I swear I have a blocked list twice as many of those numbers. I wish Verizon allowed more than just 5 phone numbers to be blocked. This is just getting more and more ridiculous...

List of numbers that I have ever gotten using different company names but the same demanding talk: ACS, Nationwide, United Holdings, SSM Group, BOR Group, and I?m sure many more to come:

888-566-5591
866-909-8296
877-765-0698
877-926-4189
888-260-7250
800-860-1582
866-850-3712
866-901-3328

No I didn't get served. They are total scammers and completely full of it.

No, I did not get served. What I learned: if you are going to be sued for a loan, then (in the State of Maryland) they file a case in the county/city you live. I live in Baltimore County. So they go to civil court, file a case, then the court issues a summons. That in turn you will be served to you either by the Sheriff or a court appointed server. In MD, you can go to Maryland Case Search Judiciary and look up your name & see what activity is there. I am sure all States are this way since both civil & district court cases are considered public information. If you don't see a case #, then it has not been filed. I also have learned that calls like this are bogus. There is a way to make a call and it processes it through a local # so you think they are really calling for you from the area you live --- when in reality they are probably from New York or Chicago (if they sound American), New Dehli (if they sound foreign). They'll give you some speech about how you have been officially notified. What I did to help them stop calling: Tell them you are here all day and come out and serve you (if at work). They will probably say, I'll be there in 40 mins, then says, sounds good! They may then switch and say well, for privacy, I don't want to serve you at work, how about home? Tell them, ok, I'll be here all day. Trust me, they aren't coming. I read from the Federal Trade Commission that over $2,000,000 (million) dollars were paid to bogus pay day/loan collection companies. Just like any other bill, Visa bill, doctor collection bill, etc, if they are a real loan company, they can print and mail a statement, period. No statement, no remittance address, no breakdown of charges, no money. It has worked since 03/31/2014. I was told that unfortunately, once you are on a list, they are going to keep calling off and on. It could be a month from now, or 6 months from now. Best advice is if you don't know the #, let it go to voicemail.

I agree! I reported them to the CFPB, as well as my state attorney general, and the state office of financial regulation. Basically none of them were able to do anything except tell me to keep notes of the people I speak to and get as much information as possible and to report them again if it gets worse or anything. Since I haven't been answering the calls, I haven't been able to do any of that. I just add the number to my block list and hope for the best. I want to change my phone number, but it's such a hassle to do that. I did get rid of my VM all together which helps, I never checked voicemail to begin with so it wasn't hard for me to do.

Did you actually get served? They told me that if I don't pay the settlement amount and take the papers then I will need to go to court in another state.

What ever came out of this? Was there an actual private locator? Getting the same message but it is my actually area code that I get a call from and trying to determine if this private locator actually exists.

Yes, they are using local #'s. One was a (301) area code, which is Maryland, and the other is (443) area code, which is Maryland. They keep calling, any suggestions? I have ignored them, yelled at them, told them to serve me, demanded statements, nothing is helping. They called and left a voice mail on my HR Manager's phone. They called my Mother, who of course told them they have the wrong #. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't call work all the time. It's easy to ignore a cell phone. And reporting them to the State's Attorney office was no good. She told me that they can't issue a cease and desist letter because they won't give a mailing address and change phone #'s all the time. I am sooo frustrated.  

I'm glad you got your money back.  These people are laughable.  I paid off a loan two years ago with a money order - mailed it to the address they told me, certified.  I offered to pay with a pre-paid Visa, but they said they couldn't process pre-paid cards (what?), and would need my bank account number or a money order.  Of course, I wasn't about to give them ANY banking info.  Long story short, the money order came back to me six months later, refused, and the recipient's address was blacked out with a marker.  Okay, I figured....they just don't want to get paid.

About a year later, I get a call saying I owe money.  Tried to explain that I attempted to send payment, and have the original money order and return receipt.  They didn't want to hear any of it - kept demanding my bank account number.  Then a lady pretending to be a process server from my county calls and says there's a claim against me.  The county courthouse is a mile from my house, so I went over there and looked it up - no claim.  I gave the folks of the courthouse the name of the person who called and said she identified herself as a process server - they never heard of her.  They even threatened to arrest me for check fraud.  I said "Great....I know where the county sheriff's office is....I'll turn myself in".  That really pissed 'em off, because I was calling them on their B.S.  Calls stopped after that, but these smurfs come around again every 6 - 9 months.  Now they're spoofing with local phone numbers to trick you into picking up the phone, but once they realize you're not going to play their game, they go away....until your name and number is handed off to the next group of smurfs.

