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), Atlanta GA (often a parking lot near the bus station or a Peachtree Road Address) or Phoenix AZ. 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”. They often call people with a recording claiming they are looking for a "defendant"
Collins and Stern
Schuman, Walker, & Associates
Kaplan, Stein, & Associates
KS & Associates
Lyman & Turner
Burns & Stevens
HD & Associates
Richardson Simms and Associates
Johnston & Moore
Holland, Dempsey, and Associates
Hughes and Berkeley
RJ Financial LLC
Ondrick and Miles
Anderson & Banker Mediation or Pre-Trial Litigators
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
This is a scam. They call me looking for my sister using my maiden name I haven't used for over 20 years calling to my cell number (since it's a Utah number and I'm not in Utah anymore). I called the Attorney General's Office of the state I'm in and my sister is in. The caller says they are the "Sweetwater Group." Yet in this state they do not have a bond to collect debts. I bet they don't in UT either. The AG told me it's a known scam. Sometimes it's random sometimes they find old collections and try to get folks to pay on them. My sister has none. But the AG says they threaten to put it on your credit and folks pay in order to protect their credit. They call me every morning at 859 am...Central Time. So even IF they were in UT they'd be breaking the law (if legit) by calling too early and harassing me the sister. Luckily I'm a Dave Ramsey fan and know what they can and can not do legally...so when they continued to break the law I decided to check them out. TOTAL SCAM! Beware. Don't pay them a dime. If you owe a debt pay the company you owe directly! Most are liars if they are calling.
This is a scam. They call me looking for my sister using my maiden name I haven't used for over 20 years calling to my cell number (since it's a Utah number and I'm not in Utah anymore). I called the Attorney General's Office of the state I'm in and my sister is in. The caller says they are the "Sweetwater Group." Yet in this state they do not have a bond to collect debts. I bet they don't in UT either. The AG told me it's a known scam. Sometimes it's random sometimes they find old collections and try to get folks to pay on them. My sister has none. But the AG says they threaten to put it on your credit and folks pay in order to protect their credit. They call me every morning at 859 am...Central Time. So even IF they were in UT they'd be breaking the law (if legit) by calling too early and harassing me the sister. Luckily I'm a Dave Ramsey fan and know what they can and can not do legally...so when they continued to break the law I decided to check them out. TOTAL SCAM! Beware. Don't pay them a dime. If you owe a debt pay the company you owe directly! Most are liars if they are calling. BTW, I can't find a Sweetwater Group other than a construction company anywhere online.
Got a call from this number stating that they were assisting mortgage officers to better their web presence. Supposedly the company name was GoTeam. I looked them up on Google and didn't see anything. That's when I decided to look up the phone number. Looks like it could be a scam.
Guy Call to tell me that he can get me 5 Star Ratings to better their web presence, When I told him that i can get my own 5 Star Ratings by my own client reviews, he insisted i have no online presents and that i sound like I'm smoking pot and have no Business being in Business and that he feels sorry for anyone that has to deal with me. I hung up at that point.