...so, this guy calls me and says I have to resolve a problem with a case number #202117177423, or else I'll be arrested at work and that I need to give him my SSN now. You kidding me? Don't fall for this scam.
Just the name "Pretrial Services" should throw a flag.
Of course they want you to "make the payment right away before (you) check with the bank" because it was 3rd rate scam collections and know as soon as you speak to your bank their "gig" is up. They buy a list with peoples partial or all their info (on paper, database transfer, or simple thumb drive) and start calling to get their payoff.
These folks are the scum of the earth. They are criminals.
I got the same call! They left a recorded message and when I called back i got an African American sounding gentleman who said that they had 2 charges pending against me. 1 was for the "intent to defraud" due to the amount. He said it was for a payday loan I took out from Titan Group LLC in 2011 which went into collections in 2012. When I asked for some sort of verification of this debt, he claimed I should look up my email from 7/14/2011 and I'd see the original contract but that he didn't have that information. He claimed that this needed to be taken care of and that he'd put it on "hold" for 24 hours at which time if i didn't contact them back, they'd consider it a dispute or refusal to pay. Never heard of this company until I googled the phone number and ended up here. Thanks for the information.
Total scam. Fraud is a crime, and if you were a suspect in any sort of fraud crime you'd hear about it from law enforcement, not some scummy debt collector.
Just because a voice on the telephone claims you owe a debt does not mean you owe it
If a voice on the telephone claims you owe a debt:
1. Demand the person give you his or her name, company name, and address
2. Demand a debt validation letter by US mail. E-mail no good.
3. Do not pay the collection agent or anyone else a DIME until the debt is validated.
Of course they won’t do this, no scammer ever will, so simply block their calls and ignore them.
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. If you can find them.
I got a voice mail from this number and from 515-612-7969, both Pretrial Services. They are a scam masquerading as debt collectors in order to be exempt from the Do Not Call Registry. I reported them on the Do Not Call website: https://complaints.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx
More people should file complaints and maybe the FTC will investigate them.