i bought a new car and started getting calls. it does not have to do with my credit because it is next to perfect. called number back from another phone and got a recording saying that this phone call will be recorded. then was put on hold so i hung up. now i am getting calls on that phone as well.  IT IS SOME SORT OF SCAM. I HAVE NOT ANSWERED ANY TIME THAT THEY CALLED.

Give them nothing.  Demand that they send you in the mail a statement of the debt and that they send it by US Mail.  You cannot be arrested for an ordinary civil debt. E-mail does not satisfy the law.   Debt collectors do not have the power of arrest.  You may have to invest in a call blocker.  Do not answer calls you do not recognize.  These people sound like your typical kitchen-table debt scammers.  They usually work out of somebody's house or apartment.    

See:  https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0149-debt-collection

Also report them to your local attorney general.

I began getting calls 2 years ago from cutter group/ CMG/ Longboat group saying that I owed them money or they would sue me.  They had all my information from when I was a college student including an old address, old workplace, birthday, and the last 4 digits of my social security number.  They also contacted several of my family members.  Once I figured out it was a scam I quit answering their calls and eventually they stopped calling.  A couple months ago, I got a call from a lady claiming to be Cathy from National Processing.  She claimed to work for they county I use to live in and said I was being sued by this company for thousands of dollars, but she would be able to help me settle out of court for a few hundred dollars if I gave her my checking account information by 5pm the following evening.  Then I get a call from my panicked dad saying that he just spoke with a lady who said I was being arrested for an unpaid loan. I contacted the courthouse from the county I use to live in and they told me that they do not send any of their lawsuits out to be processed by anyone, and I had no pending litigation.  The states attorneys office also verified that this is a scam.  A few weeks later I began getting calls from "Ben Fraisure of the fraud division" saying that I or my attorney needed to contact him immediately because an affidavit had been filed against me.  I took all the voicemails I had saved from these people to the police.  The police basically told me that these people are using prepaid cell phones that are difficult to trace and there is nothing I can do to stop them or their calls.  You cannot sue someone without their name and address, and this company uses 15+ different names and will never give you an address other than a p.o. box.  Now these people have somehow tracked down my current address and began threatening to show up at my house or work if I did not immediately give them money.  The police are still not willing to do anything.  I finally changed my phone number; however, my parents still receive calls.  

So I was not contacted by one of these companies but my girlfriend was. She was very worried, frantic and even came to tears over this whole thing. My girlfriend said that she took out a $300 loan from one of those advance cash places a couple years ago but paid it back. Says person called her, very pushy and threatining telling her if she does not pay her $400 today they threatened legal course. My girlfriend started to question herself whether she paid the money back at this point. She called me to tell me the whole story. Right away, this screamed scam without me even hearing the whole story. I work in the timeshare industry and this is a common thing that happens to our ownes where they are contacted by resale companies making all types of false promises to sell property and weeks and ask for money upfront. I was skeptical from the beginning hearing the story. I started to do some research and this company claimed themselves to be PROVIDENCE GROUP. At first when I asked my gf who the company is, she said EVERGREEN. Did some research and I thought it was legit when I see Evergreen is A+ w/ the BBB but that is Evergreen LLC. I requested a letter to state what this is about, my gf forwarded this to me and it's a generic letter that basically has a header w/ Prov. name. Originator: Evergreen. File ID#. Amount owed, mailing address and name of my gf which was not fully correct. Another red flag. Then some verbage threatening action but no address info on who sent the letter or who Providence Group is. Toll free number as 678 area code.  Asked my gf to check her credit report. If a collection company bought out her debt, then they'll report it or Evergreen would have reported it at some point through this process. Of course, credit report was clean. Another red flag and proof that this was bogus. They also threatened garnishing wages through her work. etc. They did what they were supposed to do and make a young girl feel defenseless.  

I received a call today from someone who identified himself as David Hernandez with "Processing and Summons Division" of my county. He said I or my attorney must immediately call Providence Legal Department about three pending fraud charges against me and to call 855-732-9198 x 312 and gave me a file number that included the last four digits of my SSN. He was very nasty and said he would not answer any questions about this alleged fraud. When I asked for his phone number, he told me that wasn't part of the file. I pushed him on it and said I needed his phone number when I called the district attorney's office. He then said he would report to the "Plaintiff" (Providence) that I was committing fraud, just like they said and hung up. The number is called from showed "000000" on my cell phone. First, I don't have any past due debts, I've never been in legal trouble and a legitimate creditor isn't going to tell you they're charging you with fraud. Even if you were being charged, they would not be doing it - you would be contacted by law enforcement or actual court personnel. They cannot sue you without advising you of a debt (again, I don't have anything out there unless someone has committed identity theft on me) so this is completely without merit. However, all that being said, after receiving the call I was scared - even knowing I have committed no wrongdoing and this was a scam, the man was so aggressive and hateful that I can see why people would panic and pay. But don't do it - like others have advised, report them to the authorities.

These ppl called me saying I had commuted a felony check deposit fraud and if I didn't pay they would put immediate in jail for 18 months they said they called on. Behalf of EZ. Money. I called them and they said I didn't owe that much $978 and it was a s am very unprofessional. Mrs.. banks and aarold cussed me out and wouldn't let me.talked to ex money first and wouldn't give corporate. Number too me I gave them a Walmart money card that's in active and they aren't getting a dime I Google's them and found this Providence legal details. My a**!!!!

I just got a call at my job from someone stating that they were with Providence Processing.  She insisted on saying that she did not want me to experience the embarrassment of someone coming to my job giving me papers.  She said that I owed over $500 and had committed fraud on my checking account and that the company she was collecting for was Advance America.  I told her to do w hat you got to do.  She kept insisting that I give her my HR person name or supervisor because they had to sign for my papers for court so my wages would be garnished.  I told her that this is a personal matter and HR is not involved.  I also told her to bring it on.  She made it seem like they were coming in 10 minutes to my company door.  People be aware this is not the way you do collections and never give them your banking information.        

