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
Maybe this is the reason:
"I told them I am on to them and I already filed a report with the FTC, BBB, and the attorney General"
Up to now, they have gotten away with their fraud attempts with no consequences, by just "closing" the "account". If they are now attempting damage control, then they feel threatened.
There are indications in a number of recent consumer complaints pointing to FTC moving beyond passively collecting complaints and toward actively investigating this scam.
Consumers have reported FTC contact with their telecom provider to get information on their various 800 numbers, that on contacting FTC they were told they are investigating a cluster of related scams, and that they may be pulling credit reports and using old account information found there.
Those details point to FTC having more than a superficial interest. Adding new aliases, like this recent crop, isn't enough to cover it up anymore.
If you and I can find these indicators from Google searches, so can the Corona Scammers.
http://getoutofdebt.org/29403/fake-process-se ... ut-of-consumers
Extortion attempt ("it would get ugly if she didn't appear" is a physical threat), impersonating court employees.
"Today I was contacted by a person claiming to be a case worker with a Court House in South Carolina. The man on the phone threatened a friend of mine with liability for failure to appear and told my friend that there was a judgement against her and that they would make two attempts to serve her and that it would get ugly if she didn't appear. The man also gave my friend a case number and when we researched the information directly with the court, no such case number or legal action has been filed."
Another illegal threat of arrest and prosecution, to extort payment of a "debt" discharged in the bankruptcy of a now deceased person, from the surviving family members.
"Nationwide has broken many FDCPA rules and regulations. They called friends and family and discussed the debt. They would only send written verification IF I agreed to pay them. They debt was not mine, but a deceased family member and it was cleared in a bankruptcy before the person passed away.They said they filed with the DA's office against me which they did not.They told my spouse it was an arrestable offense, which according to the DA's office, it is not. These are all violations."
They appear to be getting bolder about using threats or impersonation of law enforcement, court, or DA employees.
Note: This number may be an unrelated "payday loan" scam ("barely speak English", NY number, etc.), but the mention of "Corona" got the interest of FTC in the location.
https://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/9515824831
"I called the Corona Cali police and reported the phone scams and the Federal Trade Commission they are investigating the location "
Five total reports consistent with an active FTC investigation.
Two reports consistent with FTC confirming consumer complaints.
Three reports consistent with FTC investigating a "cluster".
One report consistent with FTC aware of or investigating scam use of credit reports.
Speculation: Both appear to be in operation, and it may be there is trading or sharing of credit report "information", as this would appear to be the part of the operation with the highest risk of prosecution. The Corona Scam appears more adapted to hiding than the various Shekinah operations.
"Hahahahahahaha they got u.... Hahahahahhahaha u dirt bags finally got busted....."
Any one heard anything?
There have been indications visible in consumer complaints for about 4 months that FTC has been actively investigating this scam. Comments in consumer complaints have indicated that FTC was aware they were hiding behind multiple names, was aware they were pulling credit reports to fake "debts", and was aware that most of the fraudulent debt collection in and around Corona was coming from the same operation. There was even a report by a consumer that on tracing a call to their telecom company, which they contacted to file a harassment complaint, they learned that FTC had requested information on a bunch of related 800 numbers.
It is really amazing what you can glean from details scattered across numerous consumer complaints.
Reportedly, back in March, they were visited by several Corona police officers responding to complaints. They managed to fool them, even bragged about it, but you would not expect to see much that looked different from a normal debt collector just by walking in the door in uniform. The Dateline hidden camera visit to the Boyland operation in Buffalo did manage to capture illegal phone threats, but that took a reporter wandering in unannounced and wandering around recording without their knowledge. CAMCO went on for years also, even after their first FTC fine, despite FTC's later claim that 80% of their revenue was from unowed "debt".
