Man called and said he was a county marshall and that a warrant was out for my arrest for credit card fraud.  He said I owed $6,000 + on a credit card that I had refused to pay after many attempts.  He asked for the last four digits of my social security number - asked when I would be at home to be served - had my street address. Stated that if I wanted to settle out of court, it would cost the $6000 fee, or if I went to court after processing fees, I would be paying $9,000 +.  Very short and rude on the phone. He said he was calling from Hartford County, Illinois, which doesn't exist.

They called my daughter-in-law harrasing her claiming that I was being sued.  She told them they did not have the correct name.

I called the number and they claim they are Kessler Friedman Law firm in Buffalo New York.  They never varified they even had the right person.  

When I called the number he verifed the law firm name. He hung up on me.

My mother has also been receiving harrassing calls from these people, using similar vague scare tactics to find out about my brother who has been estranged from the family for 20 years!  They never identify themselves as a collection agency, and talk about "lawyers" so as to increase their credibility.  The latest call, today, included a threat to my mother that if she did not cooperate they were going to issue a warrant for me, since my brother had named me as "next of kin".  This approach is quite intimidating to the unsuspecting.  Thankfully I found this website and confirmed that these people are just trying to scare my mother and that she needn't cooperate with them at all.

Today,Jan.8,2009I received such a phone call.  The caller stated he wsa a member of a law firm claiming to call because my social sercurity number had been suspected of being used in fraudulent actiuvity, and that they needed to verify my social sercurity number.  When the caller asked for my social secueity number, I refused.  I was then told that I hadbeen involved in perpertated some type of fraudulent sceme and that a warrant would be issued for my arest if I did not identify my social security number!  Well that made me mad!  I replyed by saying "you go for it."  I knew what my social sercurity number was and did not intend to give it out to a stranger calling me on the phone!  I hung up only to have him call again.  This time he tried to get me to comfirm my address.  When I would not, the person replyed by saying there was a warrant being issued for my arrest on fraudlent activity involving me social sercurity number and that someone would come to my door shortly and pick me up.  I hung up a second time only to have the person call back a third time.  By this time I was on the phone to my local police department.  A detective told me to not give out any information over the phone and to give them his direct phone number if they persisted with calling me.  I do not know wo these characters are, but do know that they are presistant.   All beware!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Norman Googel
Phone: (800) 368-8808

Release Date: August 25, 2008  
Attorney General McGraw Settles with Five More Collection Agencies; $1Million in Refunds for 492 West Virginia Consumers

Attorney General Darrell McGraw's scrutiny of the sometimes unscrupulous debt collection industry demonstrates that the complaints of a few abused persons may lead to consumer justice for the many.

For example: The complaint of a Westover woman who was coerced to pay $700 on a disputed debt after a collector hounded her at work prompted an investigation of Bureau of Asset Management ("BAM"), an unlicensed debt purchaser based in Anaheim, California. BAM quickly agreed to refund all payments it had collected and cancelled almost $100,000 in questionable credit card debt allegedly owed by 45 West Virginia consumers.

Sometimes it takes longer: A few coal field residents complained years ago when door-to-door salespersons pressured them into financing expensive Kirby vacuum cleaners on high-interest credit cards without their knowledge. McGraw's office followed the money and learned that the bogus accounts were eventually purchased by Ascension Services, Inc. (?Ascension"), an unlicensed debt purchaser based in Hurst, Texas. Although Ascension was not the original wrongdoer, it agreed to refund all payments it collected, more than $28,000, and cancelled approximately $240,000 allegedly owed by 173 West Virginia consumers on the questionable accounts it had purchased.

Today Attorney General McGraw announced settlement agreements his office recently entered into with five collection agencies, four of which were debt purchasers, that brought approximately $949,000 in cancelled debts and refunds for 492 West Virginia consumers. In addition to the settlements with BAM and Ascension, McGraws's office announced agreements with three other companies: Federal Pacific Credit Company of Salt Lake City, Utah; Kessler and Freedman, Inc., of Amherst, New York, and Phillips & Burns of Tampa, Florida.

McGraw?s office commenced investigations of these companies after receiving complaints disclosing that they were collecting debts without a license and, in some instances, were engaging in other abusive collection practices. The investigation of Ascension focused on the company's collection of 173 accounts that it purchased from the now-defunct Fidelity Federal Bank (?Fidelity?) of Los Angeles, California. These accounts originated from a controversial program in the late 1990s when Fidelity teamed up with Kirby distributors who sold expensive Kirby vacuum cleaners door-to-door and financed them on credit cards. In most instances, the consumers were not credit worthy and did not understand that their purchases were being placed on credit cards.

Attorney General Darrell McGraw stated, ?My office continues to be concerned about the increasingly widespread practice in which alleged defaulted accounts, mostly credit card debts, are sold to debt purchasers for pennies on the dollar, years after the default and when proof of the debt may no longer exist. My office will also continue to monitor this industry to ensure that such debt purchasers are licensed and do not abuse consumers. Notwithstanding our concerns about this industry, I commend these companies for agreeing to conform their practices to West Virginia law and for granting important relief to West Virginia consumers.?

