Consumers across the country report that they're getting telephone calls from people trying to collect on loans the consumers never received or on loans they did receive but for amounts they do not owe. Others are receiving calls from people seeking to recover on loans consumers received but where the creditors never authorized the callers to collect for them. So what's the story?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, is warning consumers to be on the alert for scam artists posing as debt collectors. It may be hard to tell the difference between a legitimate debt collector and a fake one. Sometimes a fake collector may even have some of your personal information, like a bank account number. A caller may be a fake debt collector if he:

is seeking payment on a debt for a loan you do not recognize;
refuses to give you a mailing address or phone number;
asks you for personal financial or sensitive information; or
exerts high pressure to try to scare you into paying, such as threatening to have you arrested or to report you to a law enforcement agency.

If you think that a caller may be a fake debt collector:
Ask the caller for his name, company, street address, and telephone number. Tell the caller that you refuse to discuss any debt until you get a written "validation notice." The notice must include the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor you owe, and your rights under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
If a caller refuses to give you all of this information, do not pay! Paying a fake debt collector will not always make them go away. They may make up another debt to try to get more money from you.

Stop speaking with the caller. If you have the caller's address, send a letter demanding that the caller stop contacting you, and keep a copy for your files. By law, real debt collectors must stop calling you if you ask them to in writing.

Do not give the caller personal financial or other sensitive information. Never give out or confirm personal financial or other sensitive information like your bank account, credit card, or Social Security number unless you know whom you're dealing with. Scam artists, like fake debt collectors, can use your information to commit identity theft ? charging your existing credit cards, opening new credit card, checking, or savings accounts, writing fraudulent checks, or taking out loans in your name.

Contact your creditor. If the debt is legitimate ? but you think the collector may not be ? contact your creditor about the calls. Share the information you have about the suspicious calls and find out who, if anyone, the creditor has authorized to collect the debt.

Report the call. Contact the FTC and your state Attorney General's office with information about suspicious callers. Many states have their own debt collection laws in addition to the federal FDCPA. Your Attorney General's office can help you determine your rights under your state's law.>

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt076.shtm

I was 'traced' down by a company named ASFG. The person looking for me disclosed all my personal information to someone I hardly know and made threats of serving me papers at my place of employment.  I was asked to call this number - 877-628-3381.  I unfortunately fell victim to their bullying and threats and gave them my debit card number and set up payment arrangements.  I was able to block my account but not before they took $300 out. The person I spoke to made the whole process very painless for me, almost too painless. After they got my debit card information from me I asked what name I would see on the transaction through my bank - I was told it would say 'ASFG', (the name that is shown on the transaction is UNITED).  I then asked them to repeat their company name and what the letters stood for - their response 'It's the initials of our attorneys."  I then asked them the names of the attorney's and they wouldn't answer. I began to ask for their mailing address and information and was hung up on mid sentence. Don't give in to their scare tactics; I was uneducated as to what my rights as a consumer were and was unable to identify the red flags! Contact the Federal Trade Commission or your local Attorney General to file a complaint.  Here is a helpful link: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt076.shtm

These people are disgusting.  This is a scam.  These people are uneducated and unemployed.  They are stupid imbeciles with no life and no pride.  They walk around in pajamas all day calling hard working people at their jobs to trick them out of their hard working money.  They do all of this so they can sit around, use drugs, and drink malt liquor.  I actually feel sorry for these idiots as they have no means of making money other than "trickery."  I guess the thought never crossed their minds to go to school, get a good education, and get a real job.  At the end of the day these people still have to look in the mirror.  They have no integrity, morals, or ethics.  They go through life as waste discarded, living hand to mouth, and not knowing where their next meal will come from.  They are vile vultures who are evil and a disgrace to all mankind.  There are people who steal, murder, and cheat.  These people are no better.  Many people that I talked to have not ever received a loan.  They simply applied online.  They applied online through an unsecure site which compromised their personal information. Even people who were co-signers to loans that were never approved are being scammed.  It is good that there are forums to air out these cold, calculated, uneducated, evil, disgusting life forms. They must constantly recycle names, phone numbers, and company names.  This is why you will see a number with several comments on one day regarding a number.  Then there will be a lapse.  Then you'll see another number, with a new name, with the same comments.  The one thing that I do believe in is JESUS CHRIST.  I know that he will spare me from evil.  These people will one day have to account for all the lies, deceit, and terror that they cause daily in the lives on innocent people.  You reap what you sow. These people can fool people sometime but they can NEVER make a fool out of God.

these ppl called me taking about some court documents i dont know who the hell they are

got a call from a johnathon holmes who says he works for the court system about a non payment of a pay day loan.. He called my wife at work and threatened to have me arrested if I didn't return the call.
According to the NC Attorney Generals'  office the pay day loans are illegal and non-enforcable.
i can't be prosecited or wages garnished or served yet I was threatened by this man to do so.
He did not have a phone number but gave me the number of AFSG as the phone number. I asked for an address from AFSG and they would not give it. At this point I'm not sure the threat was real but I could't take a chance. This man said I only had an hour as a courtesy. I made arrangements to make payments under diress. I am in the process of verifying Mr. Colmbs.