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 received a call a few weeks from this number as well stating her name was Investigator Graham and they represented such an such payday loans, I did have a payday loan and thought it was cleared, she scared me so much but stating the fraud charges and being served papers at my home or work I gave her my prepaid debit card number, they were going to split the payments up bi-weekly 8 payments of $112.50 each.  I asked for proof that I still owed this and got more mumbo jumbo well I was so scared I left it be.  It is now December 11th no payment taken off my prepaid debit card which was due to come off 12/7.  I tried calling the 855-695-4439 number back to find out why they didn't take my payment and I get a prerecorded message stating that this number is no longer able to accept calls.  I have since removed the money off my prepaid card and cancelled it.

Mom recieved a call from "SGA & Assoc" 11/28 stating that I was being investigated for fraud & that they wanted me to call them by Fri. 11/30 or paperwork processing would begin. Left a phone #(716-299-0139) & case # for reference...Clean record here, never done anything illegal of the sort! Person to call...a "Tim Michaels"...

Another call to mom on 11/29 from an unknown caller for a "Jason Smith"...Said that 2 more charges were being added to case & that I needed to call 855-695-4439 & was given another case #...Called them & someone answered "Legal Dept" so I hung up....They called right back & it was from a private/blocked phone number-did not answer & they did not call back...

I received a call from this number stating that they are an investigator and needs to speak to my brother.  We advised that my brother is terminally ill and confused and that we are his legal representative.  They kept insisting on speaking with him and did not want to mention the name if their company.  Was only advised to call this number 8556954439 and ask for Mark Johnson.  When I advised that I am also a paralegal and that whatever issues you have they need to either be mailed certified or have him summoned and the idiot hung up on me.

My parents received a call from this #...scaring them thinking someone has a criminal investigations...Not realizing these are sr. citizens...I called it and it stated some investigators name..I have a perfect record so I know it was a bunch of bull..

my grandfather got a call for me from 855-695-4439. How they found my grandfathers # and linked me too him I have no idea. They gave him an ext and case #. Do not know why they would call an 85 year old man and harrass him about me.

Yes I received a print out through my vonage email from this same number last night, Reading this message leads me to believe this is a fraudulent claim or something as I am caught up on all of my bills. I thik I am about to do the same thing and call them back and ask what company are they with. If they dont give me an answer then I'll just let them talk to a dial tone.

The caller called from a blocked number, but asked me to call 855-695-4439. The caller used words that would prompt people to call such as, investigator, attorney, criminal charges, court actions, summon, case, and civil complaint. Most people would probably call the number back. I think collection agencies are getting very creative. From my understanding this kind of tactic to collect a debt is very illegal in my state.

Got a call from 855-695-4439 with a voice-mail stating they wanted my current phone# and address to serve papers, if no response then will go to civil court.  When I called that number they answered it...Legal Dept.  When I asked what company they are with, the girl would not give me an answer, just kept asking for the extension number so she can pull up my case# and know what department to send it to.  I think this is a collection agency posing as someone else, and the case# is actually your account# so they can harrass you.  If they can't give you their information, or send you written notification in the mail, then this is not right I think.  Any one else expierience this?