I received a phone call on my cell from an "unknown number". I do not answer such calls, so I let it go to my voicemail. A man with a heavy foreign accent left a message stating that, "I or my attorney needed to call him back immediately regarding a case against me". He went on to say, "if I did not call back, then good luck to me". This "threat" made me call back because I was concerned as to the nature of the call. When I called back a female with a very heavy accent answered the phone and asked for my telephone number so she could look up my information. Once I gave her the telephone number, she told me that I took out a payday loan and did not pay it back. I had taken out a payday loan online for $300 almost a year prior and had paid it back in full. I informed her of this and she began to threaten me and was extremely rude. She said if I had paid the loan back, I would not be on their list, that my file would be transferred to investigators the next day, the investigators were going to come to my house or my place of employment, I would have to go to court and pay over $5, 000, ect. When I continued to dispute the matter, she hung up the phone. I became even more concerned and decided to call back. This time a man answered the phone and again I was asked for my telephone number. He began to recite my bank account number, the name of one of my family members and a date that the loan was taken out. I began to wonder if the loan company whom I had dealt with in the past may have made an error, so asked him for the name of the creditor. He could not tell me. I asked for an account or customer number and again he could not tell me. I went so far as to ask what address he had on file for me, he could not tell me. He did say that I owed $1500 and then changed it to $725. I hung up the phone upset and trying to figure out what was going on, then it hit me. Their biggest mistake he made was in regards to the date that I had taken out the so-called loan. I realized that I had not opened that particular bank account until four months after he claimed I received the loan. How could someone give me money into an account that did not exist? I knew then that their was something "fishy" about these people and they had my bank account information. Long story short, I called back several times and went "head to toe" with these people attempting to get to the bottom of what they were trying to do and where they were located. All they would tell me was the name of the company (American Credit Services) and that they were out of California. Prior to hanging up the telephone, they said that an investigator would be at my door to take me away. This happened two days ago. It was still bothering me, so I decided to google the name and here I am. I only wish that I had thought to do this when it was happening. I am very upset! I plan to report this to the police in my area, the BBB and whoever else along the way. Someone needs to stop them and they need to be arrested. Everyone be aware of this and pass this scam information along to others. If it happens to you, dont let it go, say something so that they can not get away with this anymore!
Dls, thank you for the advise. I appreciate it, however I do not believe that you read my scenerio or the other complanints thoroughly. These people are not being hired by a company to collect a debt. They are doing what they are doing on their own accord in an attempt to steal money from people. I contacted the company that gave me the loan. They were fully aware of the fact that I paid that loan in full and aware of the scam that these people are running on myself and others. It is fraud "pure and simple". They are not in a foreign country. I did a reverse look up on the phone number they called me from and other research, which proves that they are in California -Glendale or Orange County to be exact. They even tell you they are from California when you ask who they are and where they are calling from. There is a legitimate company "American Credit Services" in California and they are also aware of the scam. There is no recording when they call stating that the call is being recorded or that the call is an attempt to collect a debt, because they are utilizing "pay as you go" phones. There is certainly no way to e-mail these individuals and no reason to because it is a scam. Hopefully the Attorney General's office will investigate this before they steal from more innocent people. I was one of the lucky ones who did not fall for it. I am still upset - not only do I have to change my account, but these people have my social security number, driver's license number, ect. Protecting myself is costing time and money. They should not be getting away with this.
