People are calling from this number and pretending to be investigators

I got a call my son in another state was under investigation for a restraining order. They said they were calling from Texas and the call came in at 5:45 am my time. Said he was Craig Jones from United Legal Alliance. They are a scam and are committing fraud. I plan to take the number and information to my local police department and see what they will advise me to do. First I got a recorded message from them and from what I now know is also illegal. The time of day they called is illegal. They are phishing for information. Hope they catch this guy. I think he has done this before from a state back east. Do not give them any information, get as much from them and report it. I should have gotten their address.

I got a call my son in another state was under investigation for a restraining order. They said they were calling from Texas and the call came in at 5:45 am my time. Said he was Craig Jones from United Legal Alliance. They are a scam and are committing fraud. I plan to take the number and information to my local police department and see what they will advise me to do. First I got a recorded message from them and from what I now know is also illegal. The time of day they called is illegal. They are phishing for information. Hope they catch this guy. I think he has done this before from a state back east. Do not give them any information, get as much from them and report it. I should have gotten their address.

If someone knows where these fools are give me their address and I will take care of this bull.

Trying to find out who calls from this phone number.

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i guess im one of the idiots who fell for it. time to take some legal action.

today like other people got i call from unknown number, didn't catch the call on time, so he: "SPECIAL AGENT INVESTIGATOR JIMS WAKER", left me a message: i got 24- 48 hours to call back with my lawyer, its about a restraining order against me, i was totally in shock!! and felt badly, almost die in car accident, can't get this notice out of my mind for about 6 hours; then i contact my lawyer, friends and did some homwork about the number and the case by contacting Texas goverment to fin out about  UNITED ALLIANCE LEGAL COMPANY. Found out that this is SPAM, SCAMS, FRAUD the number is 21- 280- 8071 located in San Antonio, Texas. before you respond to anyone's phone call and give your personal information please find help, or seach the company's back ground. !!BEWARE!!

OOPS! Apparently this link doesn't get you there after all. But you can Google the address and go to satellite view "traffic" and zoom in on the street and address!
742 Old Creek Road, San Antonio, Texas 78207

"Miss Smith" called us early this morning, Feb. 16,2011 with a so called "legal action" pending against a family member.  Note that they rely on "you" calling them back to get around some state laws that supposedly prohibit them from harassing you.  They are a--holes to say the least.  We researched them on Google and there are tons of complaints and good people telling you about these scumbags.  Here is a Google satellite link to actual place in San Antonio where they may be based if you punch in the address of: 742 Old Creek Road, San Antonio, Texas 78207.
See this to see    http://maps.google.com/maps?sitesearch=&hl=en&um=1&biw=1097&bih=859&q=742%20old%20creek%20road%2C%20san%20antonio%2C%20texas%2078207&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=il

Complain (FTC, BBB) and post everywhere to warn others!

Phony collection, it is a scam don't be fooled.

Just got this message for my husband who is squeaky clean.  Called back, got a recording then I looked this up.  Glad we saw it.  Great site. Name was Mr. Johnson - a "special investigator"

I got a call this morning for my stepdad's ex-wife who has lived in England for the last 15 years. I have no relation to her whatsoever. I have never met her and I have a different last name. I don't know how they got my number. I called the number back and gave the case number. She asked who the message was for and I told her. She asked if that was me and I said no, but I know who it is. I told her the person has not lived in this country for 15 years. She said if you will give me the last 4 digits of the phone number we left the message on, we can remove it. I told her the numbers and she said she saw that they called at 8:47 and she would remove the number. I don't agree with their tactics, but so far that was the easiest one to get rid of. They didn't ask me for anything else. We'll see if they call back!

I am sooo glad I searched this #..My husband has been getting calls from this bunch for a month. He laughed it off when he saw they were from Texas..esp when they said they  had a complaint and a court date..he said he didn't have any enemies n Texas..but if my children had heard the threatening messages left on our answering machine they would have been terrified..these ppl r the scum of the earth and can't wait for them to call me again!!

Her name is Nicole Bennet..she changes her name...I caught her....she didnt take money from me because everything sounded suspious. Now they are trying to have you pay by western union. The name is Jill Dugger that would receive the money from Western Union. Fraud.

Scam calls trying to frighten people into giving personal information. Ignore the call and give no information. I got the same call this morning and will report it. You do not get a notice if you get a restraining order against you. A person goes before a judge, gets the restraining order and then it is served.

