Nurse
January 17,2014
My mother contacted me and said that someone had called her and said that my nursing license had expired and that I need to contact them as soon as possible @ this number 1-888-233-9257. When I contacted them at this number,I got a voice message. But when they called me back it was a private number. They told me I owed owed a online college over $20,000 in bad checks and if I didn't pay them, I would be prosecuted and that I had a court hearing pretty soon. I told them that I had paid those people In 2010 . So he told me that since the board of nursing had hired them to settle the matter on their behalf. I would talk to the attorney on the case. She told me that they would settle for $6800 or two  payments of 3500 and that I need to have the money wired to a Chase or Bank of America account right away. I told her I didn't have that kind of money at the time  She said she would call me back in 30-35 minutes. Never did until January 22nd 2014 l asked for names and told them I had a lawyer and they had to talk to my lawyer. To keep them from continuing to call me I blocked my  no. Scam scam scam
I almost fell for it.

Same scam...different names for me.  This happened on 1/9/14 with three more calls occuring on 1/16/14 and 1/17/14.  These guys initially contacted me as a 'courtesy' because I was being brought up on 24 counts of felony check fraud supposedly, for a debt that had been settled almost exactly one year prior that I had proof was settled.  They told me they were calling representing the Nursing Board of Mediations, funny thing is I'm not a nurse and my licensure is not govered by any Nursing Association...it's governed by two totally seperate entities, one at the state and one at the national level.  It wasn't until today that they asked for money...$20k initially, then they said they negotiated on my behalf for $7100 to be paid on a settled debt and I had to pay it by 4pm.  What they didn't count on was that I had the direct number to collection agency individual I had settled with the year previously and I called him.  The Cartwright Mediation Firm is a COMPLETE SCAM.  Watch out, they sent me an email with a copy of my credit report and the original agreement for the debt they were citing.  They had all of my information and information on several of my family members.  Contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (federal) and file a complaint and then contact the FBI about them.  They call me from a "Private" number and provided me with 888-223-9257.  I spoke with a Jeffrey Lawson who claimed to be a paralegal and with an Angela Carroll who claimed to be a lawyer.  Mrs. Carroll sounded like a three pack a day smoker and spoke with an eastern accept if you listened closely.  She was argumentative, barely letting me speak and acting as if I was in the wrong for asking any questions.  She also repeatedly acted as I were being too defensive and actually called me a liar at one point when I told her the debt had already been settled and I had proof.  These guys are ruthless.  Save all correspondence with them, do not give them any more info than they already have and turn them in!!!

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 got a call from Catherine Maddox of ECRS LPO Firm stating I needed to call her regarding a defaulted PayDay Loan from 2005. She said that I was a "person of interest" in the case and gave a case number which she said would be "filed with my County Clerks office" in 24 hours if I did not respond. I have had this same company call with the same phone number or a slighly different number in the past but they seem to change their company's name a lot. I got tired of them refusing to provide information and other data necessary for me to decide how to proceed, they refused any kind of payment arrangment, and they just acted like billies. So I ended up downloading a free app from the Google Store called Mr. Number which blocks unwanted calls from a specific number or a specific area code. It seems to have worked for now. When they call my numberit  does not ring on my phone and sends their call into deep space.

Lisa Garbin is a sorry, worthless piece of s***. I wish her nothing but misery and hell for the rest of her life. I hope I meet her in person one day, that way we'll all know if she talks that way when she's face to face with the person she's whose life she is f****ng with. Eat s*** and die Lisa.

What happened?  Because I paid these people $8000 and they threaten me to that I would lose my rn license now the creditor that I thought I paid off is sending me a letter saying I owe them and the said I should fax them the information and if lagit then case is closed.  So was it lagit? In your case?

I hope all of you that have been scammed by these people report it. I reported it to the F.B.I. , the FTC, and to the attorney general. They may or may not do anything but at least I did everything I could to stop them from doing this to any one else. Can you imagine how many people they could have scammed this way. Just think of the ones that they could have scammed that didn't know about this site. It only takes a minute to fill out a form on the net to report these people. Don't let them get away with this. Maybe if they are investigated they will find out how they got our personal info and stop other scammers from getting it.