Any persons wishing to file a complaint about a consumer matter or to alert Attorney General McGraw about unfair or deceptive practices may do so by calling the Consumer Protection Hot Line, 1-800-368-8808, or by obtaining a complaint form from the consumer web page at www.wvago.gov.

http://www.wvago.gov/press.cfm?fx=more&ID=445

Darla, just today (Jan.8,2009)I received such a phone call stating they were a law firm claiming to call because my social sercurity number had been suspected of being used in fraudulent actiuvity and that they needed to verify my social sercurity number.  When asked to verify my social sercurity number I refused.  I was then told that I had perpertated some type of fraudulent sceme and that a warrant would be issued for my arest!  I replyed by saying "you go for I knew what my social sercurity number was and how I did not intent to give it to them over the phone."  I hung up only to have them call again.  This time they tried to get me to comfirm my address.  When I would not, the person replyed by saying there was a warrant out for my arrest for fraudlent activity involving me social sercurity number and that someone would come to my door and pick me up.  I hung up a second time only to have the person call back a third time.  By this time I was on the phone to my local police department.  A detective told me to not give out any information over the phone and to give them his direct phone number if they persisted with calling me.  I do not know wo these characters are, but do know that they are presistant.   All beware!

pay your bills

Kessler and Freedman have called me numerous times looking for my ex-husband.  I refuse to give them his number, and they stated that they will continue to keep my number on their records until I give him his number.  I told them to stop harrassing me or I could contact my Attorney General, and the receptionist said "Good" and hung up on me.  How can I get these people to stop calling me??? This is not my issue, but my ex-husband's and I have nothing to do with it.

I also had this caller harrassing me about an old debt.  Then later, called from the same number and gave me the old "we are conducting a fraud investigation in your name..". Like hello, of course I knew it was the same person and I didnt answer either one.  They call every day.

I just got a call from this scammer and took down all the information. My girlfriend and her family have already been the victim of this fraud, so his legalese sounded like it *might* be plausible so I took it all down. But because of the fraud, I decided to look it up online and found numerous references to this company, phone number, and persona and pitch.

I don't know what the next step is, other than to pass on the information to my girlfriend so she can forward it to their family attorney and hopefully some action can be taken to stop the scam.

I got numerous calls from these people after I've already repeated let them know that I do not owe what they say I owe.  They are calling me about a debt from 1994 that was PAID OFF over 10 years ago.  They told me that I had to send them over proof of payment by 5pm or else... and went into a bunch of legal jargin... judgments and whatnot.  So, after unsuccessfully trying to find the document I needed to shut them up (I moved out of state years ago), I told them to do what they had to do because I KNEW that they had no legal ground to stand on.  Now, I am receiving tons of calls from these people on a daily basis, sometimes 10 times in one day (some very early in the morning -- 1 minute apart) and since I've already stated my case, there's no need to argue with them about it.  Now that I'm not answering, they have somehow located & called up every single one of my relatives using my maiden name asking questions about me, my life, my family, my CHILDREN, etc.  I am coming on here now to look and think "K" may actually be my ex sister in law who I haven't seen or spoken to in over 10 years.  I know my rights and know the law, and know this is unlawful and harrassment.  I have family members I haven't talked to in years (and elderly ones at that) calling me worried about me.  This is freakin' ridiculous.

They left a message on my voice mail, and seemed to be a collection agency of some sort.  They were actually looking for my former sister in law and somehow found me to see if I knew how to find her.  Their toll free number is 866-582-5465

I called back and spoke to the guy who was actually quite nice.  I'm not so sure that would have been the case had they be looking for me!

My mom was at my house and answered my phone (from 716-362-0070) and the guy "Mike Callahan" scared her to no end. At first he made it sound like someone had stolen my identity and was going around opening credit cards then he told my mom that I was under investigation for fraud and needed me or my lawyer to call back immediately and gave her this 866-582-5465 number to call him back at.  I immediately got on the internet to see if it was a scam and sure enough, here is the proof.  What kind of people do this?  This is so freaking stupid.  I get calls like this all the time saying I won a free phone or that something is wrong with my credit card.  Why can't the FCC do something about this crap?

From their website:

"Kessler & Freedman is a national debt recovery firm founded upon a commitment to high standards and driven by the recovery of your company's accounts receivable and bad debt. Our team offers a combination of highly-developed skills and a wide-range of prompt, professional accounts receivable collection and bad debt recovery programs specifically designed to fit your company's needs".

Contact Us  
Phone Number: 1-866-582-5465
E-Mail: info@kesslerandfreedman.com

No luck in finding a street address. But it is a sure bet that they are located somewhere in Buffalo, NY.

I received the following message on my answering machine today. It's like, huh? I have no idea who the company is except that I was able to trace them to Buffalo, NY.

This is a verbatim transcription of the message Mike Callahan left on my answering machine today:

********
Kessler & Freedman
(716) 362-0070
MESSAGE:
This is for XXX XXXXXXXX. This is Mike Callahan calling with the offices of Kessler and Freedman in regards to this fraud investigation that was forwarded in here this morning. I have an affidavit and disposition that is due to be notarized and sent to your county for immediate legal proceedings and it?s very important that I speak with a?

********
Talk about threatening language! Holy cow!

I picked up the phone at almost the end of it and spoke with Mike Callahan directly. I informed him that "the person [he] seek[s] is not at this phone number." He seemed befuddled, that that's his problem, not mine.

The thing is, why would someone leave such an ugly message on a stranger's answering machine without verifying that the phone number is correct?  

Callahan named the person, and impugned the person's name and reputation by using words like FRAUD INVESTIGATION.

I got a call from this number 716-362-0070, claiming a fraud case against me from someone named Katheryn Friedmand. The raspy New York voice (of course), was that of someone named Carson Wells.   The call originates from Buffalo,New York.

No one I have ever heard of, and I don't work or have done any business in New York, nor would I conduct any fraudulent business.

I have recv'd several calls in the last week from this number. My caller ID says "Kessler and Freed". I have no idea who they are or why they are calling. I've tried calling back and get "your call cannot go through..." response.
The name sounds like a collection agency, to me. I have no credit cards or debts in collection status. I have good credit! They must be looking for someone else and have a wrong number. They never leave a message on my recorder.