On Mon Jan 17, 2011 i recieved a messagace from  "Special Agent Lisa Williams" today from United Legal trying to get my son's contact information in a legal matter and stating there was legal acation going to take place aginst him.  Thanks to thias web site i found out  NOT TRUE they are scammers..

Recieved a voicemail from Bethany Hines telling me there was a restraining order being taken against me with a case number 3CAHM1462; and that I needed to get in contact with my attorney to call them back within 24 hours at 210-280-8071. When I called the phone number, it did not connect. I had a friend in the legal field look up the case number and it had nothing to do with anything in Florida, which is where I live. I knew right away it had to be they had the wrong person or a scam because I haven't ever been in a situation where someone would take out a restraining order on me! Additionally, Ms Hines had the audacity to call me Jessie.

I received a call from "Special Agent Lisa Williams" today from United Legal something or another trying to get my father's contact information in a legal matter.  I asked if they are a "law firm" and they said yes they are.  so i asked where they practice out of and they said "texas".  LIES!!!  they are out of texas but there is not law firm under that name.  I am glad i checked this site.  thanks everyone.

I recieved a call from this number saying he was a detective and had a restraining order against me as I do not know any one in texas I checked and this was a false charge from a collection company

we are being harrassed over a debtwith someone else's name

these people are telling I amto appear in court with a restrraining order

Someone from United Legal Alliance just called my cellphone asking for my fomer married name which I haven't used in 25 yrs. Glad I checked the number and found out what it is. I recently had chaper 7 and all debts were absolved. Sick sick people

Omg...I am soo glad that I looked up this # before I went ahead and gave them any info.  Thanks to all the posts about this specific #!!!

LOL I just got a call from these dumb sh*ts as well saying the same things...too funny!! I am glad I searched this number. 210 280 8071...

I JUST RECEIVE A CALL FROM 210-280-8071, ASKING FOR MY DAUGHTER, THEY SAID SHE HAS TO CALL BACK DUE TO A LEGAL MATTER.

SINCE 10 YRS. AGO MY DAUGHTER DOES NOT LIVE WITH ME.  THE PERSON THAT CALLED WAS VERY RUDE WITH ME BECAUSE I DID NOT GIVE HIM ANY INFORMATION ABOUT MY DAUGHTER.  HOW CAN I STOP THIS TO HAPPEN AGAIN??

OK, I am going to try to clear up some myths about the junk-debt buyers, aka bottom feeders that I have seen in some threads. (The term in the industry is debt acquisition.)This is kind of long, but I think this will help quite a few people. Feel free to repost and pass on.

I am going to explain some stuff, then do a brief explanation paragraph. You'll see what I mean.

I spent the last two years working for a bottom feeder. I am sorry, but I cannot disclose the name of the firm. I am not posting here under a name that they wouldn't know. Trust me when I say that the firm I used to work for, and other firms like them monitor popular forums and websites (like this one) daily. These junk-debt buyers all do business buying and selling with one another, so they do share the information. I don't care that they know that I am posting here, but I do have some friends that still work there, and I don't want any potential retaliation to come to them because of me. I will say that the firm I worked for is one of the top 40 debt acquisition firms n the country. I have only seen the name mentioned on this website one time. In their defense (although I don't owe them any favors) they are really one of the more upstanding firms out there, and try to do business honestly.

Here is how the process works. Let's say that ZZZ Bank has 35,000 Visa cards that were defaulted. They were unable to collect with in house collections, and charged off the debt. The average balance of each card is about 2K. That's a lot of money to lose, folks. ZZZ Bank will agree that something is better than nothing. They gather these accounts up into a portfolio, and put it on the market to the highest bidder. For now, let's just say three are bidding. JunkDebt A, Junkdebt B, and Junkdebt C. Let's say that bidding starts out at 5 cents on the dollar. The junk debt firms have limited info to work with on the portfolios they have. It's kind of like a storage unit auction. You know there are household goods and clothes, but until you bid and win, you won't know exactly what you got. The junkdebt firms are told the number of accounts, the average balance, the average charge off date, and how many have phone numbers. The junkdebt firms have to decide if they are going to lose money on the package, or if it is collectable and profitable. Skip forward...Junkdebt A wins the bid at 8 cents on the dollar, and now gets the portfolio. The manager of ZZZ Bank signs a bill of sale and Junk Debt A is now the first party owner of the debt, and has all rights that ZZZ Bank once had. In essence, Junk Debt A is now the original creditor.

