they are scam artist. absolutely. they keep calling me too. do not give them any information.

Yes they are a bully collection agency.  Spears, Dewitt & Hall out of San Antonio.

These people called our house and wanted social security numbers saying that we had an outstanding balance at a financial institution. The company and financial place were in Texas and we live on the other side of the country along the east coast. We have never been to Texas. Very rude and not professional at all!!

They called me twice! Who are these people?

I know EXACTLY what you mean straight shooter! For me its typically a lady with an accent that sounds like she's from barbados or some sort of island country.  "Hello daniel, this is sarah, im back in san antonio, give me a call at xxxxxxxxxx)
and I'm always thinking, oh yea, i'm really gonna think its someone i know, when they dont even sound like they're from the same country.  I also love how they'll call from 888 numbers, or they try and "disguise" their number with a local area code.  I live in SATX, but i grew up in the RGV, so sometimes, i'll get calls from a 210 number, but i'll also get calls from the same people with a RGV area code number, even though on my phone the number says that its from laredo which is close to 4 hours away from my old town.

What's with the disguising and trickery behind all of this?  It's not like they're trying to hand out subpoena's, so why try and fool the person into thinking you are not a collector?  
I think you should state what company you're working for at the very least before you start asking for SS numbers.

They are probably looking for the people who had the number before you got it.

Well, all I know is that I JUST got a new number and immediately got calls from this group, looking for someone that obviously wasn't me or my wife.  When I called and informed them that I wasn't the person (she had a Hispanic name and I very clearly am NOT Hispanic), she seemed to not believe me.  We'll see if the calls continue.

What city are you in? If you don't feel comfortable disclosing that, would you happen to know what city they purport to be in? They told us they are in San Antonio, TX. They gave us an address that does not list the DeWitt and Hall Law Offices as a tenant. They are calling our home and being very deceptive. They are having women call and they are asking for my husband by his first name only and only coyly identifying themselves by there first names. Only when pressed for "Kelly who?" do they finally disclose that they are calling from a collection agency. One woman even called and left a message on our machine saying "Hi, So and So, it's Lisa. Here is my new number. Call me back." WTF is that B.S.?!! Very deceptive and illegal in Texas. You must identify clearly yourself and the agency you work for.

GOT A MESSAGE AND THEY DIDNT SAY WHAT COMPANY THEY'RE WITH NOR WHY THEY CALLING. I DO COLLECTIONS MY SELF (BUSINESS TO BUSINESS) AND WHEN I CALL I IDENTIFY WHAT COMPANY IM WITH AND WHY IM CALLING. UNLIKE THIS NUMBER!!!!!

They called and left a voice message I couldn't understand.  Just blah blah blah then the number.

I called it back, she refused to tell me who they were and what they were calling about until I verified my phone number.  Well, I don't want to get stuck on some "this is a real number. harass this person." list, so I refused.  When I pressed, she gave me a business name.  I couldn't decipher her accent, it sounded like Britney Spears, blah blah, and Hall.  Sorry, that's as good as I could get.  I got tired of asking her to repeat herself.

I tried again, got to listen to hold music for five minutes, then got hung up on.

Idiot. I've been paying my bills on time. Yes, I racked up debt for a certain reason, but I'm still responsible enough to pay it. There no reason for these people to call me at all. They're even calling me about a specific balance that I have never incurred before at all. and when asked about what is this for they don't tell me the name of the specific company that I owe. And trust me, I think I know exactly who I owe and what. I have three bills. And each place contacts me professionally and personally. They never needed a collection agency before, so tell me...why now? It makes no sense.

With the advent of the internet, these calls are very unnecessary.

