these people just called me stating that I was going to be arrested for bank fraud in the morning if I didn't pay them today, stated it was from a pay day loan 3 years ago. said a warrant would be issued for my arrest but they couldn't give me any info on the original loan,,,they scared the crap out of me!! they said they were the law office of legal mediation....when I googled them, this is what I found!!! SCARY
I also got a call from someone claiming to be "legal mediation" from phone # 404-334-7066. They called my job looking for me & had my name & social security #. I immediately asked who they were, what original creditor made claim against me & the wouldnt reply. They just kept saying how a warrant was going to be issued for my arrest in the next 72 hrs but wouldnt give me any information on this. When I told the Indian sounding man on the phone that I was going to turn his # into the police, he hung up on me after repeating I was going to be arrested. This has happened to me before over payday loans and the calls are always from different phone #'s, with Indian speaking people who claim different names & different companies they are from. It is scary but in the state of FL they CANNOT prosecute you for payday loan defaults nor can they legally threaten you. They prey on the poor because we cant afford to sue them. Report it to police, the Better Business Bureau and your State Regulatory Board. Its sad that they get away with this. They are the ones who should be arrested.
I just receive a call from this man name Winston Murphy claiming to be from the "Law firm of legal mediation" as well. He left a voicemail for me to call him back because I have a warrant out for my arrest due to an unpaid payday loan. Prior to listening to the message my aunt called me (crying) saying that someone called her daughter (my cousin) trying to contact about this so warrant and felony charges. I called back the number to speak with Winston and he told me he had to call me back within ten minutes, so shady. When he finally return the call my co-worker was in the room and got involved throwing around legal terms. He all of a sudden had to get his Supervisor involved once she came on the line she was very rude and accused us of commending these crimes often. Then wish us "Good Luck" with the claims process and hung up. THIS IS A FAKE OPERATION AND DON'T TELL/SEND THEM [***]!!!
I also just got a call from this "Winston Murphy" claiming to be from the "Law Firm of Legal Mediation. He left a voicemail for me also saying to "call him back because my name has come up in a criminal investigation" and need to talk to him at his law firm. And he mumbled something about a retained attorney. Good grief! Scared me at first, but I know I'm not involved in any criminal investigation or anything of that sort, so I looked the number up he left and found these comments! THANK YOU for posting your comments. Now I am just really ticked that he is doing this to people and is getting away with it!
The Law Office of Legal Mediation (Lydia Baker, Monica Johnson, and others) is who is calling from this number. They will say and do anything in an attempt to get money from you, however, it's all a bluff. Yes, I know they sound scary, especially when they start threatening you with being arrested, having felony warrants, etc. But it's really all talk. If they call again, hopefully the following tips will help you out:
1. Before you answer their call or call them back, download Androrec, a FREE app available for Android (not sure about iPhone). Also, I'm in no way associated with this app, I just happen to find it useful.) Once it's installed, it'll automatically record every outgoing and incoming call.
2. You can wait for them to call you back, or you can call them. Tell the caller RIGHT AWAY that you will be recording the conversation. The trick is to have your own voice at the BEGINNING of the recording saying that you are recording the conversation.
3. Ask the collector for the name and address of the collection agency for which he or she works. Then ask him to send you written information about the debt to verify its validity. Any legitimate debt collection agency will do this because it’s required under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
4. If the caller won’t give you this information, hang up. If a phone number is available through caller ID, report the call to your state attorney general and the FTC.
A few other things to note:
You can’t be arrested simply because you can’t afford to pay a debt. Period.
It’s against the law for debt collectors to pretend to be attorneys or falsely threaten to sue you, regardless of how they communicate — through texts, through letters, or through phone calls.
Further, owing a debt to ANYONE is a civil matter, NOT a criminal one. A company MAY take you to court over a debt owed, but it is CIVIL court (like small claims court). This means that there is no warrant, no felony charges, etc. If a company decides to take you to court, they have to file the paperwork in the correct jurisdiction and then someone from your local sheriff’s office will serve you papers that let you know that a court date has been set, and for what time and place.