>>>People often say, "That's not fair! I didn't agree to that!" Whether or not you agree doesn't matter. Acquisitions take place with companies all of the time. It's the same thing as AT&T buying Southwestern Bell. You have a phone with SWB. Are you going to refuse to pay AT&T because you didn't open the account with them? Well, you could, but you wouldn't have a phone for long.
>>>That's a lot of money to come up with for that portfolio. Most people haven't ever heard of these junk-debt buyers before. How in the world are they coming up with all of this money? Investors. They peddle themselves around, and get people to invest in the company. I'm going to digress a quick second to collector behavior. I am not condoning illegal or bad practices on a collector's behalf, but I would like you to see what kind of conditions collectors work under. Let's stick with the theme of "It rolls downhill." OK, so Mr. Investor wants a return. He is going to be mad if he loses money, and won't be back next year. Junk-debt CEOS don't like that. They set up aggressive portfolio tracking, goal setting, quotas, financial planning, etc. This gets passed down to the senior managers and directors, who now have to produce results from their subordinates. Senior managers pound team-leaders into the ground with hours of training, and force them to work 50 hour weeks to make sure their teams all hit quota. The team leader has to answer to the senior managers if his team, as a whole or each individual, doesn't hit their personal goal. Personal goals add to up team quota and that equals the floor goal. The team leader is on each of their collectors to get the money. The collectors often work over 40 hours, and normally have their calls monitored and recorded by management. They have QA forms they have to meet 100% on. They have training on fdcpa. They constantly have this quota looming over them. Quite usually, it is very high. Collectors, by and large, do not live by salary alone, so they depend on their bonus checks. So, starting from the beginning of the month, all they see is the end of the month, and how many dollars away from their goal they are. If the collector is not at quota...you will hear it in their voice.

OKAYYY, so back to JunkDebt A, being the proud owner of this new portfolio. Immediately, they cut off about of the third of the accounts in the portfolio. and sell them. WHAT? Yes. Things can get tricky there. I'll get to that in the next paragraph. In the industry, since they bought from the original creditor, the purchased portfolio is called "firsts."
They take the accounts they kept, and send out accounts with bad information to skip tracing services. In the meantime, they are dividing up the accounts they have in house among their collectors. Each collector will get a certain amount of accounts, and then a large amount of accounts will go into a pool, which is generally used for auto-dialer time. Then, collections begin.

>>> I have seen a lot of posts where it has been said that first party owners do not have to follow FDCPA. I disagree with this, for the most part. Keep in mind that junk debt buyers are NOT, I repeat, NOT, a third party agency. They are very much first party. The FDCPA is kind of an implied law. If someone is being harassed, a judge is going to use the FDCPA for reference. Junk debt buyers MUST follow FDCPA! Period, end of story. They will jump off into the gray areas when they can, but at the end of the day, the law applies to them. I cannot tell you how many times I was beat down with FDCPA training. I can quote it in my sleep. Junk debt buyers TRAIN their collectors extensively. They are terrified of lawsuits due to FDCPA violations. I have seen companies settle out of court for four times the amount of the debt, just to avoid going to trial. These people are very money-minded, and lawsuits scare them.

OK, so what about this JunkDebt A selling off debt they bought? What's THAT all about? Well, money, in most cases, and exasperation in others. When a debt is sold from JunkDebt A to JunkDebt B, it becomes "seconds." Each time it is sold, it will sell for less on the dollar, naturally. It is really hard to get "firsts" in the market unless your firm has a LOT of money, so most firms don't have a lot of in-stat accounts. As I said, they sell off a slice of whatever new portfolios they buy immediately. Also, they will sell debt that they have tried to collect on, but failed.

>>>So, what does this mean to a debtor? Well, it can be a total nightmare for you. For starters, you can have multiple listings on your credit report, which can be very confusing. The main thing is that a lot of these agencies do not like to waste time dealing with debts they have deemed uncollectible. If they cannot sue them, they are going to sell them. Filed bankruptcy? Disputed the debt several times? Identity theft? Not their problem, say the back-end collectors. Often, they will NOT close out your file, and will just sell it. The new agency has no idea what kind of accounts are in the portfolio they are buying. They don't pick and choose. So, it really is a surprise to them when you say that your identity was stolen eight years ago. So, one has to go through the disputing process over, and over, and over. (This is changing though, as consumer attorneys are jumping all over agencies that sell debt that they shouldn't. These types of lawsuits can involve several firms, and involve a big payoff.)

