They called my grandmother's house and my grandmother called me with the phone number so i went to the neighbors house called them back and they said They per going to charge me with fraud and so on and so forth I want to know how they got any information on me what soever..

A woman who identified herself as Investigator King called while I was at work and spoke with my mother saying that she was calling in regards to a Civil Complaint about me.  A couple of months ago, another gentleman had been calling and calling and calling stating that we could settle this debt out of court for a fraction of what is owed but would need to get approval from his supervisor.  He put me on hold for a bit, and came back on the line stating that he was able to get approval if I was able to pay in full that day...  it had to be that day only.  He kept urging me to provide my bank account information or to ask a family member to borrow the money.  I said I would discuss with my father for a loan and would need to call him back.  This was not acceptable to him and said he would call me back.  He kept saying he would hold off any legal action since I did call him back and am being cooperative.  After we hung up, I did some research and just decided to blow this guy off from now on.  After several more phonecalls, he finally told my mother to tell me to get a lawyer!  Now....  does that sound professional to you?  If they weren't yanking my chain, why wouldn't they just file the suit then and quit harrassing and threatening about it?!  Anyway, I will post again if/when anything else comes of this.  Bye for now.

these people are scammers. they have been calling me for the past three years trying to get me to pay a long ago paid-off debt. we sent them copies of the receipts we had for this debt and they stopped calling for about a year. they then started up again threatening law suits, they are the rudest bunch of scammers that wont quit until they have your money or they are stopped. i looked them up on google and found their address and am waiting for them to call back so i can send a debt verifivation letter to them. they are required to follow laws and guidlines setup in the fair credit act but they are obviously fraudulent because they also discuss this suppossed debt with anyone who will answer the phone which is ofcourse illegal. they are persistant to say the least. ive gotten to the point of picking up the phone and laughiing at them. i demand a copy of the "debt" i owe and they get ruder and make more threats. they are going to send out a uniformed police officer and i beg them to do it. they hang up and try back another day. im going to change my phone number next.......scammers...........

I received a call at work today, stating that Investigator White needed to speak to me about a seriously past due debt before it went to court. I had only answered the phone with my company's name and did not identify myself. When Ms White remembered she needed to speak to me, she asked if I were available. I replied that the person she had called to speak with was out of the office for the day and asked if I could take a message. She gave details of what number I needed to call and whom I should ask to speak with, as well as a case number. She also said that this was ready to go to court but would be halted if I called 716-836-7700 ASAP.

SCAM IS RIGHT!! DON'T DIVULGE ANYTHING TO THESE SO-CALLED INVESTIGATORS!!

Arg investigative Services is a scam company..they  have electronically phished your information and are trying to colloect on a fictatious account,(loans,BillsEtc)..They will say that you have been paying on the account and stopped on your last payment,says they will settle today, but if it goes to court..they will tag an extra $1000 to the bill////Do not give any personal info...there is a Class action lawsuit against DJB Communications(the seed companY)

They call me every day and iwant to stop this.

Every call is and will be recorded off of the answering machine and used if needed.
At 10:10am Pacific Time this morning Wednesday 8-19-09 My husband and I got our 3rd call from the same number 716-836-4400 and the same name as Michael Blackwood. He wanted my daughter to call him.
The first call was at 4:19pm yesterday Tuesday August 18th 2009.The man said that he needed to get my husband to call back as he needed a STATEMENT from my husband. If he (HUSBAND) didn't call back, he said that my husbands x wife (I am not an x but a wife) and gave my name I could call him. This man gave our home address and my husband birth date. He gave his name as Michael Blackwood. He said that he could be called back at: 888-288-3114 Ext:114.
The 2nd call was at 4:33pm. About 14 minutes later. Same phone number came up. But this time he wanted my daughter which he new her married name as well as her husbands name and said he was going to call my son in laws parents in order to see if they could get my husband. Again, he said his name was Mickael Blackwood and gave the same 888 phone number and ext.
I found out after the last call on Tuesday the 18th, that someone called my Dad at his home looking for my husband and or me.
All caller ID numbers are OUT OF AREA 716-836-4400.
At no time did he say a companies name were he was calling from.
We all need help on what do we do about this. They have info about my family. I am so mad and scared. I called police. I was told if they haven't taken anything or threaten me, they can't do anything. I even told the police it's on the web from others who have gotten calls like this. He didn't care!
I hope someone comes forward to look into this ASAP!!

