violation of privacy
Complaint
JC
Country: United States
I get these annoying calls7:30 am and well after 9:00pm from this company Shapiro & Price, stating they are litigation attorneys. although the number listed 877.228.1217 Shapiro & Price that number is listed on my caller ID as 866.377.5362. Mr Bob Carson has called over 30 time. He has threatened my mother, has called my job and threatened me something terribly, using profanity. He stated I owe a company that went out of business and now i am being held responsible for filing fees and court fees well over $4,500.00. And if I would pay today we can settle this matter for $2,000.00. Can someone share some insight on this issue? In the meantime perhaps I will go to the media, but in the meantime your feedback would be appreciated. HELP!!
Comments
The "company" is clearly a debt collector as defined by FDCPA, yet they are not even complying with the most basic requirements of the law. FDCPA prohibits calls before 8AM or after 9PM, or at any other time known to be inconvenient.
"Mr Bob Carson has called over 30 time"
That is an abusive level of calls.
"He has threatened my mother, has called my job and threatened me something terribly, using profanity."
Numerous violations of FDCPA and state law.
"He stated I owe a company that went out of business and now i am being held responsible for filing fees and court fees well over $4,500.00. "
Isn't it convenient that the company is "out of business", preemptively blocking you from believing you might get access to original records? So much for "validation". And they are demanding "filing and court fees", even though you haven't gone to court so no such fees are owed by you, also a clear violation of FDCPA.
"And if I would pay today we can settle this matter for $2,000.00. "
Such a "generous" offer, from such an a$$hole!
Related complaints, starting Feb. 2010.
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-228-1217
Possible shill post. There are others as well. They play up the "legitimacy" of their claims, or the cost of not "settling". They stand out due to all the "details" they include. The posters apparently want to make sure people looking for information (probably targets of the scam) find this "information", so everything is a justification for how it's "legitimate". Hence, the writing doesn't match the "voice" or motives of a normal complaint. They play up the "benefit" of settling (good debtor), or the extreme costs to not settling (bad debtor), sort of like a "morality play".
"TXlonghorn
18 Feb 2010
I recieved a call from a Mr Smith. He notified me of a delinqent account that i forgot about from a 2 or threes years ago. At first i was apprehensive about the situation but after i looked into it further it was a great thing that they called me when they did. If i had not had this oppurtunity to discuss this before it reached a legal status i would of been hurt pretty bad in the pocket book for years to comeCaller ID: 8772281217
Caller: Shapiro and Price
..."
"...
Mj
27 Jul 2010When I got a call from this so called firm I never responded to any of the messages cause I read all the blogs about this company then when I did answer I told them they were a scam and yo go shove it.. About three days later I recieved a summons from a uniformed Marshall I showed up to court and there were trying to sue me for 800% of what the actual loan was for and take me up on fraud charges bad check charges and theft of goods and services I stood up there and explained to the judge that when they called they threatened me with legal procedings and said that they were gnna sue me I even had a recorded call. The judge stated the only way there allowed to say that is if they actually intend on taking u to court so after everything was said and done I ended up getting sued for 2589.00 on a loan I borrowed of 375 and I had to do 7 weeks in county jail for all the charges. I wish I just wouldve paid the settlement they gave me when I had the chance cause this turned into a way bigger problem then I ever thought it would be......Caller: Shapiro and price
Call Type: Debt Collector
..."
This also shows up, apparently an insider report. (You can find information on the "Mackinnon" group on www.budhibbs.com. See, for example: http://www.budhibbs.com/collectorpages/eastern_cmts.htm)
"Dawn replies to poohof5
24 May 2010
It's another Mackinnon agency.Shapiro & Price
This one is Greg's who put it in Kathleen G. Mackinnon's name (his wife)
They collect on payday loans
Not sure if they even own the paper with all the lawsuits on them lately.
Same old story, drugs, money laundering, extortion.
You would think people would get wise to their crap and stop sending them money."
Pattern of complaints fits a type of scam being reported with increased frequency, probably coming from two types of perpetrators.
One class is apparently a bunch of Indian or Pakistani con artists, possibly calling from overseas, who have gotten access to old payday loan data and credit report information and are using it in their con to demand payment on fake debts.
The other class (probably this case) includes U.S. based con artist/"debt collectors", with particular prevalence in areas such as Buffalo NY, Jacksonville FL, and southern California, particularly Corona CA. The NY Attorney General shut down several in the Buffalo area following a Dateline story on them a year ago, and several "debt collectors" were prosecuted for larceny. The Florida AG has also shut down several in the Jacksonville FL area.
We can call this the "phony debt lawsuit" scam.