I made the mistake a few years ago of paying these people over $700 fearing my nursing license was in jeopardy! they are now calling my entire family, and my brothers in laws!!!
I just googled the website for Carlene Cartright and associates mediation firm, and all the websites have been disabled.
It is clearly a scam, preying on people who have had some kind of bad debt in the past.
As for information in writing, and contact your states attorney generals office!

Not only did I get a call, but they called my parents, my brother and MY BROTHTERS in laws!!!! They told all of them that I was "about to be arrested and lose my nursing license". Even worse, they had my mother's social security number!!! They read it off to my dad!!
I can't begin to imagine how they would get the phone numbers of my family, but I am contacting the attorney general in the morning!
They were very rude and aggressive! I am so stressed out,even knowing it was a scam! I don't need my whole damn family thinks I am some deadbeat!!

Read all of these previous messages, they are all right.  They almost got my wife and I but we found this website......These people or should I say scam artist are very good at there job.  Be careful

The is Lisa Garbin said I was a low life, going to jail. She didn't know how I got this far in life. The were going to take my nursing lic,.She couldn't imagin how I was still running free. She threaten to take all my money my accounts were frozen etc. etc. and she also, lied. I had to put a fraud report out on them. Rude the cow was nasty.

My wife got the same BS story last night. Lisa Garbin said we had to pay $7480 in accumulated fees from an old student loan my wife paid off in 2008, and if not my wife would be taken to prison on 45 felony counts of writing bad cheeks across state lines. She was quite pushey about the matter in question, and in one caes just plain rude. At some point in tbe conversation my wife put the phone on speaker and that's when I heard Lisa Garbin interrupt my wife and say, "Keep you mouth shut and listen to what I'm telling you to do unless you want to go to prison for a long time." Well, that was about all this marine was willing to put up with. I got on the phone and put Ms Garbin  back in touch with reality with a few carefully chosen 4 letter words and and told her that from now on all calls from cartwrite & associates would be recorded and sent to every federal agency that would like a copy of the tape. If everyone that receives a call from these scam artists reports it, eventually law enforcement will investagate them and perhaps one day they will all die in federal prison where they belong.

Nursing licenses can only be suspended by your respective State's Board of Nursing if they find evidence of professional misconduct or you default on a federally guaranteed student loan. These people are trying to pull a fast one.

These people contacted my Ex-Husband with an obscure message regarding my nursing license. The call to my Ex was from a Mr. Campbell and he left a call back number of 855-593-0072 ext. 386798. I called this number back last night and spoke with Mr. Campbell who said that the Attorney, Lisa Garvin, was available, but that this was a rare case, and that I should speak with her while given the opportunity. Ms. Garvin proceeded to tell me that I had 57 counts of check fraud and 40 something counts of stolen merchandise (text books). She also said that I had taken out a loan for $12,190.00 and that I now owe $16,975.72, and that if not paid will result in the loss of my nursing license and will freeze all of my college transcripts. She then proceeded to tell me that she was waiting for a call back from the prosecuting attorney to come to some agreement and then put me on hold. After she allegedly spoke with the prosecuting attorney, she said that they came to an agreement of restitution for $7,955.00, and that I needed to ask someone with good credit standing to be a third party payer and transfer this into their name and responsibility. I gave her my Mom's number and she proceeded to try to call her to join a conference call to discuss this. My Mom didn't answer, so I hung up with Ms. Garvin and called her to tell her about this. My Mom said that the number that attempted to call her appeared to be out of country and said that I should research the company, and I did and found this site. I am a pre-med student, and Ms.Garvin threatened that if I did not rectify the supposed charges by payment right then that I would loose my nursing license, be kicked out of school and possibly loose everything I have and go to jail. I was beyond terrified. With everything I have worked so hard to accomplish possibly being snatched out from under me over something that I was completely unaware of, I freaked out. I did receive and email regarding this matter from Ms. Garvin, and I will be forwarding it to my attorney and the FBI. I was also told that after restitution payment had been made, that I would receive a Fed-Ex package. Luckily, I found this site before I attempted any sort of restitution to this entity.
Do not be fooled by these people, though they may talk a good talk, it is a SCAM! They are good at putting on, and in a frenzy, it may seem believable, but it is still a SCAM! Thank you to everyone who has posted. I would have been their newest scam victim had I not found this site.