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.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0258-fake-debt-collectors

I also got a call yesterday threatening me and they called my job and found out all my info

so this is the thing these people are calling me to and I got the call from a 888-754-0430xt327 its amazing how people sit up and think of ways to get money from people there's only one judge and they will have to anwer to him.

I had someone call me from an 866 number claims to be providence legal.. The number shows up blocked on my phone.. They're saying if I don't pay 1275.00 ill be going to court n the COunty i llive in.. Common sense though wouldn't someone just be served papers if they were going to be served?? No one would call and threaten you.. Or ur family! I'd avoid them And I wouldn't se d any money at all !!

    I too have received these calls. One month later the phone number is different from what's listed here. They contacted my mother, two states away, and gave her their tale of fraud and what not. A legitimate company will not discuss your private matters with anyone that's not you. I filled a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

You must work for them, Mr or Mrs Holier Than Thou

the face that you are even here making a comment, makes me wonder if you are one of the scammers looking for information to mess with someone, go somewhere else and leave these people alone.  I hope they find you all and put you in jail!

we do pay our bills, these dumb people keep calling me and have hacked my information from online.. and then call and threaten me that they are going to call the police.. if you don't have anything helpful to say, go somewhere else.

I have received two messages on my machine for someone who doesn't even live at my address. We have the same last name. The caller left this person's ssn # and DL # as well as their bank name on my machine. I called the company back to let them know they had the incorrect number for the person they were trying to reach. They answered as Providence Group. The lady I talked to accused me of lying and proceeded to tell me I was a loser. This is ridiculous because it is not my debt, I was just trying to let them know they weren't reaching the person they were looking for. I have recorded 3 more calls since stating "legal action will be taken against me." I have since filed complaints with the consumer protection agency. These people are scam artists!

I just received a call from a "restricted" number, from a man named Darrell Freeman, stating he was from the "legal department" of the Providence Group, and further that they were about to submit action to the State of Tennessee, regarding my social security #, last four digits ending in my real information.  He said that my information would be recorded with my county of residence (and named my county) and that this was my "official notification"; is that so, FDCPA states that official notification must be in writing with verification of my receipt of same.  He never stated that it was with regard to a debt, he stated that it was with regard to illegal activity against my account at my local credit with the FDIC... Really? My credit union isn't insured through the FDIC, they're insured through the NCUA, so how would those two be related? When I called the number he left (866-903-6920, ext. 313), a ladies voicemail said that he was either with other customers (*hint* not something attorneys call their clients) or that he was out of the office. I have now contacted our local sheriff's department, my credit union, and the 3 main credit bureaus, and will follow up with the filing of a police report, as well as, red flags on all of my accounts.

you losers have no clue about anything. your all so way off!! PAY YOUR BILLS! No body calls u guys from differ area codes and yada yada yada, u just owe too many bills, and have several people chasing u. low lives!

And why do you always type in caps.  Up and down this board,  you are recognized because you are too stupid to follow admins request not to use caps........you dumb assed sob.

Shill alert!  People should pay the bills they owe, not bills that some FDCPA-violating scammer like you says they owe.

HAVE YOU NO MORALES FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO BESIDES PAY YOUR BILLS

DEAD BEAT IS RIGHT LMAO!

I THOUGHT YOU PEOPLE WERE MORE INVOLVED, YOU PEOPLE ARE SO PETTY AND TINY.

YEA WHEN POEPLE DONT PAY THEIR BILLS

WHY WOULD U PUT ALL UR PERSONAL BUSINESS ON THE INTERNET LIKE THIS IT IS FUNNY HOW PEOPLE ADVERTISE THAT THEY DONT PAY THEIR BILLS---- AND THE SAME PEOPLE ARE THE FRST TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE ECONOMY GOING UNDER ---- PAY YOUR BILLS PEOPLE

They sound like they are violating the FDCPA right and left.  If you gave them your banking info, I would inform your bank and change account numbers.  If you talk to these idiots again, insist that they provide proper validation of the debt, through the US mail.  I'll bet they refuse.  That will tell you for sure that they are a scam (if you weren't already convinced)!

My Dad got a call that I was being investigated and if I did not get back with them by the end of the day that they would be sending a warrant out for my arrest. She had a docket number and everything  The phone number was 8554134997 ext 315 And her name was Adena. Of course I set up the payments with them. I don't have the money for the plan until a week later so I just called to  make arrangements and the number doesn't even work now it says it cant recieve calls I wish I had seen all of this before

Providence called me stating they were going to take me to court. I asked them for proof. The sent info with no physical address just their name. When I called to get their address I was rerouted twice before ending up with the person I spoke to . She stated when I pay her the they will provide a address scam

I received a call from the same damn guy who mentioned here RONALD LEE from PROVIDENCE LEGAL for identity theif and he hasn't provided any more info. If he's calling from two totally different area codes then I'm thinking he's a damn fraud. I'm so damn sick of these people! HAVE THEY NOTHING ELSE BETTER TO DO!!!

I received a call from a restricted number. They left a message for me to call the number 855-496-2381 ext 324 and ask for a Tom Anderson. The number belonged to Providence legal. I got the same message as you all. They said that they would come to my house TOMMORROW to serve me papers that say I have to be in court TOMORROW! Ha! They also said they would be at my place of business but didn't know where that was! Crazy! They called about a loan I do owe but I have alerady made arrangements witht he actual company that I borrowed from to pay it! This is a scam. Please do not give these people your info!!!