1) Repeated abusive calls claiming some "debt" is owed, typically around $2k to $5k. Consumers often report they do not recognize the alleged debt, or that it is some old account they already paid.
2) Claims that they are going to or have already sued you, but offer to "settle" for around half, but you must agree or pay "in 24 hours", or "by close of business". Play up the "cost" of paying your and their attorney fees and court costs if you don't settle now, or threaten "arrest and prosecution for fraud".
3) Numerous violations of FDCPA: no FDCPA required "g" notice, threats, abusive calls, many calls per day, third party disclosure.
4) NOTHING in writing, not even the FDCPA "g" letter required to be sent by debt collectors within 5 days of first contact. Nothing by mail, might FAX something. Appear to be hiding their location, including being evasive about their address. (Any address would only be a private party box anyway, like Mailboxes Etc. or UPS Store.)
5) Use information possibly obtained from credit reports or skip-trace databases, such as SSN, DOB, past addresses, employers, to "prove" the claim is valid. They may be using access to this information to create a fake "debt" with information from an old past account, so that it sounds credible.
6) Refusal to send any documentation, instead responding with threats, including threats of arrest or prosecution.
7) Abusive and threatening calls are also often made to relatives or employers. The goal appears to be to panic both the target, and families, possibly to aid in extorting the several thousand dollars by getting family members to "pitch in".
8) Main goal appears to be to evade FDCPA validation and get payment without the target having time to check on the validity of the debt or get advise on how to handle it. Since this is the goal of the deception, it is an indicator of of possible fraud.
9) Use of shill posts on phone number complaint forums. These are often fairly obvious, and many times are identified as phony by other posters. They also show up as posts under different names with similar language posted with days on different forums. Most of these scams appear to have an active campaign to discredit warning postings on the internet with "panicked consumer" posts, often "disaster" stories.
It is amazing how consistently all of these elements are reported, regardless of the scammer. In particular, note how FDCPA compliance has been turned on it's head. If there is a way to violate FDCPA, they have made sure they do so. They are depending on their ability to panic people into immediate payment through threats, so if that doesn't work, the game is over. They are also relying on hiding their location enough to make it not worth going after them, so they apparently think there is no risk in even blatant violations.
If you were actually served a summons in a lawsuit, get an attorney and respond, but they are working so hard to create appearances and steer you away from any verification, most likely it's all phony.
Based on all of the above, it is most likely that there is no "debt", and that this is nothing but a "con", violating numerous state and federal laws, including both FDCPA and FCRA. The case can be made that this is a criminal extortion racket, so you should file complaints with FTC and your state Attorney General. It is likely they are operating out of New York, so you might contact the New York Attorney General as well.
You should also run this by an attorney with experience in FDCPA and FCRA law, as you already have violations you can sue them on. Both FDCPA and FCRA allow courts to award both damages and attorney fees, so you may be able to find an attorney who will take such cases on contingency.
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-377-5362
Note how they evade validation by instead "suggesting" to the target what they think they might remember.
"LMAO
14 Jun 2010Called me at work over a pay day loan from YEARS ago. Threatening me. Well, I work in a law office and demanded they send me verification of the debt. She said "well you signed it, it was a payday loan about a year ago on your bank account-does that sound familiar?" I told her that legally they had to send me verification of the debt. She said she'd email it to me. Yeah, right.Caller: Shapiro and Price
Call Type: Debt Collector
..."
A couple addresses:
"No Nonsense
18 Jun 2010This is some debt collection company. The agent I have spoken to was rude and unprofessional and threatens litigation even when the debt no longer exists. If you ever took out a payday loan this may be what the calls are about.
Their correspondence shows the following:
Shapiro and Price
P.O. Box 661
Amherst, NY 14226
or
4246 Ridge Lea
Amherst, NY 14226Caller: Shaprio and Price
Call Type: Debt Collector
..."
They appear to pretend to be collecting on a "payday loan", using the old "fraudulent check" routine.
"i dont play that
1 Jul 2010I received a call from 716-986-9606 (sapiro and price) in reagards to a payday loan from 2007. Unfortunatly i didnt get any names, but i spoke to a female and a male. The advised me that i made a payment back in 07 and didnt make anymore....The last name, bank info, and employee info was incorrect, on top of the fact that i've never taken a pay day loan in my life. I tried to explain that to her, but she didnt wanna hear that she only wanted a payment and continued to threaten me with a lawsuit.
..."
Numerous complaints indicate they are threatening a lot of people who know they have no defaulted debt, payday loans, or bounced checks. Actually, many people keep very close watch on their checking accounts, and most people have never had a payday loan.
