866.839.9144 & 909.253.0666
Complaint
ChicagoLad
Country: United States
These scam artists actually called my ex-father-in-law and ex-sister-in-law yesterday looking for me. I called the mope at Nationwide at the toll-free number to inquire why their "locator" was calling my ex-in-laws. He could not answer that question. I told him that I was a very easy guy to find, all they had to do if they truly wanted to know my current address was to look me up on Zaba Search or Google and all my current info is there. So that shoots holes in their story. Then I asked him for his current business street address so I could send him a check...He said that the only form of payment they will take is Visa/ MasterCard debit or credit cards or a pre-paid Visa/MC.
I had zero intention of paying this ingrate scumbag! I just wanted to verify that they would not give me their physical location just like any legitimate collection attorney or agency. I filed a police report with the locator's name (TIM CARTER @ 909-253-0666 & Nationwide @ 866-839-9144) and I am going to try and find out which bank or credit card processing company they use so as to alert the Visa/MasterCard detectives and fraud investigators. Once they are found to be fraudulent in the eyes of Visa & MC they will freeze all their assets and will never be able to process credit cards again thereby rendering them insolvent and broke!!!
Please check back for updates!
I had zero intention of paying this ingrate scumbag! I just wanted to verify that they would not give me their physical location just like any legitimate collection attorney or agency. I filed a police report with the locator's name (TIM CARTER @ 909-253-0666 & Nationwide @ 866-839-9144) and I am going to try and find out which bank or credit card processing company they use so as to alert the Visa/MasterCard detectives and fraud investigators. Once they are found to be fraudulent in the eyes of Visa & MC they will freeze all their assets and will never be able to process credit cards again thereby rendering them insolvent and broke!!!
Please check back for updates!
Comments
They called everyone, it seems, in your immediate and extended family FIRST. Big, BIG red flag. If this wahoo is getting his info from a credit report, your, I mean YOUR, phone number (not any of your family or friends') phone number AND ADDRESS would be there. Even if you don't have any credit cards, have you ever tried to open up a banking account, savings or checking, without having a physical address, and, more importantly, a phone number? It won't happen. No. And, what your bank knows about you will show up on a credit report. If this was a legit attempt to collect something, the moron calling you would have had your address and phone number right in front of him. So, why is he calling EVERYBODY BUT YOU? Probably a scam...
There's also that ticklish issue of payment method - ETs that are lightening fast and once the money is out of your account, you'll never get it back. It's on its way to feed a meth head's habit or such.
I didn't look up Tim Carter or the phone numbers, but I will now. I wouldn't be surprised if I find a bucket load of complaints against these fools for the exact same reasons that you brought to light.
Might I offer a bit of advice? If you really owe someone money, you might try to go back to the original creditor and try to work something out. But, again in my own advice, I would never, I mean NEVER, do business with a third party collector, 'legit' (what an oxymoron...) or not.
Thanks for your input.
I'm not trying to put you on the spot - you've been victimized enough already. But don't underestimate the damage done by the folks who hired this 'mope.'
Have you talked to a lawyer? Your AG?
A "caller" calls and leaves messages, often with relatives or coworkers, pretending to be a "process server" or "locator", under the pretense that there is some "lawsuit" or "you are being prosecuted". They may claim "you will be arrested if you don't call back in 3 hours", or some similar BS.
The "caller" leaves a different number for the victim to call back to "settle" this "legal matter".
On calling, you reach a "closer", basically a con man experienced in parting you from your money, without providing any proof you even owe them.
If you ask for information on this "debt", they will say they don't have any, then play up the "court and attorney fees" you will pay if you don't "settle" now. Or he might use old account information from your own credit report to make it sound like you "owe" for some old "account" so long ago you only vaguely remember it.
If they are using skip-tracing to locate relatives or employer, they have probably set themselves up as a "collection agency", maybe even with state licenses, and gotten an account with a skip-trace database firm, often Accurint. If they are using information from your credit reports, most often that appears to be through Experian. Both of these sleazeball companies show up repeatedly connected to shakedown collection scams.
FTC has raided some of these scams, and recovered scripts used by "callers" and "closers". The scripts typically direct the "callers", who may be inexperienced and just hired off the street, to call employers or relatives first, even when they havecontact information for the alleged "debtor". It's part of the "process server" act, used for intimidation, and "accidental" third party disclosure. (Debt collectors are prohibited by FDCPA from disclosing any information on an alleged debt to third parties.)
Buffalo area shakedowns might say they have you "on video" taking out some "payday loan". Again, it's all made up, and they target people who never even took out a payday loan so often you can find numerous complaints on 800notes reporting the phony lines.
It appears that there is some shady or fraudulent stream of "debt portfolios" feeding these scams, but the numerous consumer complaints reporting shakedown attempts of people who know they have no debt suggests that they buy these "debts" so cheaply it's basically just cover for acting like a "collection agency" and calling anyone with a similar name.
No one could even accidentally be this bad, and it's probably no accident. There is evidence that "callers" are intentionally hired for their stupidity, given only cursory training, and have very high turn-over. That would be consistent with a deliberate attempt to hide fraudulent shakedowns behind deliberately constructed "confusion" as "plausible deniability". Similar patterns of "deception through confusion" show up in most fraudulent telemarketing and billing scams..
It's a con.
-Helpful links, lawyers, advices etc.-
https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5759326
http://lookup.do-not-call-complaints.com/number/4043343410
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/s ... phone-scam/amp/
Here's the number that call was from: 855-330-8653 and the number she told me to call: 888-858-0847 with a reference number.