They called me five times today from a 512-489-7252 number and threaten me and told me they had charges against me then called back again and said we know were you live we are coming there.  They were stupid enough to leave voice mails which are threating and I am turning over to police.  They cant threaten you or say they have charges against you its against the law.  The guy was a real a**hole.   I have called the supposed payday company and they have no record of me owing anything.

I believed them and paid them 200 !! I found out it was a scam and put a stop on the payment and had to change my bank info and get a new card! They called my mom and dad's home number and this was regarding my boyfriend!! Creepy

I am getting the same calls from my area code telling me to call 855-210-0475. They are telling me that they can't send me any documentation on themselves because they are a mitigation firm. They say there are charges against me from a pay day loan service. Very rude people.

Actually this is a scam obviously.. they have about 4 or 5 different phone numbers they use. the one i got was 855-210-0475. they can't serve you over the phone and the never call to verify address, they just serve you.

The same company called me and i decided to act the way you guys did and ignore, and i was charged with a failure to appear in court. The reason it doesnt show up in your records is because its pending... Its not finalized. Just saying

mmYou know I got the s ame company but some guy named david hunt or whatever saying i have charges against me and I have been officially served. What a load of crap!!!! For one reason if you owe a payday loan place, they personally take care of your loan and don't send it out to some firm. And another thing you get sued for owing them money it'll just end up at a collection agency if its been so long. Don't believe the crap that the mediation firm is giving you.they obviously have noting better to do than try to screw peoples lives up which is sad and pathetic. My girlfriend and mom looked into it also and believe it to be a scam as well. LEAVE US ALONE U SAD PATHETIC LOSERSOR PREPARE TO BE SERVED YOURSELVES1111

I was contacted by Nadia Andrews, very hostile woman. She left a voice mail on my BOYFRIENDS machine saying that i have claims against me. Gave me a reference number and then told me to call 888-323-4465. I have reported them to the FTC. They claim that they are Huntington. Nothing more. I have no idea what kind of scam they are running, but it is not legitimate. They call and do not give you any information as to what the claims against you are. The only information she gives is here fake name and that phone number.

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

Even scam artists are outsourcing. On Tuesday in its first crackdown on fraudulent telemarketing in South Asia, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it was shutting down two California-based companies that used a call center in India to defraud Americans out of more than $5 million over the past two years.

Workers in India made threatening calls to Americans getting them to pay money on debts that they didn't owe, the FTC charges. At an FTC press conference in Chicago on Tuesday, fraud victim JanLaree DeJulius explained that she had received a call from someone claiming to be an enforcement officer from the (phony) "Federal Department of Crime and Prevention," who threatened to have her arrested and have her wages garnished if she didn't pay a bill of more than $730. The scam artists had gotten her name and information from a payday loan her ex-husband had taken out in her name.

"It was very embarrassing," Dejulius said. "He knew everything about me so I agreed to set up an installment." She is not alone. According to the FTC, more than 8 million calls were made since 2010 and at least 17,000 transactions processed across the United States related to the global scam.

On Tuesday under request from the FTC, a U.S. District Court in Chicago stopped the international operation, charging Varang K. Thaker and two companies he owned, American Credit Crunchers, LLC, and an affiliate Ebeeze, LLC, with violating the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

"This is a brazen operation based on pure fraud, and the FTC is committed to shutting it down," said David Vladeck, director of the FTC's consumer protection bureau. "Consumers should not be pressured into paying debt they don't remember owing. Legitimate debt collectors must provide consumers with both written information about the debt, and instructions for protecting themselves if they don't think they owe the debt."

According to the FTC's charges, Thaker used Social Security numbers and bank account numbers obtained from payday lenders to identify the victims for his scam. He outsourced the work to an Indian call center, where workers made threatening calls to American consumers to pay fake debt or collect on bills for which they were not authorized.

