Report them also to the Federal Trade Commission: https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
And if anyone outside of Georgia is receiving calls from these bumbling crooks, file a complaint with your state's attorney general. The contact info for each state's AG is here: http://www.naag.org
Here's the name and address registered under that phone number:
Reginald L White
1939 Brannen Rd SE
Atlanta, GA 30316-3661
(404) 287-0204
If you look at the satellite photograph of this property at Maps.Google.com or Maps.Live.com, it's pretty obvious that this is a residential address.
Whether or not this is a real debt collection company, they've broken the law in a big way -- impersonating law enforcement or government agents and threatening arrest, for starters.
Here's what those being hassled by these criminals should do:
1) File an online complaint with the Federal Trade Commission consumer complaint form: https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
2) File a complaint with the Georgia attorney general (even if you're not in Georgia: Thurbert Baker, Georgia Attorney General, http://ganet.org/ago
3) File a complaint with your state's attorney general. You can find your attorney general's contact info here: http://www.naag.org/
4) Check out these websites for advice and legal assistance on dealing with outlaw debt collectors:
EC, (above) you're one of the heros. Thanks! I just got a call from a lifelong friend who I've roomed with (as in 'rent a bedroom' when I'm between houses) but NEVER have had comingled (sp?) finances of any sort. The only thing I can surmise is that I must have listed him as an emergency contact YEARS ago and they tracked him down and left one of these artful pseudo-g-man sounding messages for ME.
He called me just now in a "what the hell have you DONE?" kind of tones. Normal honest people never stop to think that the law-enforcement-sounding voice on the other end is actually an out and out criminal.
For the record, the message was from "Mrs. Scott" a "claims processor" and something about law enforcement. (I didn't press him for details since he was still kind of rattled)
EC, (and everyone else) you got my curiosity up and I, too, looked at the sat pix. See, I'm an Atlanta native and grew up not 20 minutes from this site. It's a part of town that used to be pretty nice but now if you were to say you live there people would look at you as if you'd just robbed a liquor store.
My guess is that he's buying up really cheap commercial paper (likely way out of statutory collection reach) and then using these misdemeanor tactics in the hope that the cops in Atlanta are going to be too busy catching murderers and rapists... not knowing that there are also folks like us on the receiving who can go on IRC, ping a pal in Russia and have Reggie's credit card numbers and details on what he ate for lunch in about 15 minutes... not that we'd ever DO anything like that... I mean, NOBODY ever uses gray-hat tactics to shut down an ongoing criminal enterprise, do they?
I received a call at 10:45 A.M. today, from some ?lady?, who identified herself as Mrs. Scott, then proceeded to tell me that my niece was in the "investigative" phase of some type of "legal" collection situation. She was unable, however to identify her company, but did give me the call back #404-287-0204. When I then inquired as to exactly what this was in reference to, she would not relay any further information, so I told her that when she read in the Atlanta Journal that Hell has frozen over--she could expect my niece to send her agency some money. She hung up <;-)