Beware!!!!! This is a complete scam! I wasted an entire day when I was studying for finals thinking I was being indicted on fraud charges and a warrant was being placed for my arrest.
They called me from the number I listed this under, but had me call back to (210) 477-2288.
They have called other victims under different (but very similar numbers) in the last several days (and even over the last 8 months).
There are HUNDREDS of other numbers they have been using, calling people using different names, similar company name (Texas Litigation Service for Advance America is what they used for me).
Basically "Mark Baker" called me and told me (while I was studying for finals) that I was being indicted on 3 charges and a warrant was being placed out for my arrest. I panicked because I've never been arrested before, never have had any problems with the law, no tickets, etc. I asked him why and he said it was because I took out a payday loan in 2012 from Advance America online (he listed it was to my bank account and listed the last 4 numbers of it correctly) and I haven't paid it back, which is fraud and the other two charges.
Here's what threw me, I did in fact (unlike like most of the other victims that have been called) take out a payday loan in 2012 .... But it was from a completely different company and I paid it off. I was racking my brain as to how this was possible and he told me that I needed to pay $1418.00 ASAP because he was holding my paperwork from being submitted to the court and preventing me from being indicted on charges.
I told him I would have to call my Mom because I'm a full time student and she has my student loans and handles them and I don't have that access to that much money now at the end of the semester. He offered to call my Mom and I told him no because she would flip out I needed to call her on her lunch break.
He told me that I only had an hour and a half because it was a "time sensitive matter."
Fortunately, my friend I was with has a mom who is a paralegal and told me that they cannot serve me via phone and that payday loan debt is a civil charge, not a criminal offense.
I researched that particular bank account he listed and looked at 2 years worth of bank statements and I saw absolutely nothing from Advance America. Nothing from any payday company.
I told my Mom and she called them and they were VERY nasty to her. They told her ALL of my personal information, including my social security number, my parent's address (where I lived in 2012) and my former employer. They told her that they were only calling as a courtesy as I have never been arrested before. They told her that it's not their fault that I can't jog my memory and remember taking out a loan from Advance America online when she told them that I couldn't find it anywhere in my bank statements. They told her that Advance America is a Federal Loan company and they front loan money to numerous other small loan companies and they couldn't tell her the date of the loan, amount or who it was from because it was "past that point."
They (Mark Baker and Rebecca Lawson) asked her what kind of car I drove and threatened to find me after the warrant was placed through the worthless check department. They told her they have tried to contact me several times by mail, email and calling my employer (lies to all, especially since I don't work for that employer anymore and they thought I did). They told her to have me call the payment processing center which was ironically the same call back number I was given to call Mark Baker back at with extension 44 (which is total bs btw the extension does absolutely nothing when you type it in).
I called Advance America and told them what was going on and the customer service rep told me about the nationwide scam. She told me they were the only Advance America and they definitely were not a federal loan company, plus you cannot take a loan out from them online, you have to do it in person at a nearby location. I told her what all happened and she told me that even if I did owe money to them they would never call and threaten me like that, as it's against the law, and it's also a civil issue and not a criminal one. She told me the courts aren't even fast enough to process something like that for it to hit in 24 hours. She got the numbers and the names I was given and reported them.
Angry, I called both of the numbers back numerous times and finally "Rebecca Lawson" picks up. I demanded to know the "date, amount, and company" of this "loan" that I took out and she said that department had gone for the day. It was 3:45.... I told her that I needed official documentation for all of this and I needed it now. She told me to call back in the morning and I said, "oh but wait.... I'm being issued a warrant if I don't take care of this today, right?!" And she told me to hold on a second and put me on hold for 15 minutes. I hung up and called back probably 30 times so I could scream and yell at them about how pathetic and low they were... But they kept rejecting my calls.
I reported them to FBI.gov and will be to the local authorities. I really hope that no one falls victim to this and pays them (fortunately we did not because I researched it for hours).
Especially someone, like myself, who has a history of debt that was paid off and is moving on with their life successfully and financially stable. I would really like to find these people who wasted my entire day of studying for finals being stressed out and worrying and rip them a new one.
