This is a scam. Google India Payday Loan scams and see the info for this group. You cannot be arrested for not paying your debt without having gone to court. Amazing the lengths these people will go to. Love their use of Americanized names with the accent. Definitely not Joshua Carter I am talking to. One of them went so far as to give me his Illinois Bar number - no such thing when i reported him to the Illinois Bar.
I got a call and voicemail from a Daniel Roy at this number today. He says I've been listed as a "point of interest" in a matter that's been filed in his office and that he's looking to "obtain a record of conversation" either with me or my representation. He gave the callback number 877-381-5756 ext. 1001.
I tried looking up the company (AVRS) and the city the number was out of (Lometa, TX) but had no luck. I was kind of concerned, so I called back. I googled the phone number while I was on hold, and found this site, so I hung up before the guy answered. He immediately called back but I didn't answer. I'm a little worried that this is going to be the beginning of an irritating phone war, but I hope not.
Do not pay these people. They are scam artists. Remember you cannot be arrested for failure to pay a debt in the United States (debtors prisons were outlawed before the American Revolution). If they say they are lawyers, ask for their bar number and immediately report it to the Bar Association and Attorney General for the state they are licensed. Do a google search for payday loan scams and california and indian. You will see that these people are ripping good folks off for millions for loans they have paid off or have been written off a long time ago. The biggest problem is when they transfer you to another number it is usually a call center in India.
ok, I see this contstantly and it's just TERRIBLE. Obviously this is a phishing scam (since so many are reporting the same activity) I can tell you all that I have been dealing with this issue since late 2009. It started with a letter from a company called "LRA" or 'Lighthouse Recovery Assoc' they were based in California. At first I thought it might be a valid debt since it only had a name of 'BMG/CMG Corp' listed as the original creditor. I called and told them I needed verification in WRITING before I would agree to pay them anything. They sent me a bogus copy of a contract from an online payday loan company - I have never had a payday loan, nor have I ever applied for one. The 'contract' had all of my personal information on it - including my name, address, phone number, email address, employer info, and SSN (again - I have NEVER entered into any agreement of this kind and have NO idea where this came from or how they obtained my information) At the bottom of the 'contract' it showed funds being deposited into a bank acct - that was not mine. I wrote a letter of appeal explaining that this was not my debt and that no funds were ever deposited into MY acct. I even went so far as to have my bank print out my bank activity from that time and also the bank wrote a letter on my behalf explaining that this money was never received by me. I called LRA and was told the appeal was rec'd, and to allow 30 days to process the appeal and that this would be resolved and taken from my records. I thought it was handled .... then about 3 mos later they sent me another letter demanding payment. I of course called and explained the situation and the appeal - and miraculously they couldn't find it. So I sent another one - I kept everything from the original. This time I faxed it, and sent a copy certified mail signature due upon receipt. I dealt with LRA several more times before they finally went away over the next 6-8 months. Soon enough however ... I started getting phone calls from various other 'debt collectors' on this 'loan' all saying the same thing. 'We have a file in our office, its regarding a legal matter, and we are going to serve you either at home or at your place of employment blah blah blah' EACH AND EVERY TIME I request a verification of debt letter .. and every time they are unable to provide one - or they say it was already sent several times (no it wasn't) These companies are in gross violation of the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices) - they have called my home and my work leaving messages that I 'have been notified' ... even going so far as to threaten that I am going to jail, or that (I'm not kidding) they are going to beat and rape me in front of my children and murder my parents!! THIS IS ILLEGAL ... and if it was any way, shape or form a legitimate debt these things would not be happening ... you know why? Because each and every time a violation of the FDCPA occurs it is a fine of 1000.00 - payable to the debtor (yes that would be you, the person owing gets paid a thousand bucks by the debt collector for the violation) Legitimate agencies KNOW this - and they do their best to follow the law because a debt collector is only making roughly 40% off the monies collected - if they violate the law they are operating quite possible in the black and making NO money. Another thing about these companies - they never seem to go away, and good luck tracking them down. The calls are set up through a Voip (voice over IP) basically it could be some guy calling you from his bedroom in Bulgaria but the phone connection bounces around the internet and feeds through to a different call zone - say California or New York for example. They set up on something like a dry loop and can not be traced or tracked down. At least I havn't found a way to do it anyway - and believe me I have tried. I ended up tracking down the original 'creditor' BMG/CMG Group ... this is a legitimate company that offers payday loans, but they said that I do not owe them ANY MONEY. I requeted that in writing late in 