On the afternoon of 9/15/09 I received a voice mail message on my phone at work from a man by the name of Micheal Johnson. He asked that I give him a call at 818-451-4699 to discuss my attorneys information. He stated that I had not paid back a payday loan.
Once I heard this message I decided to check my home phone message as well. I had the same message from the same man who had a Indian accent. Only this time he ended the message with "I wish you Luck".
I called the number and asked to speak with this man and told them who I was and that I was returning a call. Immediately he stated that he needed to have my attorney's information because I was being sued due to non payment of a Payday loan.
When I questioned who was he and what company did he work for his tone of voice changed and he became very aggressive. He stated that he was with the Federal Legislation of unsecured Loans. He said I owed money to a payday loan and with fees I owed $745.00.
When I questioned what company did I take a loan out for he stated in a nasty toan "you know what loan you didn't pay back". Thats when my personality changed as well. I asked if he could tell me how much did I take this loan out for, he stated that if I did not pay the money back by 11:00am the next morning he would have a person come to my job and to my home to serve me papers. I asked why have I not heard from them before this time, why did they not send me a letter. He stated he tried to call me at least 16 -18 times. Which I told him he was lying!
At that point I made him aware I could not understand half of the things that he said to me, then I hung up. After I calmed down I decided to call back because I wasn't sure if this was real or not. This time I was put on the phone with Attorney Dean Joan's, who proceeded to explain that I had not paid back a loan for 200.00 dollars.
I have in the past taken out a payday loan but had paid all back and had my statement to prove it. When I spoke of this he stated that he had all the proof he needed in front of him.
He had my info as to where I bank and where I work and the last four digits of my SS#. I told him that I did not have that kind of money and my payday wasn't until that Friday. I still would not be able to pay that full amount due to other bills. He then said I seemed like a reasonable person and would just take 545.00 and I could pay 200.00 dollars that Friday and the rest on my next payday. I asked if I could send this Western Union and he stated "No it had to be on a debit card"
He asked that I send a fax (858-435-7639) attention to the Federal Legislation of unsecured Loans. That the fax had to state that I wanted to fix this issue by making a payment of 545.00 and please except my payment. He wanted me to have this fax notarized and sent right away. I told him I was at work and did not get off until 11:00 pm and was not able to have anything notarized at that hour.
He said just send the fax and I could have it notarized in the morning but I had to send the new fax before 12:00 p.m. I sent the fax but started thinking this does not sound right and I had an uneasy feeling.
The next day I called the payday loan company and talked to their collection department. I told them my situation and what had been told to me by Dean Jones. He stated that they handle their own collection and would not use an outside company to collect a debt. He stated that all of my payments had been made and all was fine.
That night after work I went home and goggled Federal Legislation of unsecured loans to see what would come up. Immediately Ripoff.com came up and I proceeded to read. When I read a statement from a gentlemen who was describing his situation, it was identical to mine including the man by the name Dean Jones.
I was furious! I called him the next morning, and he answered the phone "Hey this is Dean" I told him who I was and he got angry and said I didn't do what he asked me to do. "I said answer one question" "how much was the loan I took out"? He said since I didn't do what he asked that he didn't have answer any of my questions. By then I was angry and said you couldn't answer the question because this was a scam. That
I goggled him and his name and operation was all over RIPOFF.com. I told him that I spoke with the payday loan company and proceeded to tell him what had been told to me. I continued with that I was reporting him to the Attorney General's office and the BBB. That if he ever called my house or place of business again that I would have him sued and charged with Harassment! With that I hung up, so far no more phone calls.