My last point about junk-debt buyers: they are aggressive. They want their money. Their investors want returns. IF THEY CAN SUE YOU, THEY WILL. Normally, there is a legal department working within the agency. They are given a percentage of the accounts to work, just as the other collectors are. It's the luck of the draw. If the account is suit worthy, and the legal department has it, they will attempt to sue you. I know this isn't going to be popular, but I am going to state the facts as they are. If you call attention to yourself, and the account is in-stat, you are risking being sued. What do you mean? I mean that if you file a debt validation claim, cease & desist, refusal to pay, etc...you have just called attention to yourself. These accounts are given to a special department. Yes, they will usually try to collect from you. It costs money to sue, but if all else fails...they will attempt to sue you. (I want to note that if you ever have any question about a debt, do not let them scare you out of your rights. You have a right to know what the debt is, who the company is, and you certainly have the right to not be contacted at work.)

>>>How can they sue me? They are in Maine. I am in California. This is an easy one to answer. The agency I worked for had law firms in every state, except North Dakota and Wisconsin. The law firm in and of itself if NOT the collection agency, but is the REPRESENTING LAWYER of the plaintiff...JunkDebtA. Is it worth it to them? Depends on the firm. I got sued by a junk debt buyer for $500 dollars. It probably cost them more money to sue me than they will ever get from me. I am non-chalant about it because I live in a non-garnishable state, and I don't own property. It is on my credit, somewhere among years of medical bills.

Let me put it this way: The company I worked for had a motto. It was "Get our name out there, and get on the map." They actively sue debtors and attempt to collect on debt so they are being made known in the industry. All of the agencies feel the same way.

Those are really the basics. I could go into a lot more detail, but there is a lot to go into. So, this leads me to...a summary.

*Junk-debt buyers, contrary to belief, are not third party collectors. They assume all rights of the original creditor upon sale.

*Junk debt firms must respect your rights, and remain FDCPA compliant. Not to do so would be skating on very thin ice.

*Junk debt firms can present a big headache for you if you are disputing a debt that you do not owe. Keep all of your paperwork...for a very long time. It is not uncommon for the debt to show up again several years later.

*Junk-debt buying is a booming business. They will not be going away anytime soon. I do expect that as time goes by, more laws will be passed that are specific to them.

*They will sue you if they deem you suit worthy. It is a part of the aggressiveness of the industry.

Please feel free to ask me any questions here in the forum relating to this topic, so I can share with everyone.

I am going to leave you with a *did you know...?*

Did you know that settling a debt earns you a tax penalty? Forgiven debt is considered earned income. Any portion of the debt forgiven is taxable. Agencies are going to be sending out forms on the debt for you to file with your taxes. You should know that the industry is fighting this law tooth and nail. As the law stands right now, they don't have to tell you that you just got penalized. The government is seeking to change that, and I expect they will win out! Good news for us, right!

__________________
*I AM A FORMER DEBT COLLECTOR*
*I can also give advice*
*on credit repair*

My mom called me today to tell me she rec'd a call from 210-280-8071 leaving a message to have my brother call that there has been a complaint filed against him. Her name was Nancy - "Special Investigator". YEAH RIGHT! She said that usually by this time it is too late - but have my brother call to avoid court. - "Well that makes sense" I started doing some investigating and found this site! I guessing a scam!

Do NOT give them any information! They are a scam company...identity thieves use this time of year so they can steal your information for the holidays!!! Be careful!!!

I received a call today 11/20/2010 from this company. First of all they sound like a scam company..my mom was freaking out b/c to her it sounded real but I just laughed it off. What tipped me off was the "Investigator Don" called me by my married name but called me at a number I no longer use on any account, I only use my cell phone number for business dealings. Second of all he said I had until Monday to call back b/c someone was suing me...well who is it and then he gives me some bogus case number well if you know your case facts they are not 7 digit case numbers..lol. Anyway just to let you all know they are a scam and do not call them back they are not a real company and the bbb does not back them up!