Thaker was not available when contacted by telephone on Tuesday. A woman who claimed to be Thaker's older sister and asked not to be named for privacy reasons said he is working with the FTC to help the Indian government pursue the fraudster call center operators. She also said he was innocent in the scam. "He was being used by somebody. He didn't even know where they got the information," she told The Huffington Post by phone. She said that her brother got 10 percent of the earnings from the scam operation.

The FTC charges against Thaker are the latest in a series of police actions by the government agency to put an end to rogue debt collection operations that have become more frequent in the aftermath of the Great Recession. In January, the FTC struck a $2.5-million settlement with debt-buying company Asset Acceptance, LLC, charging that the company had falsely represented itself to customers, including making up phantom debts that customers no longer owed. Last October, the FTC filed a complaint against seven other fraudulent debt collectors, alleging that they had engaged in the same techniques -- demanding money from customers who owed nothing at all.

The growing number of Americans who are unable to pay their bills has meant there are more companies looking to profit from their economic difficulties.

Debt collectors have been taking more aggressive tactics as fewer people are able to make ends meet or are in a cycle of debt. More than 30 million Americans are in debt collection, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Since 2010, more than 4,000 complaints have been filed with the FTC and state attorneys general about fraudulent debt collection calls, the FTC said.

Charles Junitkka, a personal bankruptcy attorney who represents clients in the New York City area, said, "In the last few years, the desperation of the collectors and their efforts have intensified because of the economy."

This story has been updated to reflect comment from a woman who says she is the sister of Varang Thaker. Thaker himself was unavailable for comment.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/21/ftc- ... _n_1289751.html

I got a call from them as well, accusing me of getting a payday loan in 2010.  I used to get those loans but stopped in 2004 or 2004.  They say I committed fraud but refuse to give me any information regarding this supposed "case".  Im thinking its a scam of some sort.

Correct, DONT GIVE THEM MONEY or any other personal information that they dont already have!  I suggest getting a new bank account!  Even if a payday company is looking for you, they have to first send you a letter in the mail...lol   What Idiots!!!  Up yours Huntington!!!!

Got a phone call yesterday from same place, stating the same thing, with a company that I havent even done business with! They never tell me a phone number to this place, address or anything....its seems to be bogus, they are calling my work office and even harrassing them!  Nothing is on my record!!!

Does anyone know anything about this company? They have someone call from my area code stating they are coming to serve papers to my place of employment today. SOme "legal documents". I don't even know this company that they say I got a loan from! Can they do anything??

Jan I just had the same thing today.. Trying to figure out HOW they can call from my area code.. I told them if them want to come out and "SERVE" me my packet, I was going to call my local Police Department and have them come at the same time.. That made Him mad. Tomorrow I'm still going to report this to the Police Dept. I was connected by a Mr. Grant, Jacob and Ms. Simmons??? any sound the same?

This company is full of it. They have someone pretend to call from your area and act like they are on their cell phone on their way to your house to serve you. When you call that number back, it goes straight to voicemail and the mailbox is full. After doing some research, I found out that the number was actually a landline. . . Not a cell. Who calls before they come serve you? Lol. . . The first guy I talked to said they work for a huge corp. called The Huntington Group. After asking for their corp. number, I figured out that it is just a single office. They act like they transfer you to their "legal dept" but it's really the guy sitting right next to them. Guess they didn't think I'd catch on when they gave me their extensions =0) DON"T GIVE THESE PEOPLE ANY MONEY! Even if you do owe for a payday loan!!

Is this company real??  They say I took out a loan but I never did but they have all of my personal info.  They won't tell me anything but the name of the company I was "suppose" to have got a loan from.  They won't tell me anything.  Does anyone know what this Huntington Mediation place is???

This is supposed to be from huntington mediation. They are a collection agency. State that there is a summons in your name for failure to pay. No record in the court systems. They will continue to call

mike was very helpful they walked us through our upcoming court proceedings and offered assistance on restructuring our mortgage, he even recommended a local attorney to assist us. thank you mike!