THEY ARE ACTUALLY RAN BY A FRANK FALZONE AND DIANE FALZONE-OUT OF BUFFALO, NY 14213. FRANK OWNS AND OPERATES ALL OF THESE SO-CALLED COLLECTION AGENCY-WHICH GO BY MANY NAMES. ANYONE CAN SUBSCRIBE FOR AN 800
NUMBER. THESE PEOPLE CONTINUE TO SCAM EVERY 10SEC.'S. USING SUCH NUMBERS AS: 1-888-288-3114, 1-716-856-4400, 1-716-362-4900, 1-716-588-7629, 1-518-688-9036, 1-716-558-7623, 1-716-836-4400, AND SO ON!! DON'T BUY INTO THEM!
REPORT THEM!! SHAME ON U FRANKIE BOY!! AND SHAME ON UR FAMILY MEMBERS FOR ABADING YOU AND DIANE!!

THIS SAME COLLECTION AGENCY?-1-888-288-3114 AND/OR 1-716-836-4400-ARG
SERVICES IS OUT OF BUFFALO,NY. AND THEY ARE NOT A CERTIFIED COLLECTIONS AGENCY. THEY ARE USING A LANDLINE. MOST LIKELY CALLING FROM A HOME, IN BUFFALO, NY. THEY ARE A SMALLER COMPANY OF DJB SERVICES. THEY ARE WITHOUT A DOUBT..SCAM ARTIST!! PEOPLE WHO HAVE STOLEN IDENTITIES OF AMERICAN CONSUMERS. IT IS BELIEVED, THEY ARE FROM FRANK S. FALZONE AND DIANE P. FALZONE, 60 MANCHESTER PLACE, BUFFALO, NY. 14213. THEIR HOME PHONE NUMBER IS: 716-884-4678. THEY ALSO USE THE FOLLOWING PHONE NUMBERS TO HARRASS AMERICAN CONSUMERS: 1-716-362-4900, 1-716-588-7629, 1-518-688-9036, 1-716-558-7623. (ALL LANDLINE PHONES) ALSO 1-716-362-4900. MY ADVICE!! CALL THEM BACK!! TELL THEM YOU ARE ON TOO THEM!! DON'T PROVIDE ANY INFO. THEN SEND THEM A LETTER VIA MAIL, TO STOP HARRASSING YOU AND YOUR RELATIVES! THEN GET ON LINE FOR THE BBB AND THE NY STATE ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE.

called me at work,this woman said they were going to contact my employer to verify employment ,then garnish my wages. I tolh her i didn't know what she was talking about,to call me at home or mail the info.she then wanted to know my home phone number! I told her if they knew so much about me,that they could figurwe that out, and hung up.it doesn't matter how many time I tell these peoploe not to call at work,they still do , and threaten me.

Told me it was SMG Services or something like that, and said they needed to speak to me about a complaint that had been filed against me, but only her supervisor had the details, wanted me to hold and talk to him. Said I'd hold and hung up. Left message later saying to call 888-288-3114. Message left by 716-836-4400

Yes!  You better go to your bank and alert them right away.  You might even have to close your account, and open a new one.  We had to do that.  If they have your account they can go after your money....

I just got a call from 'Rick', he was trying to collect a 'zombie debt' I settled last year. I faxed him proof of the settlement, unfortunately, one of the documents included my bank account number... Should I be worried?

Calling my work number using an automated system - my work number is not published - recording identifies themselves as ARG Investigative Services, I have no idea who these people are - they call my cell phone too non-stop

Keep Records.
File complaints.