This is another one of those scavenger debt collectors. DO NOT DO THE FOLLOWING:
1. AGREE TO ANY PAYMENTS OF ANY AMOUNT. Once you agree, then you basically have reconfirmed the loan.
2. DEMAND COPIES OF ALL DOCUMENTS. No paper, no pay!
3. DEMAND COPIES OF ALL ACCOUNTING PAPERWORK, especially if you are in the military.
4. CHECK OUT YOUR STATE'S STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR DEBT REPAYMENT. Here in California, the SOL is four (4) years from the date of: original loan or last payment.
5. FINALLY, DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED BY THEIR THREATS. Report them to the
Fair Debt Collection folks in Washington, DC. Also, report these people to your Attorney Generals as well as any other departments within your state and the Better Business Bureau.
THEY MUST BE STOPPED!!!
As a target of a deceptive gambit with the goal of evading verification, you should ask yourself what else are they lying about, since any deception is a predictive indicator of more deception.
The more extreme the threats they make, the more likely they have no proof of any debt at all, and have no intention or ability to sue.
The more extreme the threats, the more likely all they can do is make threats, and the more likely they are engaged in a "con".
Please continue to protect yourself
At 0923 am MDT 2010-10-08 a message was left on my cell voice mail originating from 210-249-0540. I had never seen this number previously. The message said it from Vivion Ford of The SR Group calling for me. This person said she was a paralegal for a law office and had been given my case [sic] involving a series of bad checks they "believed were issued in my name or with my account number." She said that my voice mail message allowed her to consider this formal notice (my voice mail said simply, This is me, leave a message---no last name given) that I was a person of interest in this investigation and to have my attorney or myself contact her immediately at 888-239-9586 x106. [end of message]. When I returned home later and listened to the message, finding it unbelievable and suspicious, I researched this information on the Interent and discovered numerous complaints about Vivion Ford misrepresenting herself under various guises to act as a collection agent apparently from a company known as Shapiro and Price located at 4246 Ridge Lea Rd in Buffalo, NY 14226-1069, although this might be a false address since business directory Manta had a note that this was a scam company trying to collect money by scaring people. The Manta notice did say that the 716-833-8100 number given for Shapiro and Price was a fax number used by the company. This company apparently has posted job ads to recruit nefarious telephone operators like Vivion Ford at Monster (see Job ID 643365 at Monster.com Posted October 3, 2010, description: COLLECTIONS: E. Aurora, hiring exp’d collectors/team leaders for new E.A. office. Great pay, relaxed office. Bonus on cash collected. Make the move & call 888-239-9586). Vivion Ford called my cell from a VoIP telephone number 210-249-0540 via Time Warner Telecom broadband Internet service in San Antonio, Texas. A search on Vivion Ford revealed other folks that she has called in the last month misrepresenting herself and threatening people to try to force collections or other transfer of funds. She sent an unsigned form letter to one recipient giving address to send payments to as PO Box 661, Amherst, NY 14226 and physical address 4246 Ridge Lea Rd, Amherst, NY 14226 with toll free number 888-377-5362 and fax 716-833-8100. This particular incident recorded that they could not locate Shapiro and Price, but that a company called Resolution Management seemed to be involved. This woman Vivion Ford and the company behind her must be violating various state and federal laws---I cannot believe it is legal to falsely claim to be investigating check fraud in order to threaten someone into what is likely a fraudulent debt collection. I do not have any legitimate debts in collection (there are several in dispute). I would appreciate this information being used to aggregate complaints to the point the FTC can act against this company and these individuals to stop this pernicious activity. Thank you for your assistance.
violation for debt collecting! Don't owe them any money. They may
have called the wrong number as they did not leave a message. Maybe the
fool making the call did not realize there is a time difference between
different parts of the country. I used to be a loan collector and know
that this a definite no-no.
watch out for them! I think it's a coincidence that they too, have A
Mr smith. (rude and abusive, just like mr smith at shipiro &price.)
I called the F.T.C. at 1-877-438-4338. now I'm calling my lawyer.
Here is what I've found so far:
The supposed address at 4246 Ridge Lea Road shows an empty field.
The NY Department of State shows Shapiro and Price Corporation headquartered at 4901 Harlem Road, a residence. Real estate records show it is a 1,430 square foot home built in 1938, owned by Greg and Kathleen MacKinnon.
There is a Greg MacKinnon doing business in a rathole at 293 Buffalo Street in Hamburg, phone: 716-648-3050, fax 716-648-3052. He suspiciously hides his identity, using S MacKinnon as the business contact.
Here is a google photo of the business:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&expIds=1725 ... ved=0CBMQ8gEwAA
If there is any more to be known, please share. I will be there over Thanksgiving.