Beware!!!!! This is a complete scam! I wasted an entire day when I was studying for finals thinking I was being indicted on fraud charges and a warrant was being placed for my arrest.
They called me from the number I listed this under, but had me call back to (210) 477-2288.
They have called other victims under different (but very similar numbers) in the last several days (and even over the last 8 months).
There are HUNDREDS of other numbers they have been using, calling people using different names, similar company name (Texas Litigation Service for Advance America is what they used for me).
Basically "Mark Baker" called me and told me (while I was studying for finals) that I was being indicted on 3 charges and a warrant was being placed out for my arrest. I panicked because I've never been arrested before, never have had any problems with the law, no tickets, etc. I asked him why and he said it was because I took out a payday loan in 2012 from Advance America online (he listed it was to my bank account and listed the last 4 numbers of it correctly) and I haven't paid it back, which is fraud and the other two charges.
Here's what threw me, I did in fact (unlike like most of the other victims that have been called) take out a payday loan in 2012 .... But it was from a completely different company and I paid it off. I was racking my brain as to how this was possible and he told me that I needed to pay $1418.00 ASAP because he was holding my paperwork from being submitted to the court and preventing me from being indicted on charges.
I told him I would have to call my Mom because I'm a full time student and she has my student loans and handles them and I don't have that access to that much money now at the end of the semester. He offered to call my Mom and I told him no because she would flip out I needed to call her on her lunch break.
He told me that I only had an hour and a half because it was a "time sensitive matter."
Fortunately, my friend I was with has a mom who is a paralegal and told me that they cannot serve me via phone and that payday loan debt is a civil charge, not a criminal offense.
I researched that particular bank account he listed and looked at 2 years worth of bank statements and I saw absolutely nothing from Advance America. Nothing from any payday company.
I told my Mom and she called them and they were VERY nasty to her. They told her ALL of my personal information, including my social security number, my parent's address (where I lived in 2012) and my former employer. They told her that they were only calling as a courtesy as I have never been arrested before. They told her that it's not their fault that I can't jog my memory and remember taking out a loan from Advance America online when she told them that I couldn't find it anywhere in my bank statements. They told her that Advance America is a Federal Loan company and they front loan money to numerous other small loan companies and they couldn't tell her the date of the loan, amount or who it was from because it was "past that point."
They (Mark Baker and Rebecca Lawson) asked her what kind of car I drove and threatened to find me after the warrant was placed through the worthless check department. They told her they have tried to contact me several times by mail, email and calling my employer (lies to all, especially since I don't work for that employer anymore and they thought I did). They told her to have me call the payment processing center which was ironically the same call back number I was given to call Mark Baker back at with extension 44 (which is total bs btw the extension does absolutely nothing when you type it in).
I called Advance America and told them what was going on and the customer service rep told me about the nationwide scam. She told me they were the only Advance America and they definitely were not a federal loan company, plus you cannot take a loan out from them online, you have to do it in person at a nearby location. I told her what all happened and she told me that even if I did owe money to them they would never call and threaten me like that, as it's against the law, and it's also a civil issue and not a criminal one. She told me the courts aren't even fast enough to process something like that for it to hit in 24 hours. She got the numbers and the names I was given and reported them.
Angry, I called both of the numbers back numerous times and finally "Rebecca Lawson" picks up. I demanded to know the "date, amount, and company" of this "loan" that I took out and she said that department had gone for the day. It was 3:45.... I told her that I needed official documentation for all of this and I needed it now. She told me to call back in the morning and I said, "oh but wait.... I'm being issued a warrant if I don't take care of this today, right?!" And she told me to hold on a second and put me on hold for 15 minutes. I hung up and called back probably 30 times so I could scream and yell at them about how pathetic and low they were... But they kept rejecting my calls.
I reported them to FBI.gov and will be to the local authorities. I really hope that no one falls victim to this and pays them (fortunately we did not because I researched it for hours).
Especially someone, like myself, who has a history of debt that was paid off and is moving on with their life successfully and financially stable. I would really like to find these people who wasted my entire day of studying for finals being stressed out and worrying and rip them a new one.