I have found that companies will use illegal tactics for collections out there, stating they will come arrest you for debt. I should have hung up and called my lawyer right away. Instead, I had to visit him and now I have to cancel my card and file a dispute and then file lawsuits against this company. What they did was wrong, and yes, I know, shame on me for falling for it. I felt like sharing this as a lesson to others not to fall for this type of tactics that collection agencies have adopted. Lesson learned, I was an idiot, time to move on and fix my mistake.
Here's the story:
Incoming phone call from <UNAVAILABLE> on September 3, 2014 at 4:26pm.
Answered the phone. Was read my social security number and date of birth. Verified information as accurate. Person stated she was calling about a bank debt (overdraft fee) from 2009 and that they wanted to garnish my wages. Also she stated they were in the process of filing legal paperwork with “Maricopa County.” (Note: I lived in AZ from 2004-2012, moved to IL in 2013.) I told them I had filed bankruptcy chapter 7 and was discharged on 7/8/2014. I was then told that the overdraft fees for her client, Wachovia Bank, were not covered. She claimed that overdraft fees were criminal in nature and that I was going to be put in “Maricopa County Jail” for it. I asked her for debt verification, and was threatened again by her. She stated she would send a county official over to arrest me and provide paperwork at that time. I restated that I filed for bankruptcy and this debt was discharged by the court. She again stated that it didn’t apply to debt because they considered it a criminal matter. I told her that didn’t make any sense, the debt was included in bankruptcy. She threatened me again by claiming that she’ll hang up and there would be a warrant issued for me. I stated that I was disabled and that my account at the time fell into arrears due to losing my jobs due to disability. I had a few accounts at that time that I had this issue with. I was unsure of what to do. I told her I never defrauded anyone out of money intentionally, and that I fell on bad times. I was told that if I wanted to continue talking in that manner then she would just file the paperwork to the county and send them to arrest me at my door. She was purporting to be in the process of issuing a warrant for my arrest and said that they were going to seize my vehicle. (Which I don’t have one.) I am an honest person, and have never been in trouble in my life. I was scared because she was talking about felony and charges of ‘Intent to Defraud.” I asked what she wanted. And she said she would talk to the client to see if they can “settle it out of court.” She started using legal jargon like “Purge account” and “Restitution” and “bond.” She asked me a few questions, put me on hold, and then sent me to a person who took my card information.
Questions Asked:
State your name: <Redacted>
What is your income? <Redacted>
Source of income? <Redacted>
Is that per week, month, or year? <Redacted>
Do you have any kids you support? <Redacted>
Are you single or married? <Redacted>
Working? <Redacted>
If Settle out of court, $250 today and then $250 for 4 months on the 15th of every month. $9.95 billing fee added. I was asked my account info to run 259.95. I provided my card number. The authorization code <Redacted>. I was also given this as a case number: <Redacted>.
Contact information given:
Kimberly Taylor
Law Offices of Shapiro & Associates
x44-795-7x93 x 1099
My Attorney contact
This is a fairly well-known con. Law firms can't bring criminal charges, only the DA can. In fact, Debt Collectors can't even threaten jail (FDCPA). Our firm sees about 3 of these a month.
Good for you for figuring it out as quickly as you did. The whole point of this scam is to get you thrown into an emotional state. As several con artists have stated in the past: "If I can get someone emotional, I own them". (That's actually a take-off on a famous quote, but I can't remember who to attribute it to.
The most important thing to note (and to protect yourself from most cons) is that it's incredibly rare that anything financial ever needs to happen "now"*.
Cheers,
-SM
*Obvious exception made for people who procrastinate, but even that stuff should have been handled "then".
Starting Score: ~470 preBK(8/2010)