Thank God I found this info. A person named Lisa Garbin contacted my sister and told her that She owed money for books and loans and she was going to help her fix this so she wouldn't go to jail and have her nursing license taken. This Lisa Garbin called me and said that I needed to give my credit card info so that it would fix all this. She told my sister that it had to be done today because it would go to court tomorrow. I gave her my info but then later I started to really wonder and I found this so I called my credit card co. and they took the charge off and closed my account because this Lisa Garbin said they would charge 2 installments. 5000.00 one day and 5000.00 the next day. That didn't make any sense to me but these people are good and they had me worried to death that my sister would go to jail. I can't figure out why these people haven't been caught. I will do everything I can to see that something is done about this.

I am in school for my Doctorate in PT and these people contacted me while at school in the middle of an exam.  They scared the s*** out of me to the point where I contacted my roommate and then they got on the phone with her and started threatning her, they scared the both of us to the point where we paid them $2200, and needless to say it was a scam, we didnt know at the time and were both scared for our educations, they threatened to take my student loans and then keep us from graduating.  I contacted my bank Wells Fargo and they said because we authorized these charges that there was nothing they could do, so I am out of $2200 and dont have a clue what to do about it?

I was called by Lisa Garbon, she pulled the same high pressure on my daughter who had Lisa add me on. I kept slowing her down, told her to stop and no high pressure. She wanted money now or loss of RN license, jail etc. I pushed her out until tomorrow to discuss with an attorney, I did not tell her this. I suspected fraud due to the extreem high pressure. I researched, Caylee Cartwright is not listed with the BBB but one person turned them in for collection wrongly. I then found you guys. Thanks to all who've added here. We just filled out a complaint with the FBI, next is the Attorney General and local PD. If any have updates from your first note please add it. I willdemand that it has to be mailed to my daughters address. Oh yea mail fraud was another threat they spit on my daughter. Thanks again.

I got a message from a mr Campbell to call back b/c my nursing license was in jeopardy!!! Bad checks from 2006 for college books!!!! Ended up speaking w/ a Lisa Darby who claimed to be a attorney I got my father involved who found this web site!! Scam scam scam I'm glad I gave these people no $$$ and that my father was bright enough not to as well!!! She plans on calling us at 10:15 a.m. I can't wait to demand for the paper work to be mailed for my attorney to review!!!! I was sooooo upset for nothing!!!!! I got my father & step mother upset for nothing!!!!!!

My mother received a call today from this company looking for me.  She stated that they were calling about my nursing license. As I returned the cal I happened to google the name of the company and found this website which assisted me in my phone call.   Mr Campbell returned my call stating a credit union that I have never heard of was filing suit against me and did I receive the mailings?  I told him that I did not and he put me hold.  A Catherine Maddox got on the line and she stated that she was assigned to me as my attorney for this case.  I told her that I still didnt know what she was talking about.  She had my driver's license number, my parents' phone number.  She said she had my signature and recordings of me and if I didnt clear this up they were going to take my nursing license.  She also insisted that I was passing "bad checks" across state lines and I would go to jail.  Well first of all, not paying a bill is not going to affect my nursing license, I also just got my license endorsed in another state which included an FBI background check and just opened a new checking account in the state in which I have moved.  So not thinking any of that would have happened if I was wanted for passing bad checks or my nursing license being in peril.  I told Catherine Maddox that I was reading all about her on the internet in which she replied "well arent you a brainiack! you believe everything you read on the internet?"  I said "I believed the internet more than I believed her"  I asked her to please mail me all of these proceedings in which I am being charged and she said "give me an email address and I will send it"  I said "no, i wish for them to be mailed and if you are a lawyer then you will not have a problem with that".  She started screaming at me that I was a criminal and if I didnt show up for court then be prepared for the consequences.  I again insisted she mail the documents so I could show them to an attorney.  She said " I am your attorney! I am taking care of this".  I told her that I didnt hire her and that I was firing her as my attorney!   She continued to scream at me and said "are you going to ignore all of this?"  I said that yes I was and until I was sent some kind of documents on these charges then she wasnt going to get anything from me.  I will admit that she was very fast and good at what she does.  She will not allow you to get the upper hand in the conversation.  But if you step back and take a look at the situation you will see it for what it is....a scam.  Please people do not fall for this!

