by ShillKill
Bloom & Smith are a new name for the hydra bunch, so I have reflected this is my new and updated informational post
For nearly two years, 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"
Bloom & Smith
Global Capital Services Group
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 common ploy by criminals attempting to extort money from people by scaring you into believing that you will be criminally charged, go to jail, lose your driver’s license, have wages garnished, etc. all for an alleged or nonexistent debt.
Federal law (FDCPA) requires them to send you a letter (US MAIL ONLY) within 5 days of their first contact that contains their name, physical address, the creditor’s name, and the amount of the alleged debt. It also must contains “mini-Miranda” telling you that it is an attempt to collect a debt and that all information will be used for those purposes. The one other important thing that this letter must also have in it is that you have a right to dispute the debt within 30 days receipt of the letter and if you do so, all collection activity must be stopped until the debt is verified.
Read up on your rights here, get template letters to send and also make a complaint at this government site: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/
Also file a complaint with your State Attorney General's office.
List of State AG’s offices: http://consumerfraudreporting.org/stateattorneygenerallist.php
I received a harassing call from this number, came up on caller ID as "Ticketmaster" I answered and some guy was threatining me he was going to take legal acton against me and he was with some law firm. He couldnt speak in a professional manner so I started laughing and blocked the number
Phone call claiming to be from Bloom and Smith, very demanding, trying to verify last four of social by all means. When I demanded to know what kind of business it was and their physical address for my attorney to contact them, they quickly hung up. First it was a man calling, a minute after he hung up, then it was a woman. Be careful!
was just contacted by this number and was hung up on several times when I demanded to know the name of the company they worked for. Names provided to my where Jeremy Lawson, Monique Brown, Kelly White, Leah Brown, Lin Hadden, and Lauren Harper. I was provided with a PObox in South Carolina when the number is from here in Tampa. Very rude and unprofessional. They told me they are from "The Fleet Water Group"
by ShillKill
Bloom & Smith are a new name for the hydra bunch, so I have reflected this is my new and updated informational post
For nearly two years, 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"
Bloom & Smith
Global Capital Services Group
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 common ploy by criminals attempting to extort money from people by scaring you into believing that you will be criminally charged, go to jail, lose your driver’s license, have wages garnished, etc. all for an alleged or nonexistent debt.
Federal law (FDCPA) requires them to send you a letter (US MAIL ONLY) within 5 days of their first contact that contains their name, physical address, the creditor’s name, and the amount of the alleged debt. It also must contains “mini-Miranda” telling you that it is an attempt to collect a debt and that all information will be used for those purposes. The one other important thing that this letter must also have in it is that you have a right to dispute the debt within 30 days receipt of the letter and if you do so, all collection activity must be stopped until the debt is verified.
Read up on your rights here, get template letters to send and also make a complaint at this government site: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/
Also file a complaint with your State Attorney General's office.
List of State AG’s offices: http://consumerfraudreporting.org/stateattorneygenerallist.php