I have received numerous phone calls everyday for weeks. I finally spoke to someone calmly they said I was selected to receive $9,200 from the US government except every person that called me didn't speak English. They told me I needed to call (206) 734-4890 to claim my money. YEAAAAA RIGHTTTTT
i was contacted by this number same as above, and they said they are with the firm Berns and Stevens Associates. and that they are a law firm. they DO NOT show up in the american bar association, nor in nay google search. They do however have accurate information about a debt that I paid a long time ago and have proof of payment. Scam credit collection firm IMO.
Got a call from this # on our landline. Left a message claiming to be seeking the whereabouts of someone we haven't seen in 27 years. Can't imagine how they tied our number to that person when we have only had a phone for 14 years. Did not respond. Used the cool call block feature on the new Panasonic phones we got from Amazon.
For at least the last year, an illegal group of debt collectors have been terrorizing consumers, their family, friends, and employees threatening to arrest the individual of an unpaid loan or other debt (their generally don't even owe). Be aware debt is a civil matter, not a criminal matter, and you can't be arrested. They threaten a warrant if the victim does not pay a sum of money by the credit card over the phone.
Some of the people they are calling do not owe a debt. Others they are calling have already settled their debt with the organization who owns the accounts. Even if you do owe a debt, do not be deceived by the actions of this group. Many of the accounts they are attempting to collect they do not own. In other words, if you pay these people, that is not going to clear your debt with its rightful owner.
Although when pressed the callers give the victim an address in Columbia South Carolina (usually a vacant lot), Atlanta GA (often a parking lot near the bus station or a Peachtree Road Address) or Phoenix AZ. They are actually out of the Charlotte North Carolina area. The scammers are using the following business names (and there are many others, and they seem to create new ones daily). They will normally answer the call back number as “Investigations”. They often call people with a recording claiming they are looking for a "defendant"
Schuman, Walker, & Associates
Kaplan, Stein, & Associates
Lyman & Turner
Burns & Stevens
HD & Associates
Richardson Simms and Associates
Johnston & Moore
Holland, Dempsey, and Associates
Hughes and Berkeley
RJ Financial LLC
Ondrick and Miles
Anderson & Banker Mediation or Pre-Trial Litigators
Reynolds, Hill, and Associates
Berkley and Associates
Kaufmann and Associates
Sanderson Blaine & Associates
Blaine and Associates
McKenzie Reid Associates
Kennedy, Kline, & Associates
Nationwide Asset and Recovery
Piedmont Investigations and Procurement
Raffino, Garrison, & McCoy
Greenman, Schwartz & Associates
McCoy Law Group
Salem Associates
Reynolds and Associates
Ryan, Carter and Fields
Berman, Maxwell and associates
DOF Investigations
Vaughn & Associates
Bailey Rowe and Associates
Berkley Hughes and Associates
Here is a set of links to a variety of threads on this forum that document this group and its behavior. They include the experiences of victims as well as a former employee or two that quit within a week of finding out exactly what was going on. They also include responses from consumer advocates and people who are really criminal justice professionals advising victims of what to do