Hi! I did not get a phone call from the number above but did get one from 1-888-233-8585 supposely from a Mediater called Catherine Maddox she called my son telling him that he owed over 12,000 on books he ordered to do a nursing course and that he had over 47 counts of check fraud and that if he could not pay he would loose his Job,License,not ever be able to get another loan,go to jail and loose his children! she then ask him if he had someone that could let him borrow the money and that if he paid it right then the prosecutor would lower the amount to 7,000.000 so I was scared about my son going to jail and loosing the children. She said she would send papers that night but never recieved any and its been over 3 weeks tried calling 3 or 4 times only to get a recording, finally a person named Brandy called saying she was fom a temp agency and that the water pipes broke funny they were broke for two weeks and said they would get back to us next week Do you think that happened NADA and the call from Brandy was a private no....what a surprise I hope they get caught and sent to jail.

Whoever their "Client" is probably bought the debt. Viking Holding Group may very well be related to whomever this is.

Just follow the money.

This Business is not BBB Accredited
Caylee Cartwright Mediation Firm
(866) 277-7162
Po Box 745, Irving, TX 75014
http://www.cayleecartwrightmediationfirm.org

C On a scale of A+ to F

Factors that lowered caylee cartwright mediation firm's rating include:

BBB does not have sufficient information to determine how long this business has been operating. BBB made one or more requests for background information from the business. BBB has not received a response from this business and/or has not been able to verify information received from this business.
BBB does not have sufficient background information on this business. BBB made one or more requests for background information from the business. BBB has not received a response from this business and/or has not been able to verify information received from this business.

BBB file opened: 10/06/2011
Business Category
Mediation Services

http://www.bbb.org/dallas/business-reviews/me ... ing-tx-90378053

We received an "urgent" call from someone saying we needed to call back immediately, as it involved our son, and a debt, and serious charges pending.
We called and were asked to wait for "the attorney handling the case"  to come onto the line.  (Through our own investigation of this firm, online, it would appear the mediator, Catherine Maddox, is not an attorney at all....at least not admitted to the bar anywhere.)
She alleged that our son was in serious trouble for advancing checks to purchase textbooks, and while the first 3 checks cleared, all subsequent checks "bounced" for non sufficient funds. Added to the amounts of all the returned checks were NSF charges of $35 per check.
Allegedly, she "negotiated a settlement amount reducing the total of all the charges, NSF fees and penalties down from over $18 thousand to just over $8000.oo BUT, and this is the caveat, the $8000 had to be settled immediately, or all charges would be "adjudicated" against our son that afternoon, and if found guilty he would lose his license to practice his vocation, subsequently lose his job, and mostly likely go to jail.
Ms. Maddox leaned fast and hard on both my wife, Cathy and me (R. Simmons) to act as a "third party" and use our good credit to save our son from this trouble. She used emotion-inducing arguments and pled our son's case as if he were HER son, and eventually talked my wife (Cathy) into giving her 2 credit card numbers, and never once admitted, unequivocally, that they would be charged to cover this amount.  There was a lot of "smoke and mirrors" and quick sleight of hand to get a verbal OK to charge those accounts "if necessary," but never came right out and said that was her intent.  She advised that we would receive a packet of legal documents by FEDEX the next day, pertaining to the case, and now, one week later, we still have no documentation at all. Nothing in writing from anyone.
She was slick and deceptive and very quick and even a bit reassuring. She told us she advised our son of the seriousness of the charges, and said that if he failed to pay it back, WE could call her and she would represent US, against OUR SON!    When no documents came, we began a series of daily phone calls to her "direct line," ( a toll free number!) and left messages, asking for her to return our calls, and never got a return call.   This may be legal, but it is surely a deceptive and shoddy business practice, and they should be barred from calling unsuspecting people and scaring them into paying or giving out credit card numbers, without verification or any hard copy documentation of the charges.
We feel we were scammed by them, as payment was charged to my wife's credit card, but the payee recipient of the money is not a textbook distributor, but rather an outfit called Viking Holding Group, Inc. an Accounting and Bookkeeping firm. We suspect that as they pull this same process on other people, their money will also go to this Viking Holding Group as well, but we can't prove that, so we restrict our comments to our own experience only.
This company needs to be investigated for potential fraud and disceptive [business] practices

