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 HAVE BEEN GETTING HARASSED FOR 2 WEEKS BY A COMPANY THAT CALLS THEMSELVES WORLD WIDE ARBITRATION DEMANDING PAYMENT FOR SOME DEBT THAT THEY REFUSE TO PROVIDE DOCUMENTATION FOR. IT ALL STARTED WITH SOME THREATENING WOMAN CALLING ME SAYING SHE WAS A PROFESSIONAL LOCATOR NAMED BRANDY AND THAT SHE HAD PAPERS FOR ME AND THAT I WAS OFFICIALLY ON NOTICE. SHE CALLED AGAIN THE NEXT 2 DAYS AND WHEN I TOLD HER TO MEET ME AND DELIVER THESE SUPPOSED PAPERS SHE NEVER CALLED BACK. I THEN STARTED RECEIVING CALLS AT MY JOB FROM SOME GUY NAMED ROGER CARTER WITH WORLD WIDE ARBITRATION. HE RATTLED OFF A BUNCH OF PERSONAL INFORMATION ABOUT MY PREVIOUS BANK, MY PREVIOUS EMAIL AND MY SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. I GOT REALLY CONCERNED BECAUSE IT ALL SOUNDED LEGITIMATE BUT BECAUSE I KNOW THERE ARE SO MANY SCAMS OUT THERE I WANTED PROOF OF THE DEBT. THEY SENT ME SOME LETTER TO MY EMAIL STATING THE DEBT BUT STILL COULD NOT PROVIDE THE ACTUAL CONTRACT OR CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE COMPANY THAT THEY SAID I OWED. I CONTINUALLY ASKED FOR DOCUMENTATION, I EVEN CALLED MY PREVIOUS BANK AND THEY STATED THAT NO FUNDS FROM THAT COMPANY HAD EVER BEEN CREDITED TO MY ACCOUNT BUT IT DID SHOW WHERE THEY DEDUCTED MONEY FROM IT!!!  I CONTINUALLY ASKED FOR DOCUMENTATION FROM THIS WORLD WIDE ARBITRATION GROUP AND THEY CONTINUALLY GOT VERY ARGUMENTATIVE WITH ME AND STILL REFUSED TO SEND ME ANYTHING. THEY CONTINUALLY THREATENED TO JUST LET THEIR CLIENT SUE ME AND TOLD ME THAT I'D JUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT IN COURT IF I REFUSED TO PAY. I TOLD THEM THAT IF THEY COULD NOT PROVIDE ME WITH DOCUMENTATION THEN THEY'D JUST HAVE TO TAKE ME TO COURT.....(I MEAN HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PROVE IT TO THE COURTS IF YOU CAN'T EVEN PROVE IT TO ME!!) THE MR. ROGER CARTER JUST HUNG UP ON ME EVERY TIME I REFUSED TO PAY WITHOUT DOCUMENTATION. I CONTACTED MY ATTORNEY AND SHE ADVISED ME THAT I DID THE RIGHT THING AND TO MAINTAIN MY GROUND AND THAT IT SOUNDED LIKE A SCAM. THEY DO NOT HAVE A WEBSITE, NO ADDRESS ON THE LETTERS THEY EMAILED ME, AND REFUSE TO PROVIDE ME WITH THIS SUPPOSED CONTRACT AGAINST ME.

IDK IF IT'S THE RIGHT THING OR NOT BUT I'M NOT PAYING UNTIL I GET PROOF.....BE ON YOUR GUARD!

yeah i have the same issue. This Victor wallace been calling my mom's house with avery threatening voice saying someone filed a claim againts me. They called my cellphone alot of times. I called them back the first time and they verified all the info. It sucks coz its true they have our information in public. And When I googled their name, Like Victor Wallace, Jim, Worldwide Arbitration firm,... WTH these people are scammers. I got into an argument with so called ' Victor Wallace'.. Told him his a F***Kng Scam and I dont believe him. He argued that they are not a scam that all their info are correct and.. blah blah..I'mjust wondering how can we put our info on private.. I know it's public records but there's gotta be a way to hide our identity from these scammers...