Here is the post from "Mike" you are refering to:
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-866-1313/4
Steve has been tracking this for a while following a complaint, and found the recent crop of "mass produced" names on looking into their domain registration.
http://getoutofdebt.org/
http://getoutofdebt.org/28867/county-filing-s ... mmons-for-me-jo
He even got honored with a shill post, on Sept. 30:
"THE ONE WHO GOT, GOT! 09/30/2011 05:54 PM
WOW, you guys are insane I can't believe you have nothing better to do with your time. Unfortunatley I would like to thank "STEVE" after I researched and came across his bogus website I took all the advice and just let it go. Well guess who got taken to court. I did. I think Steve you should probably consume your time with something more effective like getting homeless off the street instead of giving bogus information and people believing you then ending up homeless because of this. Again, thanks alot. YOU ARE GREAT
..."
Here is the post you are referring to, allegedly from a recently hired employee.
http://getoutofdebt.org/29403/fake-process-se ... mment-334270917
"private Yesterday 09:27 PM
ok....DON"T ATTACK ME PLEASE:/ so i recently started at this "legit" debt collections office and come to find out, its not so legit. I personally have not made any threats to any of the people i have called. i have always been polite and when someone told me they didnt know a person i would appologize and remove that number from the "case file". It is making me sick to my stomach reading all these comments. I am happy to report to you that the company was audited today.
..."
It showed up in the news today.
http://www.dailynews.com/crime/ci_19110149
"Lawsuit cites campaign of threats, vile insults by Van Nuys-based collection agency
By Dana Bartholomew, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/14/2011 01:00:00 AM PDT
Updated: 10/14/2011 09:55:20 AM PDT
You're flat broke. You've got bills. You owe thousands for your daughter's funeral. A debt collector calls, an ex-convict from an office in Van Nuys.
Pay up, he says, or we'll dig up your dead daughter and hang her body from a tree. Pay up, he adds, or we'll shoot and eat your dog.
"Are you going to pay this bill or not," he asks. "Or am I going to have to kill you?"
Those threats, and others like them, were allegedly made by debt collectors working for Forensic Case Management Services of Van Nuys, according to a federal lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission.
Late last month, the FTC sued in federal court to shut down the "shake-down debt collector" for allegedly deceiving small businesses out of payments and harassing and abusing consumers.
The civil lawsuit accused six officers and their various companies of an illegal scheme that raked in $20 million in four years alone.
Late last month, a U.S. District Court judge halted business operations and froze more than $800,000 and other assets, while appointing a company receiver.
On Thursday, a federal court judge allowed the release of certain living expenses until the trial. No trial date has been set.
..."
Or it could refer to literally being audited, by the City of Corona (business license tax violations), Riverside County (business property taxes), state or federal agency like FTB (state income taxes), EDD (unemployement taxes, misclassification of employees as "independent contractors"), IRS (income taxes, payroll and withholding taxes, misclassification of employees as "independent contractors"), and on, and on.
It could also refer to an examination of assets in connection with the domestication of the WV lawsuit judgement.
We will just have to see what shows up.
You would think that "audited" is somehow different than shut down with the doors chained and sealed.
"Contact Us" may go to a site administrator, so there might be a delay in getting a response. Spam reports typically take a little time to produce removal.
Despite appearances, I am not a moderator, just someone who comments a lot on certain types of problems, so I am not an "Us" to contact. I cannot remove your remarks, only point out where they might be false. I primarily have an interest in semantics, "commercial speech", deception, fraud, counterdeception, extraction of reliable information from anecdotal reports, plausibility logic, commercial "ecology", game theory, etc.
http://www.news-register.net/page/content.det ... se.html?nav=515
InsideARM, collection trade article picked up the story. Commenters seem more concerned about "professional litigators".
http://www.insidearm.com/daily/debt-collectio ... -can-find-them/
Does ACA International even know that sham "debt collectors" ruining their reputation are also "borrowing" their logo to look "legitimate"?
https://complaintwire.org/Complaint.aspx/tYc4K1wNsACmMAjLZ-BuTg