Complaint Review: Tyrone Wilson - Internet

I don't remember the exact name of the company that tried to pull this on me, but it was relatively close to the name of the one you listed (if not the same).

A "gentleman" called and left me a voicemail on a Friday afternoon, stating that he was a police officer in a county in California.  He proceeded to inform me that I was in default of a loan payment to Company X, who I had never heard of, and was pretty sure I had never dealt with.  He demanded that I call him back immediately and make a payment of $2500, or a warrant would be put out for my arrest.

Naturally, I started to freak out.  When I called back to try and get more information, all I got was a generic answering machine.  That right there made me go, "Hmmmmm.".

I wracked my brain and checked all of my financial records, but I knew I had never taken a loan out for more than a couple hundred dollars and had the reciept that I had paid it off.  Still, I was unsure what to do. 

So I waited until Monday and called back again, at which time the "gentleman" said that he was an attorney for Company X and that I needed to pay the money that was owed immediately.  I knew I was dealing with a scam, and was mortified when he rattled off my address, phone number, place of work, social security number and date of birth and asked me to verify it.  I opted to dodge the question and went straight back to the reason why I was contacted in the first place.

I asked for specific information, ie. what the original loan amount was, where it was deposited, what date the loan was taken out, what the name of the actual company providing the loan was.  He became very agitated and refused to give any specific informaton, except a year that the "loan" was made. 

I informed him that I was not paying anything until I recieved something in writing, since he could not give me specific information.  I was told that he was going to call the police and have me arrested.  My reply: "Go ahead buddy, do it - because I'm calling them as soon as I hang up.  I have your phone number too, remember?" 

I hung up before he could say anything else, and called the local sheriff's department.  Since no damage had actually been done, they did not take a report at that time, which was frustrating.  However, they did give me some good information on what to do in a situation like this.

Here's what the sheriff's office told me:

- Unless you have been served or recieved a certified letter in the mail stating that you owe someone money and you have to pay up, you're not going to get arrested on the spot.  You will recieve something in writing (NOT email) if you are actually going to be sued.

- If they say that you owe them money but can offer no real information (dates, company, account information), chances are very good it's a scam.

- Keep any contact information you have for the individual and any correspondence between the two of you.

- If they continue to call you or contact you via email after you have asked them to provide documentation of the debt, or you believe it's a scam, tell them that you do not want them to contact you via phone, email, etc. and that if they continue to do so, you will report them for telephonic/written harassment.  Make sure you use that verbage in your statement.

- Tactics like these are very common for scamming people these days.  They scare you into thinking that if you don't pay up right this minute it's all going to hit the fan.

Tuesday rolled around, and the "gentleman" called again, demanding payment.  I told him I was not going to pay anything without proof that I owed it, and that if he called me again, I would report him for telephonic harrassment.  He started to curse at me, and I hung up.

I assume he didn't take me off of his "no call list", because a week later, I got a call from the same person/phone number.  When he asked to speak with me, I said, "I'm sorry, this isn't her number anymore." He screamed, "Ohhhhh, you *&#^%!G &^$%H!!!!", and hung up. I haven't heard from him, or anyone like him, since.