It was a good idea to close your account as soon as you got your money refunded.  Understand that their real game here is money laundering.  Once they have access to a bank account, either through voluntary or involuntary means, they can use it to move money in and out to cover other criminal or possibly terrorist activities.  Your money means nothing to them (as was evidenced by my returned money order).  What they REALLY want is access to your accounts, and the LAST thing you want is to be implicated in a criminal or terrorist transaction you know nothing about....then the REAL DHS is liable to pay you a visit.

Now they are calling from 866-460-9287

Weird, when I googled that 1888 number again, this time it brought up a website link, which did not come up when I first searched for them last week. Some company called American Credit Shield. It's like the website just appeared out of no where. But it definitely did not come up when I looked before...

Me too! It was fast too! Only 2 business days. I definitely learned my lesson though. No more loans from companies like that ever again. I'm definitely keeping all that paperwork as well.

I am sooo happy for you that you got your money!!!

I just checked my account. I got my money back last night. I also just cancelled that debit card just in case. I have been getting missed calls all morning from weird numbers. I'm guessing it's the process server. I don't really care whether or not they get ahold of me at this point so I haven't answered the phone. I got my money back and my card is cancelled. Worst case scenario, I get served and I will just go to court and give them all the documents that show that this account has been paid for and closed almost 2 years ago.

SSM Group has a F+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. There are 257 complaints on file. There have been multiple cease and disist orders on them. They are scammers; that's why they convinced you to pay 1/2 of what they consider an outstanding loan. I seriously doubt you are going to get your money back - if you do, then I will be so surprised yet happy for you at the same time. Did they mail you a statement? Did you get a breakdown of charges? If you only paid because of what they told you over the phone, you got scammed. I learned a very hard lesson after the fact with a company called Nationwide. Also, you cannot be arrested for owing a loan. It's a civil suit only. Most of the time the papers come to your mailbox from the court system with the appearance date. Go to http://www.fraud.org/news/61-phantom-debt-collectors

I'd love to know if they re-imburse you.

Received a phone call from 1888-260-7250 saying that I owed 500 something to a loan company called SSM LLC from February of '12, and that I didn't pay it, I'd be served with papers. I actually did get a loan from this company, however, I paid it off already to another collections company a year and a half ago. Of course I did not realize this until I agreed to pay this company half. So I got all my old bank records printed out, as well as a copy of the statement from the other collections company that says this loan is already paid for and closed out. I called this 1888 number back and said that they need to refund me my money and that I have all the proper documents to show them that I did pay this loan off already. Surprisingly the girl I spoke to seemed genuinely nice, and very helpful, and just said that I would get it back in about 5-7 business days, and if I don't, to just call her back and gave me her extension. The down side is that she said I will have to get served with papers, but that since I have the documents proving I paid it, she said that once I do it, I can get them off my back once and for all. I would also like to add that the SSM LLC company has a history of making unauthorized deposits into people's accounts, which is how I am in this situation in the first place. I didn't even know I got this loan until collections called me, and I checked my banking statements, and sure enough, they did it to me. I really hope that this collections company is legitimate, and that my money is back in my account this week. The SSM LLC company who gave me the loan in the first place seem to be the real scammers in this, by making unauthorized deposits, and then trying to get people to pay them back more then once by sending people's info to multiple collections companies. If I really do get served, it definitely won't be pleasant, but at least I have all the documents I need to prove that I owe them squat and they need to leave me alone. I'm also going to be watching my account for the refund and see what happens. Fingers crossed...

Phone call from a woman, from a firm, no name to firm. Wants me  call them and give them my address. Then they say I have been served..............Called the number back that called me and it was not in use any longer....I have no loans, nor do I owe anyone any money.  Didnt know I could be served over the phone.....Will report them to the AG in Pennsylvania

Got call from "Kevin" said he is a private locator, needing to serve me. I asked for his locating company name, said he couldn't give that out. I asked him for his office #, said he locates for multiple companies, and can only make outbound calls. Gave me the # of the company, "Key West" who is a collection company to resolve the issue. Called this company. They answer phone "how can I help you". I asked for Company name, said that they represent several companies, what is the file #? I gave them the supposed account # and he said oh, it's for Key West. That I took out a loan in August 2012, from SSN Group, and I owe $510. I said who is SSN Group, what is their #, what is there website address? E-Mail me a bill - couldn't send me one. He started talking over me as I spoke. Long story short, I told him I was reporting him to the States Attorney's Office (Maryland) for a scam/fraud. Not to call me back. He said he would. We shall see. I told him I was an educated consumer & I know what fraud is. He hung up on me. P.S. When I did a search for the phone #, it came up to being Delhi, India.