Ok this same company called me yesterday.  They have a guy by the name of Victor Wallac calling from 10000000000 number.  For me to call 8883181952.  It was a pay day loan that was closed due to dirty dealings.  There however is another PDL Ventures that had to change their name because their comapny and this old company was getting confused with each other.  After I called this 888 number and they said I owed 900.00, I asked to see a bill, they said I could see a bill when I paid in full.  I then called the PDL Ventures they said I had borrowed money but I paid in FULL back in 2010.  I then called FTC and spoke to a respresentative I palced a claim with their office she said this is common for PAY DAY loan SCAM.  If you get a call for 10000000000 they are using a prepaid card.  I called the 888 back and told them I spoke to PDL Ventures and they stated I had no open account and they were scammers. This Worldwide company is now calling themself and Arbitation company. Yea, right, same thing.  If they were an arbitation company they would not request funds.  And arbitation to to be a go betweeen for two parties.  My problem is this Victor wallace did a search for me and now he called my ex in laws, grandparents, old job ect.. I would love to learn how to take myself off any search engines for public knowledge. DO NOT PAY These PEOPLE

got a call from tonya morgan - she tries to verify your location for service.  although, i've never heard of you being served with papers without some sort of lawsuit being filed first, she pushes the issue until you push back.  she's a real bi***.  i talked to the worldwide people.  the guy there was nice enough and wanted to help with my situation since i have been laid off.  he stretched out my payments over about 7 months and knocked off the ridiculous fees bringing it down to the original amount.  so, i don't deny that i owe the debt and had conversations with the actual company, but they were a$$holes and sent it to a collection agency that allegedly couldn't get in touch with me.  at anyrate, tonya morgan (if that's her real name) violates all kinds of law and is in fact a b***h.

THIS IS A SCAM. Legit collectors, per section 809 of the FDCPA http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf , *must* send you paperwork stating :
1. amount and the name of the current creditor (which may differ from the original creditor who might have sold your debt),
2. that debt will be assumed to be valid unless you dispute in writing within 30 days,
3. that if you do dispute in writing, the collector must mail you written verification of the debt,
4. that if you ask the collector in writing within 30 days, the collector must send you the name and address of the original creditor if it's different from the current creditor.
If you don't get the paperwork (you do not have to ask for it, the FDCPA requires the collector to send it), treat the collector like you would any SCAMMER.
Scammers are using bought/hacked loan application data to extort payments for fictitious debts from victims and victims' families and friends.
The FBI warns about payday loan extortion scams here http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/paydayloanscam_120710
The BBB has issued several alerts on this scam, just google "bbb.org alert phony debt collector"
Report to the Internet Crime Complaint Center http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx , the Federal Communications Commission http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm , the Federal Trade Commission https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and your state AG, as appropriate.

Got a call from a friend who said an attorney called her residence asking questions as to my where abouts. Scared the hell out of her. About 15 minutes later I got a call on my cell phone. I didn't answer because it was showing up as unknown. A message from Tom Turner was left saying he was giving me notice on a claim that there was charges against me and that I needed to call ADR Frim at 877-818-1572, he proceeded to say that I been notified. When I called the number I asked for Tom Turner the man on the other end said he didn't work there and I told him that was the name left on the voicemail. He told me it must have been an outside source. This person was persistent on me clarifying who I was by asking for the last four of my social security number. When I didn't want to give out that info he asked for my date of birth, again I refused to give the info. Of course he told me that if I refused to verify who I was they would proceed with filing the charges. I asked out of what district he was filing the charges because there was nothing in our local courts stating that....he wouldn't even tell me that. I tried asking him to give me information on who filed the charges but he claimed he couldn't give me the information to protect his client. It turned into a shouting match and he hung up. I have received calls like this before but it was usually the person on the other end asking about one of my friends.

they are a debt collection service

My wife had her identity stolen 2 years ago and someone got a fraudulent loan from ACE. I've got a lawyer and am in the process of filing a federal lawsuit. This # has called me constantly and left the same type of voicemails that you're receiving. That person also says they are a "3rd party locating service" Anyone that has been contacted by the # 877-769-3054 please get in touch with me if you can at thclay@yahoo.com .... I'm trying to figure out who they are exactly. Thanks!

I received a call from Tonya Morgan, 2 days in a row. Very threatening voice mail, informing me that I have officially been notified. With a claim number. The call came fro 877-769-3054. Supposedly from Worldwide ADR Firm. I'd like to slap that bi***.

i recvd a call from the number as weel refrencing info for a debt from 3 yrs ago i do not know what this company is for or what they are asking for. if anyone knows anything else about this 8777693054 phone number please reply to my post as well. thank you very worried about a fraudulent claim in this issue.

i received the same call from a conrad marshall & a victor wallace- same exact thing down to the good luck- have you ever had a pay day loan?

I received a message from Andrea Brown who said I have until the time she reaches me to validate information at my home or work for an ADR firm.  She references a case number which I have had referenced by another threatening sounding person whose name I can't recall right now but have seen mentioned on other pages.  At the end of the message she says "Good Luck."