United States  https://www.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx
Federal Trade Commission
http://www.ftc.gov     1-877-382-4357
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov
Federal Communications Commission
http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html 1-888-225-5322
e-mail:  fccinfo@fcc.gov

Canada   https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/plt-cmp-eng
Reporting economic crime online:
www.recol.ca     1-888-495-8501
https://www.recol.ca/intro.aspx?lang=en
http://www.phonebusters.com   RCMP  1-888-495-8501
email:  info@phonebusters.com
CRTC by calling 1-877-249-2782
CRTC website at www.crtc.gc.ca
Email:   info@crtc.gc.ca

Better Business Bureau for Canada & US  http://www.bbb.org

Asset Recovery Group is the DBA for DJB Communication. This is an group of people who pretend to be bill collectors. ARG/DJB are not licensed in any State in the United States. What does that mean for you? If they call you for any reason you can sue them and they will loose every time. They will never win because the don't have the license to operate as a collections agency. Keep the messages on your voice mails and take it to your attorney. Then sue them!!!!

they are a collection agency that is not licenced in ANY state.  If they call you or send you a letter, simply contact your attorney and sue them.  There is no way for them to fight back as they are not licenced!!!

I just recieved a call on my new cell number that no one has . it was a rick Johnson saying I had a civil case against me and they have my managers name and has contacted her I called the number back and they could not bring up my info.  Is this a scam or what is going on???????????

Received call from them stating that a civil action had been started.  Requested they quit calling....no account with them or orginal creditor ever existed.  They were rude and obnoxious.  Gave information to a third party that was false regarding this case

I received a call from this entity and it was a valid debt. I actually was allowed to settle for much less than the oringinal balance. Yes, I do know that they purchase it for pennies on the dollar.

716-836-4400, called my husband on his cell phone, which next to no one even knows since he hardly ever uses it, then they called me on my cell number which next to no one even knows, said they were NOT debt collectors but a liason between the debtor and me, wanted to talk to us and it was URGENT. I didnt call back but looked it up on line and found your site here, I also went ahead and reported them to my attorney generals office, hey even if they are a real debt collector and I DO HAVE DEBTS, how did they get a private cell number, it's creepy, who are these people?? Really worried about this and really really mad that they've got me worried and spooked. Any one else have any recent experiences with these parasites?

I received the same message from Rick Johnson requesting from my co-worker the address of our Human Resources to verify employment. Are these people for real.

Buffalo must be a hot bed of scam artists or maybe just the same scammers who change their name about 5 minutes ahead of the law!
If it's the same company, they WERE using phone numbers saying Atlanta NE, but the addresses they gave in GA are actually UPS PO boxes.
If these are the same people they go by names such as CMC Recovery, Claims America, RSI, National Service Processers, etc. I'm betting ARG is another of their names, too.
I've found that if you tell the "investigator" that he/she is being taped and one copy is going to your state AG and one copy is going to NY's AG, the phone calls will stop. It worked for me!
Check out phone # 678-916-5965 and read TWELVE pages of posts on these crooks. You'll be surprised to find out how crooked they really are. Including the criminal record of the 2 owners.

This is a company that will Lie cheat and steal to get there hands on your money!  They are not a legit company.  If you get a call tell them u will sue them if they call again.  Good Luck

I had a lady call me at home wanting to speak to me.  I answered the phone but didn't recognize the number so I took a message.  She was very vague in the information she was leaving.  I had to ask who she was with, what her name was, (Investigator Johnson), and what this was in reference to, (a civil complaint).  She then hung up the phone.  I am glad that I did some research and found out what sort of company this really is.  I hate these sort of phone calls.  In this economy, especially since I just got laid off from my job, I don't need to be scammed anymore than anyone else does.

Just got basicall the same VM, from a Mr Rick Johnson with ARG, ext 109. Stated that they are calling about a suit against me, and that they will be contacting my enployers about garnishing my wages. He even knew the county that I live in! I DID call back, because I obviously don't want someone taking me to court for anything, but its good to know what they are REALLY about.

they just called me and left the same type of message, stating it was a civil case against me and I didn't need to be present for a judgement to be found against me. Same number, said DJB Comm on the caller ID. I will not be returning this call, thanks to everything I've read here. Thanks for sharing your stories!

7168364400 .... Thanks to the people above, now i know who these ARG people are. Some woman left a voice mail and it sounded like a government agency the way she was throwing around words like, Investigation, Agent name and stuff. I'd have half way believed it was except for the area code on my caller ID and then the case# and extension # sounded like a collections company.

Tell them your employer does not allow phonecalls like this the next time they call and if they don't stop calling they are in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).  Ask for an address to send a Cease and Desist letter.  In the letter, state that the collector should cease and desist further communication with you. Note that the cease and desist letter only applies to debt collectors, not the original creditor.  Good Luck!