Debt owed
Complaint
Celia Alanna
Country: United States
I received a phone call today from a collection agency stating that they were from PMG and stating that I owed a large sum of money and they needed to serve me papers to go to court cause I was being sued.
The man claimed his name to be John Mason. Mr. Mason said I owed a debt of $4701.88 for a Capital One credit card and if I can come up with $3601.00 then we can settle out of court. He gave me a case number and even the last four digits of my old Capital One credit card. He was even telling me about other credit cards I had back in 1996 that I no longer have.
Mr. Mason called from (866) 872-6116... possibly California.
Well needless to say I freaked out cause I havent owed on a credit card in almost 3 years. My Husband quickly done some research and found this site with other info from other people with their stories matching mines. The number was also the same as some of these other people that were complaining about harassments from PMG.
Monday I am calling the BBB and reporting PMG. This is just aweful that we innocent people have to be scammed by these criminals!!
The man claimed his name to be John Mason. Mr. Mason said I owed a debt of $4701.88 for a Capital One credit card and if I can come up with $3601.00 then we can settle out of court. He gave me a case number and even the last four digits of my old Capital One credit card. He was even telling me about other credit cards I had back in 1996 that I no longer have.
Mr. Mason called from (866) 872-6116... possibly California.
Well needless to say I freaked out cause I havent owed on a credit card in almost 3 years. My Husband quickly done some research and found this site with other info from other people with their stories matching mines. The number was also the same as some of these other people that were complaining about harassments from PMG.
Monday I am calling the BBB and reporting PMG. This is just aweful that we innocent people have to be scammed by these criminals!!
Comments
My 88 year old Mom got a call last night and a guy asked where he could find me becuase he had legal papers to serve on me and then gave her a number for me to call....Well, I was out of town until late last night and my Mom said she didn't get any sleep wondering "what I did wrong"....
So I get a frantic call from my Mom this morning and then started to google the phone number, etc and found this complaint forum.
Armed with all this knowledge I couldn't wait to call them back.......got a guy on the phone who asked me my case number and then he said to hold on as it was a long walk to the "large filing cabinets".....I swear, 15 seconds later (long walk my ass, he never left his desk I'm sure).....and the first thing he said was "Well, how do you want to settle this ugliness?".....so I said calmly, "who are you?" and he said his name was John Mason.........I said "wow, I can't believe I get to deal with John Mason directly, I have heard so much about you on the internet"....he said, "what have you read?'.....I said, "loads and loads of crazy things you have said to people, threatened people with, etc......He didn't even blink and he said, "you must have known something was up yesterday and were laying low, huh?" and I said, "uh, what?".......he said yeah, we tried to serve you at home yesterday but you must have been at work."......I said, "yes, I was at work all day but funny thing is I work from a home office, have for the last 12 years and my doorbell didn't ring" (I really do work from home, nobody came here yesterday)
He said you owe $3,160 and I need $1,560 from you today to clear up a credit card from 2006. I asked him for the card number, nothing, expiration, nothing, NAME ON CARD, don't have that info..........IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE NAME ON THE CARD WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME???!!....."well, we just know it's yours".....and then he said, opps, I forgot to add in the court costs and atty fees so I actually need $2,160......" so I switch gears because mostly I was upset that they scared my Mom so I asked him where he got my Mom's phone number and he said I put it down as an alternate contact on my initial application and I said "you mean to tell me that you have my initial application but you don't know the name on the card????????".......He then got frustrated and says he's got people on hold who really want to pay their bills and hung up........All in all, I had fun with him and as long as you can recognize this as a scam when it is happening I would suggest having fun with them too.....Again, thank you TJ, you were a great help!!
He was lying.
"When I asked him to send me something he said they already sent it."
He was lying.
"i said well fax me something then, he said he could, but all it would say is that they are suing me."
He's not even going to fax anything, since it would document his lawsuit threat, useful in proving to a court that he is in violation of FDCPA. Again, he is lying.
"Now that we are in the middle of the process...all of a sudden MY HUBBY is getting calls on his cell from debt collectors. He doesn't have any outstanding debts. "
The credit reporting agencies have services called "triggers" that will send their clients, the debt collectors, reports if certain activities show up on the credit files of consumers they are paying to have monitored. Typical trigger events include opening of new accounts, or credit inquiries from mortgage applications, either of which would indicate that a consumer might be able to pay off a debt.
Most mortgage lenders require that unpaid debts showing on credit reports be paid before the loan can close, which gives creditors or debt collectors some leverage to get paid. Some shady debt collectors have been reported to "park" accounts on consumer credit files, supposedly "in error", expecting that some percentage of consumers will have to pay off even an illegitimate debt should they want to buy a home or refinance. A number have been sued over such practices.
There are a number of other consumer reports indicating that this "debt collector is using credit file information to fake their "debt" claim, in violation of both FDCPA, FCRA, and probably criminal statutes as well.
You should pull all three of your credit reports (in mailed paper form for use as evidence should you decide to sue) as it is likely that one of them shows an inquiry indicating that this sham "debt collector" got hold of your credit file to use in their scheme. "Collecting a fake debt" is not one of the FCRA defined "permissible purposes" for pulling credit reports.
Their goal is apparently to maximize panic, since they have no intention of "proving" anything. As you found out, they couldn't anyway. They may also be counting on extended families pulling money together quickly in response to their threats, since they typically demand several thousand dollars which probably exceeds a lot of people's loose change.
It's basically a criminal extortion and fraud racket, as numerous complaints have been reporting that NO debt is really owed.
They're fakes.
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/cacdce/5:2011cv01623/514482/
Contact FTC if you are being harassed or threatened, or have been defrauded, by any of the Corona Scam fronts.
Get a job "You want to be,important person".
Your family already told everyone in the community that you need to be locked up on a 51/50.
You can not blame the employees, for what they were taught from the owners/ management.
It seems your family knows you well. You defiantly should get a job for The National Enquirer. They only blow hot air out, like you.
If you are in the corona area, here is something that might help you.
http://rcdmh.org/opencms/english/help/adult.html