A phone call, email or text message from a supposed debt collector is not legally sufficient evidence of debt.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) includes statements such as this:
* 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 ... 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, Western Union, or other untraceable means, then the call is definitely not legitimate.
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
Maybe we need to start a class action. The United States Congress has found abundant evidence of the use of
abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors, and has determined that abusive debt collection practices contribute to the number of personal bankruptcies, to marital instability, to the loss of jobs, and to invasions of individual privacy. Congress wrote the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq. (hereinafter "FDCPA"), to eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors, to insure that those debt collectors who refrain from using abusive debt collection practices are not competitively disadvantaged, and to promote
consistent State action to protect consumers against debt collection abuses. The California legislature has determined that the banking and credit system and grantors of credit to consumers are dependent upon the collection of just
and owing debts and that unfair or deceptive collection practices undermine the public confidence that is essential to the continued functioning of the banking and credit system and sound extensions of credit to consumers. The Legislature has further determined that there is a need to ensure that debt collectors exercise this responsibility with fairness, honesty and due regard for the debtor's rights and that debt collectors must be prohibited from engaging in unfair or deceptive acts or practices. I filed a won a lawsuit based on very similiar circumstances. In the state of California, certain lawyers specialize in this type of law and in most cases file your case upfront and do not get paid until they win your suit. This type of harassment has to stop!
I got a phone call from 904-584-2650 by a man with an accent claiming that his name was Officer Mike Johnson stating that I took out a pay day loan and did not repay it. He rattled off all of my personal informationa as well as my address and stated that I could go to jail if I do not pay the money back. As soon as I asked him to send me a wriiten copy of this matter he hung up the phone. Please monitor your personal information including bank accounts if you have recied a call from this number. This man had all of my personal information without me giving it to him. It is definatey a SCAM and this man needs to be caught ASAP!
So this guy name Officer Mike Johnson, even though he had a thick Arabic accent, called saying all my personal information and saying he was going to shut down my social security number amd send police to my house and job if I don't pay a loan that I never signed up for or wanted. He hangs up the phone when I answer and ask questions or I just let it go to voicemail. Same number 9045842650.