HARASEMENT
Complaint
Carolyn White
Country: United States
This company called my work (A R G & Ass) while I was at lunch and spoke with my boss. They asked my boss how they would handle me being served at my work for court. My boss got all the information that the guy would give call back number, case number but would not leave a name. When I returned I was given the information and my boss stood by my desk while I called. The 1st person to answer said that the name of the company was A I G Assoc but then I was transfered to a man who stated the name of the company was Assets Relient, still not sure what their actual name is. Anyways the gentleman that I talked to asked me who I was and he stated that I use to be called by a differant last name and the one he told me was a name I have never had so I told him he must have the wrong person. Then he asked me if my last four of my social are _ _ _ _ and i said yes then he stated then this is you. He told me I owed a debt on a car loan from 1999 that I am being sued in civil court on. I told him I had never had a car loan on 1999. Hw just kept arguing, I asked what the amount was he said 10,300.00 but he would settle today for 1,248.13. I told him I was not paying him anything because this was not me and he still continued to argue. I asked him to fax me something regarding this and I was told that he does not have to fax me anything that I know I owe this. These are scams people do not send them anything. I tols this man that he was on speaker phone and my boss was listening to everything and he hung up. A real debt collector will want to give you information on the item being collected for. DO NOT SEND THIS COMPANY MONEY. Anyone who has contact with these people need to report them.
Comments
I also looked up the number because i was called. they brought up an old er bill that never got paid because i was going through a hard time. From what I've read from most complaints, everyone is talking about the debt being "old", it doesn't change the fact that it's still debt and it belongs to you. I paid my outstanding bill, got faxed a receipt with the record of my debt to hospital, and guess what?
They don't call me anymore.
I've also been mis-dialed over someone else debt. People move, cell phones change. When I explain to a creditor I'm not the person they are seeking they put me on a do not call list. End of harassment.
It irritates me because most people just think if they ignore paying for something long enough it'll just go away. That's the same as stealing!
1) to get people to call back
2) to convince others that consumers reporting illegal collection tactics are lying
3) to convince others that the "debts" collected by this company are "legitimate"
4) to convince others to pay without any proof of the alleged debt
5) to deceive others in the FDCPA validation requirements, portraying obtaining some receipt after payment as "normal" collections practice
6) to convince others that calls from debt collectors will end if you ask to be put on the Do Not Call list.
Your goals identically match the interests of a debt collector engaged in illegal collections in violation of FDCPA. In my experience, people who write like you are shills.
It is common for these "payday loan debt collector" shakedowns to have complaints indicating their alleged "debts" are faked. If they were real, they could sue, but if they are fake, about all they can do is threaten, and they know it, so that's what they do. Pile on the illegal threats, imply not only some "lawsuit", but "prosecution for fraud", or "bad check charges", and stress the "urgency" of "settling" immediately, before you talk to someone who tells you it's a scam.
Call FTC. Call your Attorney General. Call the local police. They will all tell you this is a common scam, that they get thousands of similar complaints, and that you should never pay anyone for any "debt" without proof you owe them.
You don't owe anyone for a loan you never borrowed, even if your identity was stolen. At this point, you don't even know if there was any fraudulently obtained "loan" using your identity, or if these callers are just liars and fakers making it up.
Any legitimate debt collector will comply with the law. They will send you the FDCPA required "g" letter by US Mail, notifying you of the alleged debt, and of your right to dispute it or request proof you owe it, and including their business name and address so you can send a dispute and validation request, to find out what this is all about.
The cheaters and fakes will evade this legal requirement, since if they sent anything, it might prove you never borrowed the "loan", or even serve as proof they are engaged in deception and fraud. Safer to make vague claims and threats on the phone. They make threats to get money, and never prove anything, so there's really no reason to believe anything they say.
If you are being threatened by these guys, there's little reason to fear any "lawsuit".
By the time they get anything, it's generally out of statute since they are too cheap to pay for anything more recent, and too late to sue.
They don't bother suing anyway, don't really know how to, which is why they play these illegal collection games.
Claiming some old "overdraft" has ballooned into around $2500 is one of their common gambits. Make lots of threats, want to "serve you papers", illegal disclosure to your boss, implied threat you "committed a crime", all with no proof of anything, Next step is they try to get you to "settle" for around half, maybe $1200. but still with no proof of anything. For all you know, they may have just pulled your credit reports, found you had an old closed bank account, and just started throwing this BS at you to con you.
"Internet fraud in 2008"?
Or is it an "overdraft"?
Both sound like BS, and they haven't proved a thing, except that they can dial a phone.
Probably can't even do that, computer did it for them.
If this is from 2008, then 4 to 5 years have passed since this "account" went "delinquent" from an "overdraft", if that even happened. If you are in California (I'm assuming this, because supposedly the original account was with Downey), statute of limitations is 4 years after the overdraft or any later payment, whichever happened last.
If the account was opened in some other state, check that state's statute of limitations. It may be similar or even less.
You want to see what they are up to?
Pull your credit reports. Look for recent inquiries on one from a collection agency, maybe under "National" or "ARG" or some similar name. These shakedowns typically pull credit reports a couple days ahead of the shakedown calls.
Also, if Downey or US Bank thought you had some overdrafted account, that should show on one of your credit reports as well. Credit reports keep negative information back 7.5 years, so if you don't find some negative Downey or US Bank entry, or you find only an account that got closed, that suggests they just made it up from what they found on your credit report.
Names suggest these guys are associated with Thai Han's old "collection" shakedowns in southern California. If you get further threats, contact FTC and your state Attorney General.
I was told they are a "mediation firm" that handles paper work. And I was then hung up on. Taking this to iowa b.b.b. and the f.t.c.