Debt Collectors Threatening a Lawsuit Over the Phone, Spoofing, and Other Telephone Scams

One day I monitored a familiar call from a heavily accented man claiming I needed "to pay a debt to avoid a lawsuit. At that point I picked up the phone...

and promptly hung up. Not my first time with this scam.

I welcome considerate comments, the sharing of unfortunate consequences, or that you learned something important from this page, but...

WARNING to the Scammers: Want to post harassing comments or links here? Don't even try it.

They WILL NOT appear here since I moderate all comments and feedback.

P.S. Find another job with some dignity.

You do know about Karma, don't you?

Photo Credit: Creative Commons

My daughter was the first in the family to get this call. She was still a young adult and only had a few debts. Like many children under 25 she still lived at home with us. Her debts included a cell phone, car payment, a small limit credit card, and school loan.

One day she answered the phone to a very pleasant young man with an accent who said she was late on her payment...

It wasn't long before the caller turned nasty and said she must pay right now over the phone or the police would knock on her door and she would be arrested. They also knew where she worked and might have her arrested there in front of her co-workers and management.

Of course, she freaked out and hung up. Luckily, she lives in my house. Since I am a skeptic well trained in email phishing, I quickly went online to check out if this was a scam and searched for the phone number, too.

BINGO! Well documented scam artist tactic. These phony debt collectors use lots of names and phone numbers. Although most have foreign accents, they all use American-sounding names and may claim to be lawyers, police officers or investigators, and surprisingly, debt collectors. They also use many, many, numbers and claim to be calling from many locations within the U.S.

The caller called back several times.

Photo Credit: Creative Commons

What happened? Tell us in the guestbook below.

anonymous: Got a new phone number and within 2 weeks began getting robot calls threatening legal action if I did not pay up. The message was intended for the previous owner of the number. I called the number given to tell them they had the wrong number and to stop calling. The "investigator" insisted I give him my personal info. I refused and hung up. The calls started back this AM. I called the number again, a female voice answered "attorney's office". I laughed, told her only a scammer would answer the phone that way, demanded they stop calling and hung up. The calls continue at least until I put an android app on my phone to hang up on black listed numbers.

anonymous: Two calls came from me at my in-laws house this morning- within 30 mins of each other and they also called my mother's cell phone. The phone number they gave was 855-699-9749. They left a case number too. I called the number, and when they answered, all they said was "investigations." Since they did not give a company name, I assumed it was a scam of some sort. I told them that no one by that name lived at the address associated with the phone number (my in-laws)- which is true. I googled the number and can't find any information on it. I'm pretty sure it's another lawsuit scam.

creditsabre: You did the right thing! When confronted by this situation, you send a debt collector a debt validation letter denying and disputing the credit card debt and asking for validation. They will not be able to send you any documents proving the debt they claim because they don't have it in the first place. Never submit to their demands and never be afraid to deny or dispute the debt.

anonymous: yes - an individual that lives in my home is currently being harassed by the lawsuit scam. We were tricked at first and paid about $400. Now we are being called for more money and threatening that a warrant for her arrest will be issued if she doesn't pay up. The current number calling is (8770 631-3902

Home Telephones

Recommended

• Use a Answering Machine to Monitor (listen to) your Calls.
• Only pick if for people you know or companies with which you do business.

Most Scammers Thieves will hang up. Not a single one will leave a message. They want to use their nefarious skills to panic, threaten, or cajole, you into paying them. It's that simple.

Next Best Option ~or~ for Cell Phones

• Add Caller ID to your phone service
• Only answer calls from numbers you recognize.

If you are not sure, and you answer a call from a Scammer

• When a caller tries one of the examples given on this page, hang up and note the phone number from the Caller ID

Report the call referencing the caller's phone number, and other information given if possible to:

Internet Crime Complaint Center @ www.ic3.gov, where you can report the incident by filling out a form.

(The Internet Crime Complaint Center is a partnership of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I) and The White Collar Crime Center.)

Spoof calls involve using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) calling using random phone numbers in your area to fool you into thinking you are answering a local call. Quite often the robotic recording directs you to call another number, usually an 800 number. These call use your area code, prefix, and even a legitimate business phone number like the scam involving Apple like the article shown below.