Does anyone have any contacts to former employees of these guys? I am in contact with one CURRENT employee who is providing me interesting info. Looking for others
My mother in law who is in her early 70's received a call from someone claiming to collect a debt from Bailey & Row at Law on behalf of HSBC bank. They said they were offering her an "out of court agreement". She would need to pay $600.00 ($100.00/month) starting July 03,2014 because she origionally owed $4215.66. They told her they knew where she lived and if she did not pay they would refer the case to a lawyer and she would have to appear in court. Even told her if she has kids or any one in the house with her now she should get them to pay for her. They also told her the make and model of three cars in front of the house that actually belonged to the neighbors and said that one of them belonged to her and they would repossess it(THINK THEY USED GOOGLE EARTH). I asked them for their phone number and direct extension and name of the person handling her case. I was put on hold twice before they reluctantly gave me this #(8554146205) and the name Nick Barnes as the investigator but they called from 561 207 7553. They said there was no need to call back because they were only going to accept payment today and that they would note that she was not complying and she needs to get a lawyer,(also wanted an email address or mobile phone # to send a contract that needed to be signed to authorize payment). I told them she was not going to provide them with any of her credit card info over the phone because it could be a scam and they should send something in the mail on a company letter head. They stated that they did numerous times with no response and they were not going to send out any more letters. I hung up and when I called back someone answers saying investigators how can I help you on both numbers
Bailey and Row (or whatever they now call themselves) have a long history on 800notes of using terrible collection tactics. I'd just ignore them. Block their calls. Do not call them back. They are most assuredly not a law firm. Just plain old collectors.
For at least the last year, an illegal group of debt collectors have been terrorizing consumers, their family, friends, and employees threatening to arrest the individual of an unpaid loan or other debt (their generally don't even owe). Be aware debt is a civil matter, not a criminal matter, and you can't be arrested. They threaten a warrant if the victim does not pay a sum of money by the credit card over the phone.
Some of the people they are calling do not owe a debt. Others they are calling have already settled their debt with the organization who owns the accounts. Even if you do owe a debt, do not be deceived by the actions of this group. Many of the accounts they are attempting to collect they do not own. In other words, if you pay these people, that is not going to clear your debt with its rightful owner.
Although when pressed the callers give the victim an address in Columbia South Carolina (usually a vacant lot) or Atlanta GA (often a parking lot near the bus station or a Peachtree Road Address). They are actually out of the Charlotte North Carolina area. The scammers are using the following business names (and there are many others, and they seem to create new ones daily). They will normally answer the call back number as “Investigations”
Holland, Dempsey, and Associates
Reynolds, Hill, and Associates
Berkley and Associates
Kaufmann and Associates
Sanderson Blaine & Associates
Blaine and Associates
McKenzie Reid Associates
Kennedy, Kline, & Associates
Nationwide Asset and Recovery
Piedmont Investigations and Procurement
Raffino, Garrison, & McCoy
Greenman, Schwartz & Associates
McCoy Law Group
Salem Associates
Reynolds and Associates
Ryan, Carter and Fields
Berman, Maxwell and associates
DOF Investigations
Vaughn & Associates
Bailey Rowe and Associates
Berkley Hughes and Associates
Here is a set of links to a variety of threads on this forum that document this group and its behavior. They include the experiences of victims as well as a former employee or two that quit within a week of finding out exactly what was going on. They also include responses from consumer advocates and people who are really criminal justice professionals advising victims of what to do
I recently started receiving calls from this number - They claim I owe them money, but
I have no idea who they are and who they represent. I asked them to send me the info by mail. I also asked when was my last transaction with whomever I owe. They could not answer.
It is a scam - they tried to intimidate me, but I told them to go ahead and send it to the courts. I prefer to deal with them through the courts, for I can hit them with a counterclaim for miss representation.
I just received a call on my office line from 561-207-7553 from someone named Lori Porter from Bloom & Smith. She verified the last 4 of my social then put me on hold for some guy. I hung up before he got on the line. Strangely enough my cell was ringing at the exact same time with the same call from a different area code matching the one on my cell.