Pure extortion scam. If you had a "civil action lawsuit pressed" against you, you would have been properly served by the Plaintiff as they would already have filed papers in the courthouse. The fact that they failed to properly identify themselves speaks volumes on the fact that this is a criminal enterprise calling you. Read the following thoroughly:
It is incumbent upon them under the law to prove that the debt exists and that you owe it, and that they have the legal right to collect it. You are not obligated under the law to prove that you don’t owe or that it is paid. [/u][/i][/b]
Federal law (FDCPA) requires them to send you a letter (US MAIL ONLY) postmarked 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 of 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 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://800notes.com/faq/attorney-general
My sister received a call from this number telling her that I had a civil action lawsuit pressed against me she have gave me the number and I called a young guy that goes by the name of Mike Rose answered the phone and had a lot of my personal information he already knew who it was before I even said my name. He claims he works for a collection agency but didn't give me the company's name and that he was collecting a debt on behalf of Jareds jewelers, a debt that I was under the impression had been settled 5 years ago. He asked for my credit card information and told me he emailed and mailed out paperwork for me to sign and that I had until the end of the month to pay this. Does this sound legitimate? Or does anyone have a similar experience with this guy?
A phone call, email, text message or postcard from a supposed debt collector is not legally sufficient proof of debt.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) includes statements such as this:
Unless the original communication contained this specific information, every collector must send you a written “validation notice” telling you how much money you owe within five days after they first contact you. This notice also must include the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money, and how to proceed if you don’t think you owe the money. ["Written" means snailmailed - US Mail ... not emailed or texted]
Therefore, if that caller wants you to pay immediately, before you get the written validation notice via snailmail, or if the caller wants payment via Green Dot, MoneyGram, Western Union, prepaid gift card or other untraceable means, then the call is definitely not legitimate.
REMEMBER THIS IF YOU FORGET ALL ELSE:
1. Legally, THEY must prove you owe the debt (you do not have to prove to them that you do not owe the debt)
2. They must prove they have a legal right to collect the debt
3. They must send you snailmail with specific info within 5 days of the original contact, if you request that validation notice, or if that information was not provided on initial contact. You have up to 30 days to reply to that letter.
IF you wish to communicate with the supposed collector / creditor, visit the following page, for example "Action Letters" to snailmail:
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/blog/debtcollection/
If you KNOW you owe no money, or believe the call was from a fake debt collector, please take the time to read this:
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0258-fake-debt-collectors
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Please reply to this post, to let us know you read it, or have taken suitable actions to protect yourself.
Pure extortion scam. If you had a "civil action lawsuit pressed" against you, you would have been properly served by the Plaintiff as they would already have filed papers in the courthouse. The fact that they failed to properly identify themselves speaks volumes on the fact that this is a criminal enterprise calling you. Read the following thoroughly:
It is incumbent upon them under the law to prove that the debt exists and that you owe it, and that they have the legal right to collect it. You are not obligated under the law to prove that you don’t owe or that it is paid. [/u][/i][/b]
Federal law (FDCPA) requires them to send you a letter (US MAIL ONLY) postmarked 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 of 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 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://800notes.com/faq/attorney-general