It's

i just googled the number to find out who was calling but didnt think i was going to get to see drama... lol -this is funny

This No. Is A Collection Agency Im Glad They Called Because If They Would Of Not I Would Of Not Been Able 2 Take Care Of My Debt Ppl Jst Use That As An Excuse Not 2 Pay Answer Tha Phn And Maybe U Wont B So Scared 2 Find Out Who Callin U

You debtors are the ones that are the criminals! You rack up bills and never pay them forcing creditors to hire collection agencies to get the money for them! You cause our economy to degrade! You cause creditors to go out of business! You cause people to lose their jobs as the creditor goes out of business! MAN UP AND PAY YOUR BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

why would a legit business need to monitor this site. if they are who they say they are they would never be looking here anyways. they know they are full of it so they see what people are saying about them and try hard to defend themselves. why don't you guys get real jobs. you lazy a** holes.

right on man. anyone can smell that bull sh*t from a mile away.

Bull Sh*t. Nice Try.

This phone number is apparently considered suspicious on one sight. Let's just look at a bit of evidence...

And a person here tried to defend this place "thefirm" but did not give a name for his estblishment.

You obviously can see that a quick search brings out a few complaints...as well as something called schmidtvalues which has a defunt .com .

The 888 number is not listed on the directory of 888 Numbers, and, therefore, must be reported immediately before anyone starts taking it seriously.

There are quite a handful of contradictions that just don't make sense and seem like this could be a potentially dangerous call.

To be honest, everyone has their own way of going about things. He genuinely believes that he has the right to not have to be contacted by a third party to do what he needs to. and he has every right in his being to do it.

You don't really have to exist in order for people to pay off their debt. They can skip the collector and go straight and pay the company. THAT is the reality of debt. YOU Deal with it.

Wow, you really believe what your saying! I am just trying to be informative to persons that actually owe debts. I am sorry if I offended you but this is the reality of debt. I myself am a debtor and know how it feels. Just trying to help the general public stay informed.

My last post.

If it wasn't a SCAM, the employees wouldn't have to post on this board. Legitimate businesses don't need to come here to prove their legitimacy.

Loan officer's advice is spot on. "The firm" is a bunch of crooks. Now make sure your boss knows you posted this before you go back to the boiler room, scum, maybe you'll get something "extra" in your paycheck. Enjoy it while you can, your FILTHY SCAM won't last forever!

Debt consolidation is a smokescreen for debt collections, paying a debt collector will never help your credit rating, and a debt collector will NEVER EVER help you. Stay far away from these crooks!

See! I told you this was not a scam. This is legal debt collections on behalf of the original creditor that has contracted us.
Loan Officer, your statement is not correct. We collect the money for the creditor. When it is paid to us, we invoice our client minus our collection fee percentage that was agreed upon by our contracted client. Now, true that in most cases you can pay the original creditor. In this case, the client either pays us our fee or we deduct it from what we invoice to the client via what is called direct payment. There is also the scenario of debt purchasing which we also do. We will purchase debt from the original creditor and the debt can ONLY be paid to us at that point.
Please get informed.
As a value added service for a particular client, in many cases we are able to turn the debtor back into a customer in good standing with our client.

Working in the finance world, I can recommend that NOBODY ever pay a debt collector. It doesn't even go to the company you owe. If you want to settle the debt, contact ONLY the company you owe.

When they called me, I had a bit hard time understanding the person I was talking to. Had a heavy accent but I paid my son's bail bond debt since I was the one signed for it. (Maybe I can get the collection agency to collect from my son for me?) Well anyway, I am glad I am not a debt collector trying to make a living in this economy. That is why my son did not pay because he lost his job.

This is a collection firm. I had a small debt with a bank that the bank listed with them to collect on. They were very nice to me and I was able to make payment arraignments and get this off of my credit. Yes I am a bit embarrassed to say I owe money, but with the current economy and just now getting a new job after being laid off, I was glad to be able to take care of this.

BTW They were very nice to me.
(Not trying to defend collectors but they gotta make a living to I guess)

Nice try, scam doesn't work on the phone so you try to run it on here?

This is NOT a scam. We are legally attempting to collect a debt and we MUST confirm we are talking to the correct person by having that person qoute us JUST the last four ONLY of your social. This is REQUIRED by law and we will refuse to divulge your debt info to an incorrect party.

they called and told me they were a law firm and i owed debt and they wanted my social before they would tell me anything else. i knew from the start it was a scam and i started questioning them and they panicked and hung up.