Complaint Review: Baker and McKenzie - San Francisco California

I received a phone call from the law firm of Baker and McKenzie on Sept 5, 2013 telling me they represent Capital One.  a man calling himself Richard Henderson said I was delinquent on my credit card account (providing me with the first 4 numbers on my credit card).  They would accept a settlement of $950.00 which had to be paid right then.

I was told there was a warrant out for my arrest and the sheriff would be coming to my home to take me to jail.  I was babysitting my minor grandchildren at the time (ages 2 and 6).  I was at my son's home and asked if they were going to take my grandchildren into custody as well.  I was told Child Services would be called till someone could come to take care of the children.

I told Mr. Henderson (whose accent could be Indian) I don't think I owe this money as I pay my credit card bill more than the minimum payment of $25.00 each month.  I told him to do what he had to but I was going to contact my credit card company.

I did call the credit card company who verified they just received this month's payment on my account and my account was in good standing.  I called Mr. Henderson back and was told that customer service would not have the default information on my account and told me to call the phone number they provided in their letter.  He emailed me a copy of a letter supposedly sent to me with a phone number for my credit card company.

Needless to say I was very upset and distraut by now and was not thinking clearly.  The phone number on his letter was the same number as the Law Firm's number except for the area code.  I called Mr. Henderson back and he said that was an error and gave me the "correct" phone number.  I should have realized by this time something was wrong.  I only skimmed though the letter quickly to get the information about the delinquency.

Before I could call the credit company, I received a phone call from the Sheriff's Department telling me I was going to be arrested within the next two hours.  I asked about my grandchildren and was also told Child Services would come to take care of them.  I only asked for time to contact my son at work to come home for the children was the officer was unsympathetic.

I called the new phione number for the credit card company and a Christopher Brown (whose name was listed in the letter) answered and explained to me that my purchase using the credit card was time sensitive and I only had a certain number of days to pay the full amount of that purchase.  I told him I never heard of such a thing.  It was not an advance or anything like that and told him my bill does not state any delinquency. Even though I was paying more than the minimum amount, he said that was just going toward the finance charge and not the principal amount of the purchase. 

Again, I should have realized what was happening but in my state of mind "I WAS FREAKING OUT".  i had financial problems in the past and thought the terms of this "new" card I had may have some provisions as Mr. Brown was telling me.  He also told me I would be arrested if not settled today.

I agreed to pay but the banks were closed by this time and I could only get so much fromthe ATM. Mr. Henderson said I could send the rest the next day if I sent as much as I could right now.  He told me to get a "Net Spend Reloadable Voucher".  It has a pin number on it that you scratch off.  I sent him $340.00 by this method. He called me back and said the transaction did not go through and to call the number on the card to make sure it is activated. 

I did and was told the transaction did go through and was transferred to some credit card.  I JUST GOT SCREWED!  The reloadable card person said this is a scam and she has heard of it before and that I should call the police and report it.  As I went back and read the emaild letter from Baker, I realized I was in fact scammed.  The letter had poor grammar; it was dated Sept 5, 2013 (today) so I could not have received it in the mail yet and some of the language was offensive to say the least.

I should have done more before paying them any money.  That was my costly mistake and trust me it won't happen again.