Got the same message "call Bank of America".  I have alerts on all my accounts and there is nothing on my account and I have not received any emails. This is a scam.  My son got the same message on his cell.  I have a US cell number but I live in another country and nobody has my number except family!

Got this message.

Sent me a text saying my Bank of America card was limited and to call about it.
I've NEVER had a BOA card of any sort. SCAMMER !!!

http://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/new ... 5257B21005266FC

March 1, 2013
Media Contact: Jenn Meale
Phone: (850) 245-0150
en EspañolPrint Icon Print Version

Attorney General Bondi?s Office Announces Temporary Injunction and Asset Freeze Against Debt Collection Companies

TALLAHASEE, Fla.?Attorney General Pam Bondi's office has obtained a temporary injunction and asset freeze against Vanderbilt & Associates, LLC, Buchanan Capital Management, LLC, and their owner for allegedly engaging in unlawful debt collection schemes. The Office of Financial Regulation and the Orlando Police Department assisted with the case involving allegations that the companies would call consumers and claim to be law enforcement officials, government agents, process servers or county clerk?s office employees to intimidate or scare consumers into paying debts. In many cases, these alleged practices were targeted at debts that were non-existent, had already been paid, or for which the company had no legal rights to collect. These alleged practices are in violation of the Florida Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act.

The temporary injunction bars the companies and their owners from engaging in unlawful debt collection schemes. It also bars them from using any unfair or deceptive practices in the collection of consumer debts and from violating of the Florida Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act. The temporary injunction and asset freeze were obtained against Vanderbilt & Associates, LLC, Buchanan Capital Management, LLC, Merrill T. Miller, and their affiliates.

It's pretty hilarious to me how fraudulent these guys are. I'm about to make some cash suing these a***oles.

http://www.bizapedia.com/fl/LOUISBURG-FINANCIALS-INC.html

New Company Name & President

Company Name:    LOUISBURG FINANCIALS INC
Status:    Active    
Filing Date:    01/10/2012
Entity Type:    Domestic Profit Corporation    
File Number:    P12000003116
Filing State:    Florida (FL)        
Company Age:    1 Year 1 Month        

Principal Address:    
5718 Old Cheney Hwy
Orlando, FL 32807    

Mailing Address:    
5718 Old Cheney Hwy
Orlando, FL 32807    

Registered Agent:    
Moon Jermaine L
5718 Old Cheney Hwy
Orlando, FL 32807

Log all calls, date, time, what was said. Ask anyone else they are calling to do the same.

http://www.flofr.com/staticpages/documents/112112Report.pdf

WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 21, 2012

2. Regulatory Sanctions
On November 16, 2012, the Division of Consumer Finance issued a final order
against Kam Financials, Inc., E & M and Associates, Inc. d/b/a Rite Coast
Financials, Inc., Five M. Financial, Inc. d/b/a Levine & Cohen and Associates,
Merrill Miller, Mendenhall & Associates, Inc., and Richard Pugh (each collectively
referred to as ?Respondents?). The final order adopts a stipulation and consent
agreement whereby Respondents agree to cease engaging in prohibited
business practices by attempting to enforce illegitimate debt or nonexistent legal
rights, utilizing communication simulating a legal or judicial process, giving the
false impression of attorney affiliation, and failure to provide adequate
identification as a debt collector to consumers. Respondents agreed to
implement corrective actions and were assessed an administrative fine in the
amount of $40,000.

They call relatives, neighbors and employers before contacting you directly.

Read whole article here - http://www.fdcpa.me/fake-process-server-injunction/

The debt collectors allegedly often instructed their first-level collectors not to call the consumer directly but rather to call the consumer?s current employer or a family member in order to create a false sense of urgency so that the consumer will pay before thinking about his or her rights.

Other debt collectors have been known to initiate contact by calling a couple of neighbors in order to humiliate and intimidate the consumer. The tactic is so common that debt collectors have a name for it ? ?block parties?.

The debt collectors allegedly told the friends, neighbors, and employers that they were attempting to serve the consumer with ?papers? or pleadings pertaining to a lawsuit.

Defendants collectors allegedly also left messages with third parties for them to pass along to the consumer. These messages included a ?case number? and a callback number and often also included a threat that the consumer must call back that day or else the consumer would be personally served with process to appear in court.

The complaint alleged that, in some instances, the debt collectors even posed as being from the sheriff?s department and threatened to arrest the consumer unless the consumer called back promptly.