2010 and did receive a letter stating that I have not ever, and do not owe anything to them and that I am released from any obligations towards the 'debt'. ok ... so you think that stopped it? NO! I have rec'd calls at home - and my employer 3x in 2011 and 2012 - the latest one being today 06/21/12 at 9:00 am. My call today was exactly the same as all the others I have rec'd. It's more of a hassle and it's infuriating ... but they are mostly harmless I think. This 'debt' has never been reported to my credit .. and no, noone has ever showed up to serve me papers - and I have been threatened with THAT line at least 4 times. Now here's the kicker .... everyone keeps saying call the police, call the FTC, call the authorities .... I'm going to tell you not to waste your time. I have called every single one of the agencies below and filed FORMAL, sometimes written complaints with every one to: the FBI, CIA, FTC, BBB in CA, BBB IL, BBB CO, BBB NY, I've also contacted the State Collection Bureaus in CA,CO, and NY, as well as the Attny General in CA,CO,IL,IN,and NY ... I have called my local police - I even went so far as to contact an investigative reporter for FOX news based in California. He did a story/investigation into these scams about a year or 18 mos ago and in turn one of these companies was shut down, faced prosecution and they now in jail. You know what every one of those agencies told me? 'we are well aware of this situation, and it is unfortunate - but there is 'nothing we can do' ... most of these calls are not coming from America - they are looped to look like it - but are originating outside the country. There are a few American 'copy-cat' companies that are working the same scam ... but using the same techniques w/ the Voip/dryloop they are not able to be tracked. So that's my story - don't be surprised if you start seeing it everywhere you look b/c I am going to get the word out there about this. These are opportunistic Vultures taking what they can from innocent, unsuspecting people - many of whom probably did have a payday loan at some time and think one just 'slipped' by ... God only knows how much money they have sucked out of unsuspecting people over the past few years. If we get the word out to people, and they stop getting our money, MAYBE they will stop seeing us as a quick payday and move on to some other unsuspecting country. Its very simple ... if someone calls you about a debt THEY ARE REQUIRED BY FEDERAL LAW TO PROVIDE YOU IN WRITING PROOF THAT YOU OWE IT. If nothing can be provided, or if they flat out refuse - it is a scam. There is nothing they can do, they can't haul you to prision, damage your credit, or get you fired - they can't garnish your wages - they can't even Sue you! they can't come to your house, file harassement charges on you or any of the other million threats they try (today I told them i had the police waiting in my driveway to arrest them when the 'process server' showed up ... they actually tried to tell me that they were going to file harassment papers on ME ... then they blocked my # because I called them repeatedly for about 30 minutes asking where the authorities were at) ... I know it sounds scary, but it's all smoke. I retained an attorney on this 2 years ago and every time they call I double check and document it with my lawyer - it's a scam, and people need to be made aware of it. Tell everyone you know and tell them to tell everyone they know ... I've done it and I will not stop. Good Luck to all. *** I REC'D YET ANOTHER CALL TODAY ... FROM DANIEL ROY AT AVRS 877-381-5756 X 1001 ... I CALLED HIM BACK, TOLD HIM IT IS A SCAM, TOLD HIM HE WOULD BE HEARING FROM MY ATTY. HE HUNG UP ON ME, I CALLED MY LAWYER, CALLED BACK TO 'DANIEL ROY' AND MIRACULOUSLY MY NAME/NUMBER IS NO LONGER IN THEIR SYSTEM (LESS THAN 10 MINUTE SPAN BETWEEN CALLS TO HIS OFFICE) ..... DO NOT BE FOOLED!!!!
@ should i be worried .... they can't hurt you - they can't collect on you, it is a scam. HOWEVER - I will tell you from personal experience ... it is going to be a VERY irritating phone war. They will not stop, they will never go away, and they will continue to become more and more abusive, and threatening in their attempts to intimidate you and steal your hard earned money! DONT' FALL FOR IT!!! I have been dealing with these parasites since 2009 .. after the first year or so I decided to fight back. I recored every call, save every voice mail, every piece of 'communication' I get from them. I call them back - and I harass them. I call them repeatedly .... back to back calls until they leave me alone. I tell them i'm waiting for them to come get me, I tell them I'm waiting with the police, I told my employer about the scam so I wouldn't get in trouble (yes ... they call at work too) ... they have called my family, cousins, parents, grandparents ... i had to tell every person I know about this to avoid any info inadvertantly being released to them. Also ... I don't want my family caught up in this also and scamming attempts to start on them as well. It's really more of an annoyance at this point. They call me like CLOCKWORK about every 6 months. Then I drive them crazy with my phone calls until (oddly) after about 15-20 minutes the number is usally disconnected or they have blocked ME from calling THEM! ..... This last time I may have got them ... i have their address, phone, email (from another poster on this thread) ... i have called my lawyer to see if he can hunt them down - if we can I am filing a lawsuit. Every violoation of the FDCPA is a 1000 fine ... so far if i can track these spinless excuses for human beings down I am up to about 20 grand. IF YOU ARE PART OF THIS SCAM AND READING THIS - BE WARNED. I WILL FIND YOU, I WILL TRACK YOU DOWN, I WILL SUE YOU, AND YOU WILL PAY TO THE FURTHEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.