I had the same call from this company to my 87 year old grandmother told her i have a summons i was going to jail for check fraud and loosing my nursing licience and  for 7 years loose bank privledges. this Ms.Maddox threatened me my mother and sister with investigation. said she was calling the prosecuting attorney to try and help me with a plea -put me on hold came back and said he agreed to take 7,502 dollars for a 28,000 debt and the summons would disappear. Thank God I found this website through further investigation and talking to the attourney Generals office who advised me to request it in writing if they call back and end conversation.  i was on the phone for 2 hours with this terrifying women. This sort of abuse has to stop and I hope i have found the right people to investigate them and stop it from happening to anyone else.

Did you give her any of your information? I was scammed out of $2200 and now I have turned it over to Wells Fargo Fraud Dept and when my money is returned I will be filing a police report against them. I have every number that they have called me from.

joeanne keaton gave my wife's parents a call last night. My wife called her back and was freaked out. She had her Nursing license trheaten, our house and freedom if we didn't do something today. We were told there was a court case today and if we didnt pay we would have liens put on our wages and our house. Was told we needed someone with $9000 in the bank to co-sign a loan with them. We'd pay $200 a month and no loegan action would happen. The woman was rude anytime my wife asked for information from her to verify the proof of her claim.
After looking over the internet I come to the conculsion this person hacked some finacial compnay that held my wife's loan papers. The only information they seemed to have were contained in this document.
When I did a WHOIS seach for their website Domain, cayleecartwrightmediationfirm.org :
Here's what I found :
Registrant Name:Domain Discreet
Registrant Organization:ATTN: cayleecartwrightmediationfirm.org
Registrant Street1:Rua Dr. Brito Camara, n 20, 1
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Funchal
Registrant State/Province:Madeira
Registrant Postal Code:9000-039
Registrant Country:PT
Registrant Phone:+361.19027495331

So it's a company out of Portugal. Fraud Fraud Fraud. The worst part is they have my wife's personal information, SS# bank numbers and everything else that was on he loan application, from 2005.

These people harassed me and said that I owed $4000, and they would settle for $2200. They said I had felony charges and I was being represented by them. I have them my credit card and they took $2200 from me. I have awaiting 2 packages from them that I am going to pick up today, did any of you pay them or receive anything in the mail? I asked her for more information and all they did was send me a email saying that I owe this money? We contacted the fraud department with my bank. What happened with all of you guys?

I got the same harrassing phone call.  They had my bank account number, my driver's license and my sister's phone number.  The company is Carlee Cartwright & Associates Mediation Firm.  I have contacted the police and filed with the FBI.

Same scam, different number.  See http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/paydayloanscam_120710

As they are probably calling from out of the country, they say anything they want as they are fairly sure no one can do anything to them.  

I recommend a signal horn.  The second they open their mouths, let'em have it.  Should only take once.

I also received a call from this number around the same time as you guys. The person on the other end identified himself as Mr. Jefferies and gave me a bogus case number which I checked out and found that it was false.

I got the same call. I dont know if I can trust them. I asked for them to send me something in writing, and I would look it over with my lawyer, and she threatened me and harassed me. I told her I did not appreciate that and hung up.