For at least the last year, an illegal group of debt collectors have been terrorizing consumers, their family, friends, and employees threatening to arrest the individual of an unpaid loan or other debt (their generally don't even owe). Be aware debt is a civil matter, not a criminal matter, and you can't be arrested. They threaten a warrant if the victim does not pay a sum of money by the credit card over the phone.

Even if you do owe a debt, do not be deceived by the actions of this group.  Many of the accounts they are attempting to collect they do not own.  In other words, if you pay these people, that is not going to clear your debt with its rightful owner.  

Although when pressed the callers give the victim an address in Columbia South Carolina (usually a vacant lot) or Atlanta GA (often a parking lot near the bus station). They are actually out of the Charlotte North Carolina area. The scammers are using the following business names

Reynolds, Hill, and Associates
Berkley and Associates
Kaufmann and Associates
Sanderson Blaine & Associates
McKenzie Reid Associates
Kennedy, Kline, & Associates
Nationwide Asset and Recovery
Piedmont Investigations and Procurement

Here is a set of links to a variety of threads on this forum that document this group and its behavior. They include the experiences of victims as well as a former employee or two that quit within a week of finding out exactly what was going on. They also include responses from consumer advocates and people who are really criminal justice professionals advising victims of what to do

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-748-8367
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-719-1725
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-676-3492
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-805-5549
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-751-1084
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-803-2349
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-775-2417
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-775-2418
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-755-3417
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-746-3946
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-676-3485
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-966-3768
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-699-9749/2
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-966-6246
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-678-5437
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-967-0061
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-746-3948
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-791-2353
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-699-6246
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-735-8624
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-751-1083
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-736-3678/2
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-966-8529
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-967-2633
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-460-1576
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-609-3074
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-576-6210
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-601-5849
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-230-1283
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-658-0438

I received a call from Ms Blatstone (Piedmont collection agency) threatening she would have my daughter arrested for a outstanding balance. I became suspicious and called my local police the officer told it was a scam & to google the telephone number to see the numerous complaints. My daughter was scammed last year when she gave her information out unfortunately and was taken for a lot of money. How can these people get away with this? Why don't they go out and get a real honest job and stop taking from people.

Piedmont Investigations and Procurement

Phone: (888) 601-5849 Fax: (770) 884-81801232 Forsyth St., Suite 254, Atlanta, GA 30303 http://www.investigationsandprocurement.com
- See more at: http://www.bbb.org/charlotte/business-reviews ... h.cnicpLbL.dpuf

Not in NC

Thank u for the info. I to work in collections and our company attorney is trying to call Ms Page tomorrow. She left me the exact message she left you on a voicemail of my old supervisor at my job. I saved the recording along with the voicemail she left on my cell phone. She also called a ex girlfriendof my borther's from a few years back and said she was investgating me for fraud. If u have any other info on her or this company please post. And I am curious how it went for u. REGARDLESS if you owe a bill her practices are just not right and both her and the company should not be in business and should have consequences.

Report your caller to the FTC, FCC, FBI, Dept of Justice and your state's Attorney General.  Per the FDCPA, you should never pay any caller who refuses to MAIL proof of debt and that they have the legal right to collect said debt.  It is a violation of the FDCPA to refuse to mail proof of debt, and your caller has committed several more violations -  threatening you with arrest - debt is civil, not criminal, so you're not going to be arrested even if you did default on a loan, and threatening to call your HR Dept.

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

You can file complaints with the FTC - https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#&panel1-1
FCC -  http://www.fcc.gov/

Your state's Attorney General - you can go to this site and find your state's Attorney General - http://www.naag.org/current-attorneys-general.php

Please provide the information on filing this complaint... I received a called today, and I had proof my debts was paid off next month... Thank you very much...

