I was called by ms. Buchanan and she states that I owe a payday loan that I have no idea about. She had all my info and states that I owe originally 536.19 and now is 4,174.51 and that I was going to get my drivers license suspended and they were pressing criminal charges. Do you know anything about Asset arbitrators. Please help.
Sounds like a typical debt scammer attempting to scare you into paying a bogus debt. Debt is civil, not criminal, so there are NO criminal charges - just another illegal threat to scare you into paying. Here is some information that you might find useful:
Consumers across the country report that they're getting telephone calls from people trying to collect on loans the consumers never received or on loans they did receive but for amounts they do not owe. Others are receiving calls from people seeking to recover on loans consumers received but where the creditors never authorized the callers to collect for them. So what's the story?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, is warning consumers to be on the alert for scam artists posing as debt collectors. It may be hard to tell the difference between a legitimate debt collector and a fake one. Sometimes a fake collector may even have some of your personal information, like a bank account number. A caller may be a fake debt collector if he:
is seeking payment on a debt for a loan you do not recognize;
refuses to give you a mailing address or phone number;
asks you for personal financial or sensitive information; or
exerts high pressure to try to scare you into paying, such as threatening to have you arrested or to report you to a law enforcement agency.
If you think that a caller may be a fake debt collector:
Ask the caller for his name, company, street address, and telephone number. Tell the caller that you refuse to discuss any debt until you get a written "validation notice." The notice must include the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor you owe, and your rights under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
If a caller refuses to give you all of this information, do not pay! Paying a fake debt collector will not always make them go away. They may make up another debt to try to get more money from you.
Stop speaking with the caller. If you have the caller's address, send a letter demanding that the caller stop contacting you, and keep a copy for your files. By law, real debt collectors must stop calling you if you ask them to in writing.
Do not give the caller personal financial or other sensitive information. Never give out or confirm personal financial or other sensitive information like your bank account, credit card, or Social Security number unless you know whom you're dealing with. Scam artists, like fake debt collectors, can use your information to commit identity theft – charging your existing credit cards, opening new credit card, checking, or savings accounts, writing fraudulent checks, or taking out loans in your name.
Contact your creditor. If the debt is legitimate – but you think the collector may not be – contact your creditor about the calls. Share the information you have about the suspicious calls and find out who, if anyone, the creditor has authorized to collect the debt.
Report the call. Contact the FTC and your state Attorney General's office with information about suspicious callers. Many states have their own debt collection laws in addition to the federal FDCPA. Your Attorney General's office can help you determine your rights under your state's law.
Also good info at the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau:
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/askcfpb/1699/h ... legitimate.html
1. IF you did owe, debt is CIVIL (no arrest or jail).
2. No debt collector can freeze your license.
3. Refusing to give her company information - violation of the FDCPA.
4. A search of that name comes up with nothing so think SCAM.
If they call again - DEMAND WRITTEN proof of this ""debt"" that is MAILED to you - no other way. It must give her company name & address, original creditor, amounts, dates, etc. They the have 5 days to comply. DO NOT expect anything but excuses and possibly ILLEGAL threats. Give your state attorney general a call too.
Being in ordinary civil debt is NOT a crime and you cannot be arrested for it. Only a judge or the DMV can suspend a DL. And they cannot do it because of an ordinary civil debt.
Report them:
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0149-debt-collection (Threatening civil proceedings with no intent to follow through, or threatening criminal process in order to collect a civil debt is a violation of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.) The same goes for endless telephone harassment
Also contact your local attorney general
If they continue to bother you, and you know you do not owe any money, tell them that you know this is a debt scam and that you are making a complaint to the police for extortion. Once you get a copy of the police report and they call you again , just read out the file number and the name of the PD or Sheriff’s office involved. Tell them you’ll be glad to send a copy to them at whatever address the jack***es are working out of now.
You'll probably have to yell at them and talk over them.
You have to get tuff with these people because, being akin to thugs, brute force is (metaphorically speaking), the only thing they understand.