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.
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.
I also received a telephone call from Mr Taylor!!!!!!
I did not answer but did indeed check my voicemail.
This is what it said:
Mr. Luther, This is Mr. Taylor. We are conducting an investigation in my office, we do need to speak with you directly in regards. I do not know if you are aware of this investigation... It is ongoing. please contact me in my office immediately. at some 888-741-8771 number.
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU GUYS. BUT MAKING SOMEBODY BELIEVE THEY ARE UNDER SOME CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION TO COLLECT A DEBT SHOULD BE ABSOLUTELY ILLEGAL.
I also received a call from a Mr. Taylor who asked me for the name of my attorney because of an account with Family Savers, Inc. of Charleston, SC. He stated that they had been in touch with me as well as Sterling King collection agency. He sated that I needed to get back to him within 24 hours because there was litigation against me.
I told him that no one had been in touch with me and that I canceled that contract with Family savers shortly after taking it out.
He left a number for me to call with an extension to go along with it. I again tried to explain to him that I canceled this, he proceeded to tell me that if he did not hear from me within 24 hours that I would be seeing him in court. I explained that I no longer had a job and that I did not have an attorney BUT that did not matter to him. He berated me and then hung up.
What is this world coming to when you think you have some rights only to find out that verbal cancellation do not mean anything.
I tried to do a phone number look up to get the name of this company which is in the DC area and was able to post a complaint on their site BUT there were no other complaints. How can a company call you and treat/speak to you like a criminal of the worst kind.
I got a call from this dude named Taylor Johnson or something like that. My Son answerd the phone. This Taylor said that he is a licensed Civil Investigator. And that he will be coming to our house with a county sheriff to investigate our house. And he gave us his number - 888-740-8771. But we asked what or why he is investigating us for. And he wouldnt tell us why.
A rude person by the name of Mike, Nick, etc who asks for an employee by first name, like he knows them. When told they do not want to receive any calls from him and to stop calling our company, he says NO, he will not stop can will continue to call every day!