" was for?
What did they actually know about your old accounts?
How did they respond, if you asked for information on this alleged "debt"?
Did they ever send you any dunning letter, like normal FDCPA compliant debt collectors, or did they (as many consumers have reported) just say they had sent one "45 days ago"?
Contact the Riverside office of the FBI.
Of course, that is what attracted so much attention to them on 800notes in the first place.
Everytime some consumer posted a complaint against one of their phone numbers, shill posts started to appear, pretending to be "idiot debtors" being "garnished", or "grateful debtors" happy to be paying on "settlements", or just attacking the credibility of anyone pointing out violations of law.
In a world full of puzzle solvers, they practically waved a red flag and shouted "look what we are doing".
Idiots.
http://www2.dca.ca.gov/pls/wllpub/WLLQRYNA$LC ... 30&P_LTE_ID=651
"BUREAU OF SECURITY AND INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES
Licensee Name: DIVERSIFIED ARBITRATION
License Type: Private Investigator
License Number: 25030
License Status: CLEAR Definition
Expiration Date: April 30, 2012
Issue Date: April 14, 2006
City: PALM DESERT
County: RIVERSIDE
Actions: No
Business Owners
PETERSEN MICHAEL WAYNE
..."
In some cases their shill posts have shown up as the first "complaints" against a phone number.
That implies:
1) They expected complaint posts to be a problem from the beginning.
2) They regularly troll the web looking for complaints to deflect through deceptive shill posts.
3) They regard posted complaints as enough of an interference with the scheme to devote continued effort to damage control, trying to control this source of information.
Marci
But thanks for thinking of me.
It is not clear from the pattern of other complaints if they would have had enough information obtained through pulling your credit reports to fraudulently use your debit card. It may be an unrelated incident.
It is safer to use credit cards, blocking all debit cards, due to better consumer protections provided by federal law, FCBA. In addition, the money doesn't disappear from your account until your bank gets around to reversing it.
Use only credit cards for retail or on-line purchases. Cancel and block debit cards. Use ATM cards requiring a PIN only at your bank's own ATM machines. Use checks only to make payments to companies you already know and trust: mortgage, rent, utilities, banks, etc. Do NOT ever provide your checking account number to make a purchase, pay a debt collector, or even set up automatic payments.
Manage you money, instead of letting the world treat it like it's theirs.
Many reports indicate they pull credit reports, which would allow them to obtain information on your old accounts, including cards blocked or cancelled due to theft, loss or fraud, or accounts created through id theft. That would give them enough information to spin a fake debt story as "id theft, but you owe it", or they could just work off of what you suggested as you tried to figure out this "unknown debt".
Many reports also indicate that even though the first call was supposedly by a "process server", who "helpfully" provided the number to call back to, on checking with the local courthouse, no lawsuit had been filed.
The pattern of complaints is consistent with collection of fake "debts" by using implied threats of "lawsuits" or "arrest" to avoid having to produce any proof.
Contact the Corona Police Department and the Riverside office of the FBI.
What family members did they contact, and what threats did they make?