Illegal Tactics Employed
Complaint
Dave Rothenstein
Country: United States
A purported United Collection Services female telephoned a ruse. She started off saying that my family member's grandmother had provided this number related to an order. She asked to speak with my wife. When specifically asked if they were a debt collection agency, they refused to acknowledge but instead repeatedly stated they were a pre-litigation firm. She would only indicate say she would not speak to me but identified that she wanted to locate my family member. The woman asked my wife if *****knew about the debt and said ***** was being investigated.
The woman provided a phone number of 1-855-441-6194. I called the number back. The recorded intro identified the company only as United. This woman also refused to identify the company as a collection agency when asked. "We are a pre-litigation firm."
The woman provided a phone number of 1-855-441-6194. I called the number back. The recorded intro identified the company only as United. This woman also refused to identify the company as a collection agency when asked. "We are a pre-litigation firm."
Comments
Pretending they are this "pre-litigation firm" is deceptive collection, pretending that there is some "lawsuit" about to happen.
Calling a relative first is a common intimidating tactic, designed to appear like they might be "skip-tracing" to locate a defendent serve a "summons", but in reality it's just part of the whole "lawsuit" act.
All of these are violations of FDCPA, and you, or the victim, could sue them for it, if you could ever find them, and if you could collect if you won. These scams are beyond "fly-by-nite".
Calling to demand money for an alleged debt is "debt collection", as defined by federal and state law.
They don't get out of compliance requirements by just calling themselves a "pre-litigation firm".
They just dig themselves in deeper.
Just started up within the week, and already all reports point to just calling and finding easy "shakedowns".
Same old scam. No clue where they are located.
All that says they are fakes.
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-441-6194
You are dealing with a fake "debt collection" scam.
This is a "con".
I think it was a wrong number, because if this "Megan" person has listened to my voice mail greeting, she would have realized that she reached a business. Moron.
I'm going to go ahead and block the number and hopefully this is the last time I hear from these idiots.
There have been dozens of these little scamming "collection agencies" operating out of Southern California, and about a year ago FTC raided and shut down a bunch with common ownership and control. The "alumnai" just scattered and opened up shop again, and the same scam "process server" calls are now reported under their various new names.
Debt collectors are required by FDCPA to notify you IN WRITING BY US MAIL of the alleged debt and that you can dispute and request proof from them that you owe it. They are prohibited from using threats to do anything they cannot or won't actually do, or any other deception, abuse, or harassment, to collect debts, and you can sue them for violating FDPCA if they do so. This "process server" game is all an act, so it is "deceptive collection" in violation of FDCPA.
Without any actual documentation from the original creditor, there is no way to know if what you paid actually settled some debt you actually owed, or if they even had any right to collect on it at all. They have been caught trying to scam "debt payments" even from erroneously called "debtors", and FTC even documented that their threats got payments out of relatives they called as they played this "lawsuit process server" game.
Their threat to "file in court" is most likely fake.
If it were real, they wouldn't have called, they would have actually served you a summons.
By the time a real process server is hired to "serve papers" the actual lawsuit would have to be filed, and they aren't going to then call to "settle", they would just serve you the summons since they already paid the court to file.
A "payday advance" is still a consumer loan, and a post dated check is not "payment for value", but just a promise to pay in the future just like the loan itself. Scam debt collectors commonly claim nonpayment of a payday loan is "check fraud", but it's not fraud unless you deliberately took out the loan with the intent to not pay it, no different from any other loan. Providing a post-dated check doesn't charge that.
More importantly, with these scams, how do you know that what they demanded was actually owed?
Even if it sounded like some past loan, they migth have just found it by pulling your own credit report, fished for it by getting you to disclose the details from your own memory, or added a bunch onto it that is totally made up (called "spiff money" in this sleazy industry).
You probably bought nothing at all for paying this "settlement".