The debt collectors? written scripts (?talk offs?) and policies instruct the first line collectors to say things which violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

For example, the ?New Hire Pointers? instruct collectors to do the following :

?when first coming to an account it is always best to call the [place of employment] first.?

?contact relatives instead of the debtor on the initial phone call to create urgency?

?when doing a standard talk off and the person on the phone is prying ? it is best to say you are a process server and due to the federal privacy act you are not given that information.?

The debt collectors? standard ?talk offs? illustrate how debt collectors often use false threats of immediate lawsuits to coerce payment :

?I am (Miguel Davis / Veronica Garcia) and am calling to see if there will be someone at home to receive legal documents to go to court.

Sir / Madam the service processors will try to serve these documents twice(2X).

Sir / Madam must respond or appear in court. If unable to do so, [they] should say so immediately. What I will do is give you the number of the legal office and the case number. Do you have pencil and paper?

The phone number is *** and the case number is ***

Now I?m going to write down now that I spoke to *** and if Sir / Madam do not say anything I will have the processor deliver these legal documents?.

The first part is information if you are in debt and fake collectors. The second part is information on people and companies related to Vanderbilt.

1- Find a consumer debt clinic in your area. They have a lot of helpful information. They've advised not to discuss anything on the phone and it should be in writing.

Debt Collection Practices: When Hardball Tactics Go Too Far - https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs27-debtcoll.htm

Statutes of Limitations - http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/statuteLimitations.shtml
Collectors will not tell you what the statutes are or it's beyond the date. Some collectors will still try past the date.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - http://www.in.gov/dfi/2588.htm

Be aware of possible fake collectors. Be on the alert when a caller claiming to be a debt collector asks you for your Social Security number(partial or full) or information about your bank and credit card accounts, email address or any other personal information besides an address to send you validation letters. The caller may be a fake who may even goes so far as to threaten you with jail.

To learn more about fake debt collectors, see the FTC's publication entitled, Who's calling? That Debt Collector Could Be a Fake" - www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt076.shtm

Examples of what a Fake Collector might say:
-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.


2 -  These are the addresses they've used.

5270 Old Cheney Hwy, Orlando, FL 32807
5376 Old Cheney Hwy, Orlando, FL 32807
5720 Old Cheney Hwy, Orlando, FL 32807
5726 Old Cheney Hwy, Orlando, FL 32807
5732 Old Cheney Hwy, Orlando, FL 32807
5734 Old Cheney Hwy, Orlando, FL 32807
5744 Old Cheney Hwy, Orlando, FL 32807
PO Box 570347 Orlando, FL 32857

- These are the companies names they've used so far. They call you with a different company name but it's still them.

Vanderbilt & Associates 5732 Old Cheney Hwy, Orlando, FL 32807
Levine & Cohen and Associates http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-541-2795/3 http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-227-7904/2
Rosenthall & Associates
E & M and Associates
Rite Coast Financial
Kam Financials Inc. 5734 Old Cheney Hwy, Orlando, FL 32807
Five M Financial Inc.
Knox Financial
Niagra Capital Management 5744 Old Cheyney Hwy Orlando, FL 32807
Alm Acquisitions Inc.
Buchanan Capital Management 5744 Old Cheney Hwy Orlando, FL 32807
Mendenhall & Associates 5726 Old Cheney Hwy Orlando FL 32807

4 - There are different Owners but Merrill's name is listed often. Who knows if these are their real names?

Rick Pugh
Jacob J Adamo
Curtis Williams
Tom Wilson
Merrill T Miller

Interesting information a John Doe has found on them. - http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/8883420623/9

http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/8883420623

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-541-2795/3


Owner: Tom Wilson
18135 CORALWOOD LN
GROVELAND FL 34736
407-558-9855

Co-Owner: Merrill T Miller
107 WALTON HEATH DR
ORLANDO FL 32828
407-488-5217

Miller and Pugh show up with connections to Hesperia, CA.  You can find complaints against a similar operation there.

https://real.flofr.com/ConsumerServices/Searc ... 414&licDesc=CCA


I've sent Cease & Desist letters and Validation of Debt letters to 2 addresses via Certified and Return Receipt and they came back. You can look up the tracking information online and it says Undeliverable.

Legal services said since the letters aren't being delivered and they won't give an address, and they will not send any validation documents to call the attorney general and FTC. http://www.naag.org/  http://www.ftc.gov/

http://www.flofr.com/StaticPages/FileAComplaint.htm

Log the date/time they called and what was said. It can be embarrassing and frustrating but you should let others know and ask them to log the calls.

Just log into your cell phone account online and block the numbers they call from. If they call on a land line you can also call your provider to block the numbers. These people are a joke, and I would not waste any time speaking with them.