I receives a call at my job today and the lady was rude she stated that she needed to talk to me and that I was going to get a arrest warrant when my co worker told her I was not their she stated she was going to call human resources. I then received a call on my cell from this person she was nothing nice and totally rude demanding me to pay her 500.00 today or she would contact the local police department. she wanted my credit card number. I told her I wanted a phone number to the company claiming I owed this money she said she could not give me this information. I told her that I have not received a letter in the mail in re guarding this matter. I told her I had o do some re search and I would get back to her she stated I give u 24 hours or I will proceed.

Got the same call for my wife! Called her back stating she was with my local county sheriffs department and was issuing warrants TODAY for my wife if we didn't pay! She does have the police background noise going. I started asking questions and I don't like the fact that she knows too much about my wife & I! She started getting mean and demanding when I started calling her out and said she was just gonna have to continue with the warrant process. Looked her up here, called her back and quoted the above act and she went bat s*** crazy on me! I remained calm & proper the whole time simply asking her who I owed the money to? She wouldn't tell me. Informed her I'd be filing against her and she hung up on me!

My husband got a call on his cell phone stating that I would be arrested if I did not call within an hour. I agree with the previous person, they are the scum of the earth. I have call blocker so I just block the calls. They find another number to call from .

Got a call from Stephanie Grace, Ramsey County Investigator. Told me I needed to provide a deposition statement or she would be executing an imprisonment order. These people are the scum of the earth.

skip tracer trying to find debtor

This is a debt collection company called Piedmont Investigation, they will use any tactic to try and force payment from their target.  They are not investigators from any law enforcement agency nor do they have arresting authority, they are a collections agency licensed in North Carolina.  My experience with Ms. Page now comes at the cost of possibly losing my job over debt I can?t verify I owe.  I request to know who I owed money to and when this happen, I asked for it to be mailed to me she refused, I asked to speak with a supervisor and was refused. She told me she was an investigator with my local county sheriff office and she had a warrant for my arrest.  She also stated that I was being investigated for fraud and fraud against a local financial institution and that I could either deal with her now or she will have me arrested.  She wanted to confirm my social and physical address I refused so she became belligerent and told me she was going to call my human resources department and inform them of my warrants I allegedly had and that I was being investigated for fraud, I hung up on her.  She called right back (these calls where to my work number) I did not answer so she call my cell; I did not answer my cell.  She call my employers main number which was answered by the receptionist, this Ms. Page toll the receptionist she was an investigator who was investigating me for fraud and that she needed to speak with my supervisor, the receptionist transferred the call to my boss.  This Ms. Page continued her perpetration of a law enforcement officer with my boss even acting like she was on the phone with dispatch and that had officers outside my home/work with a warrant for my arrest for fraud.  My boss is an ex-prosecuting district attorney so at first she became alarmed but as Ms. Page continued her act my boss knew something wasn?t right so she began to question her.  Ms. Page reiterated   that she was law enforcement, I had warrants and I committed fraud so my boss advised her that she did not believe her and that she was not forthcoming at which time Ms. Page became angry and told my boss to have me call her and hung up.  Ms. Page and the company she works for has clearly violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act § 804. Acquisition of location information, § 805 Communication in connection with debt collection (15 USC 1692c), § 806 Harassment or abuse (15 USC 1692d), § 807 False or misleading representations (15 USC 1692e), § 808 Unfair practices (15 USC 1692f), § 809 Validation of debts (15 USC 1692g).  Ms. Page has not left me any choice but to file a formal complaint against her and Piedmont Investigation with the NC Department of Insurance who governs collection agencies, with the NC State Attorney Generals Office and with Federal Trade Commission who governs the Consumer Credit Protection Act.  I recommend that any other person having to deal with this company do the same, you can make your reports on line, and it?s easy and fast not to mention that if we all pull together we can make a difference.  Just imagine how many people out there were meat with this type of tactic and ended up paying more than they actually owed or even worst did not owe.  I really hope my complaints are heard and that some action is taken against them.  

This number called my brother told him they were getting an arrest warrant out for me I called the local police dept and they had nothing on me