This is a common ploy by criminals masquerading as debt collectors who are attempting to extort money from people by scaring you into believing that you will be criminally charged, go to jail, lose your driver’s license, have wages garnished, be sued, and a variety of other variations on this, all for an alleged or nonexistent debt. One of the tricks they use is to call your work place, friends, or relatives repeatedly in an attempt to shame you into paying. They also use the “process server” ruse who calls and claims he is going to serve you, but then says you could avoid it by calling another number
Federal law (FDCPA) requires them to send you a letter (US MAIL ONLY) within 5 days of their first contact that contains their name, physical address, the creditor’s name, and the amount of the alleged debt. It also must contains “mini-Miranda” telling you that it is an attempt to collect a debt and that all information will be used for those purposes. The one other important thing that this letter must also have in it is that you have a right to dispute the debt within 30 days of receipt of the letter and if you do so, all collection activity must be stopped until the debt is verified.
Read up on your rights here, get template letters to send and also make a complaint at this government site: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/
Also file a complaint with your State Attorney General's office.
List of State AG’s offices: http://consumerfraudreporting.org/stateattorneygenerallist.php
Called and left as message saying I was going to be served at my home or work. I'll reply to this post if it actually happens but I'm not holding my breath.
It won't happen :)
It's a lame attempt to extort money out of you.
-Private Companies cannot issue arrest warrants.
Only those in the judicial system can issue warrants. They need to be petitioned by attorneys, and signed off by a judge.
-Debt is civil. not criminal. You cannot be arrested for ordinary debt in the United States and Canada. There are no debtors prisons here.
-If there were an arrest warrant with your name on it, your local courthouse would have it. Look up the number independently, and call them.
-IF THERE WERE, however, no one will EVER call you to tell you they are coming to arrest you, or serve you papers. Process servers only get paid if they deliver your paperwork, and if you hide, they won't get paid, so, they won't tell you they're coming.
-ALSO, if there were "criminal" or "financial" proceedings against you, it's too late to pay anyone. The deed has been been done. The proverbial wheels are in motion.
-Money sent by 'untraceable means' (cash cards, western union) is money that cannot be traced. I know that sounds obvious, but by the time you figure out you've been scammed, you have no way to figure out who collected that money. It's gone forever. You can't dispute it.
-Threats of arrest, losing your drivers license, putting holds on SSN's, demanding attorney contact information and other things like that are common scare tactics used by "debt collectors" who are trying to collect on a debt they cannot legally collect on. If they COULD legally collect on the debt, they wouldn't have to resort to scare tactics.
And perhaps most importantly -
-REAL debt collectors will send you (because they are required to, by law) a 'DEBT VALIDATION'. This is sent through the mail (USPS) with a stamp on it (e-mail, fax, texts, carrier pigeon, smoke signals...none of those count) and tell you when you incurred the debt, to whom you owe the original debt, and how to proceed if you don't think you owe the amount, or if your records reflect a different amount. Remember, this is REQUIRED BY LAW to be sent to you within 5 days from initial contact (on the company behalf) DEMAND THEY SEND YOU THIS!!! This will immediately weed out the scammers.
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0149-debt-collection
This link takes you to the FTC's website and gives you all the rules debt collectors must follow. It also (at the bottom) provides links to where you can report any debt collector who isn't following the law.
As in not having caller ID information or having it blocked, spoofed, etc. Which they also violated. If they really have something legitimate I would have been served already, which I have not. I'll update if that changes.
received a call and left a message and said that they are from the county service office and that they were going to serve me with a summons at my home or work on a certain date and between certain hours... they also said that I needed to call this number 314 227 0097 if I was not going to be available at that certain time... or it could result in more costs... I have never heard of anything like this about them serving a summons on a certain date at a certain time... if they were real I would have been served by the county sheriffs office by now and not call me and tell me what day and time they were going to serve me.... has anyone else ever heard of such a thing????????