They have been repeatedly denied a lic to operate in the state of Florida and have been fined multiple times by Gov Rick Scott. They search these boards and make post to try and validate their company. Anyone who post on this board that says they are legit is a liar. How would someone find this forum unless they were getting spam calls? People who post and say it is a real company with real lawsuits would have never been searching for the number on here in the first place.

DONT BE A FOOL! DO NOT ANWSER, DO NOT CALL BACK OR EVER GIVE OUT INFORMATION.

There is no debt. I sent 2 Cease & Desist Letters and letters to validate the debt, have not received any validation and they still call.

They would not give me a physical address. I tried to say I wanted to send payment and they still wouldn't give an address. If I choose to connect to accounting, it rings and hangs up. I talked to a 2nd person and he said (would not give me his name) that they don't have an actual address only a PO Box.

They aren't even calling me they are calling my family members. Beware it is a scam trying to get money. Warn family members about this so they do not give out any information.

Vanderbilt and Associates calls daily. I spoke to a fellow there once and told him I was not the person they were trying to locate! I never ever lived in the cities he said I lived in. They STILL call daily asking me to call the above # and to refer to a certain case # or they will threaten legal action. I have saved the last few calls and plan on turning them in to the Washington State Attorney Generals office.

How do these people (?) get away with this stuff?

I receive calls (recordings) three or four times per week, for some name I cannot
even understand, and who is not at this address.  They say it is for a debt collection
and to call back and cited a case number.   I do not call back.  I am notifying the
state AG about this harassment As someone said earlier, they can't be very good
at their jobs if they can't identify my phone number which I have over 20 years!

Called repeatedly for weeks , nor me but for a relative.  I called the to find out
What they wanted and got attitude, then he hung up on me.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to comment and post info about this number. The time you take to comment HELPS out people like me who are unsure, and for that I am sure a LOT of people are grateful. The number was on my Caller ID, But before I returned the call I checked here first. Grateful that I did. Going to block the number now.  Thanks again for taking the time to help others out :)

I've sent them a cease & desist letter certified & return receipt and they still call. It seems they've moved and the only address they have is the PO Box. Their website has changed also, it is only 1 page and the PO Box address is there and their actual physical address is gone.  

Good information on debt collectors.

There is a sample letter here to send them which asks for proof, which most likely they can't provide.
http://www.justanswer.com/fraud-examiner/75ox ... o-fl-32857.html

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

Read the comments from other people, no legitimate company will call you and threaten to take you to jail  or say the sheriff will come to arrest you.  These crooks are trying to scare you, unfortunately there are many criminal organizations out there that are using personal info to extort money from people, don't fall for it. Block the number, or don't answer, don't give them the satisfaction.

From Vanderbilt said they have a asset and liability charge they want to clear up...

Received repeated calls saying they have a "time-sensitive" issue that needs resolve with my cousin. I have not answered and don't know how they got my number.

I have asked Vanderbelt and Associates to stop calling me with robo computer calls for the past four months. I got a call today and tape recorded the call and again ask them to stop calling me.  I do not know the person that keep asking for.

They have been calling my parent's house looking for my husband (we are separated) talking about access and liability, call to avoid litigation.  I got in touch with someone today. I asked why they were calling that number, I was told that is the number they have as a contact number for him. NOT!!  They said they will remove the number -- we will see.

Vanderbilt & Associates, LLC
Phone: (877) 248-7281
Fax: (800) 518-9063
5732 Old Cheney Hwy, Orlando, FL 32807-3525
http://www.vanderbiltassociates.com
F on a scale from A+ to F
Factors that lowered Vanderbilt & Associates, LLC.'s rating include:
Length of time business has been operating.
100 complaints filed against business
Failure to respond to 11 complaints filed against business.
4 complaints filed against business that were not resolved.
BBB file opened: 01/12/2012Business started: 11/02/2011
Type of Entity
Limited Liability Company
Contact Information
Principal: Curtis Williams (Accounting Manager) Jacob Adamo (Registered Agent), Mr. Merrill Miller (Managing Member)
Business Category
Collection Agencies

http://www.bbb.org/central-florida/business-r ... ndo-fl-90139874

Please,

Everyone who is experiencing the same problems with this group as I am, Take some time and fill out the complaint form on this website. It is our best chance to get these fools shut down.

http://www.flofr.com/StaticPages/documents/OFR-CCA-103.pdf

They have wasted a solid 6-8 hours of my time investigating them, and now I am done with this silly mess. Help me shut these crooks down by filing this form as well, I assume the FLOFL uses this form to rank the numbers of occurrences it receives. If you are currently paying this group, I would advise contacting a lawyer to see if you can somehow retrieve any of your money. These guys are obviously crooks.

