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 received a call today from this number. The caller ID read Westwood Mediation and the woman was a Sandra Wells, who claimed to be an "investigator" about a supposedly unpaid internet payday loan from a company called Mutual Finance. She threatened me (nicely, of course) with an arrest because they would send the "file" to the D.A. where I live and I would be arrested for check fraud. She mentioned a bank I used to use and asked for me by my married name (I am divorced). This loan allegedly happened in 2009. She told me there were 32 pieces of first-class mail sent to me about this matter. I never received any kind of mail from this Mutual Finance and have moved several times since 2009....mail would have been forwarded. Sounds like a scam. Why, all of a sudden are they threatening me about a loan that is 4 years old?
Same crap here. This time she said her name was Sandra Wilson.
This is definitely a scam.
She had a bunch of identifying information about me so there is identity theft involved.
I have been dealing with this same thing same, but from agent tinsley from 916-382-7861, they also called my friend saying there is a case against me for fraud. she hung up on me and has called 4 times since!!
I recieved same call and she said she was agent wells and also spoke a male who claim the same thing. They also called my job and said they would supena me and try to legally get money from me for a loan I never had and a company I never heard of. They have never sent me any mail and the more I asked questions the more they both got mad at me. They are a scam and I am so enraged they called my place of work and got my boss involved.