STOP... DO NOT PAY THEM ANY MONEY.

I just found out they also aren't licensed to practice in the state of Florida. According to Florida Code, consumer collections agencies need to licence with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (FLOFR). Buchanan Capital, which is listed as the management group for Vanderbilt has a status of expired, and Vanderbilt has a status of denied. Visit FLOFR to file a complaint and to check their licence status yourself

http://www.flofr.com/StaticPages/VerifyALicense.htm

I was contacted by this group for a possible "Civil Suit" and "Litigation". Well they actually contacted my mother in law, and my wife. They both contacted me, and I called them up. They brought up a bank account that was closed a year and a half ago and said that I owe 800 ish dollars, but if I paid 500 ish dollars they would relieve my debt. The guy said that he didn't want this to go to court, and that he wanted to see if I would pay it before then. They never once said that they were attempting to collect a debt, the whole time I thought they were a law office because they brought up litigation and all of that. I told the guy that I had no outstanding balances owed to said bank, and he said "well I wouldn't be contacting you if that were the case". He then tried to persuade me to pay the money to avoid trial etc. I told him that I wasn't going to blindly pay him money without knowing what the debt is for, and that I would contact the bank. I told him that if the bank had any issues, they would have contacted me, especially because I have my mortgage through them etc. He said "yeah, well they won't have any records of it, and since it looks like you haven't had any judgements against you, and your house doesn't appear to be in foreclosure YET, I will make you a deal"

I looked up this company, today and found through public records that:

Merrill Miller is involved (either president or vice) in the following Companies all located in a small dumpy plaza called Cheney Plaza, on Old Cheney Hwy in Orlando. You should google street view it..... what a dump.

Niagra Capital Management
ALM aquisitions
Five M Financial
Mendenhall & Associates
Buchannan Capital Management
KAM Financials
Rite Cost Financial
Vanderbilt & Associates
Levine & Cohen and Associates
Rosenthall & Associates
E & M and Associates

Business Partners Include:
Jacob Adamo: who works for Buchanan Capital Management, and is signed with Merrill Miller for Niagra      Capital Management, Buchanan Capital Mgmt., and who runs Knox Financial Services.

Rick Pugh: Who is signed with Merrill Miller on Mendenhall & Associates and Rite Coast.

Most were started and dissolved withing months.

Miller and Adamo's personal address' were also listed in the incorporations (Nice houses with a significant pool). Interestingly enough, both houses for these two have some asian name listed as the owners.

And then...there's this gem:

Regulatory Sanctions
On November 16, 2012, the Division of Consumer Finance issued a final order against Kam Financials, Inc., E & M and Associates, Inc. d/b/a Rite Coast Financials, Inc., Five M. Financial, Inc. d/b/a Levine & Cohen and Associates, Merrill Miller, Mendenhall & Associates, Inc., and Richard Pugh (each collectively referred to as ?Respondents?). The final order adopts a stipulation and consent agreement whereby Respondents agree to cease engaging in prohibited business practices by attempting to enforce illegitimate debt or nonexistent legal rights, utilizing communication simulating a legal or judicial process, giving the false impression of attorney affiliation, and failure to provide adequate identification as a debt collector to consumers. Respondents agreed to implement corrective actions and were assessed an administrative fine in the amount of $40,000.

http://www.flofr.com/staticpages/documents/112112Report.pdf

I hope this helps people out, I am not paying it yet and still following the legal channels by putting a fraud alert on my credit reports, and mailing a debt validation letter requiring signature.

This is a scam.  I was threatened by them when I refused to give my Social Security number.  I reported them to the police and was informed that it was being investigated by the major crimes unit.  The police have said not to give these people any info EVER.  They have changed names several times in quick succession and civil suits against them in state after state after state.

Businesses are under no obligation to seek BBB accreditation, and some businesses are not accredited because they have not sought BBB accreditation.

To be accredited by BBB, a business must apply for accreditation and BBB must determine that the business meets BBB accreditation standards, which include a commitment to make a good faith effort to resolve any consumer complaints. BBB Accredited Businesses must pay a fee for accreditation review/monitoring and for support of BBB services to the public.

Try blocking this number.

They are calling my ex-mother-in-law and upsetting her. They are telling me they will send this to court and will garnish my wages. Please call them and have them stop harassing me and my family.