Phone Scam

I went over my parent's house after school today and overheard my sister talking on the phone about a problem she was having. Some guy supposedly representing some company he refuses to give any information about told her a couple of months ago that she owed over $500 to some sort of lender and that she will be arrested and brought to court in California if she doesn't give them information to make a wire transfer. They sent her no paperwork so I immediately said it was a scam. The guy has been harassing her over the phone and is apparently quite rude about it. She contacted a lawyer she used to work for and explained what was going on to him and he reached the same conclusion I did. He told her he would call them. I told her she needs to report this to the FBI. A back trace on the numbers comes up as them only being in Orange County and Los Angeles. She has no outstanding bills that require collection and she checked her accounts with all of her creditors- no problems there. She's pretty upset over the whole affair.

Oh my gosh! That's awful. Sounds like a scam to me too. If it was legit they could provide paperwork. I hope she does report them!!

It's probably a scam, but you might want to talk to her about getting a copy of her latest credit report. Just in case she's a victim of identity theft and doesn't realize it yet.

She might want to contact the police, too, just to be on the safe side. And then the next time she gets a phone call, she can tell the guy, "Look, I've contacted my lawyer and I've contacted the police. Either give me the information I need, agree to send me the paperwork I need, or quit calling." And then hang up. If the guy continues to call, she should write down the dates and times of the phone calls. Any kind of records may come in handy.

I would contact the police as well just incase. Can you or your sister not ring this company just so they know your suspicious of them?

We have been having a similar problem, they call and don't even know which one of us they want to speak to - just 'a person in this household' and then ask us for our name and transfer info saying well you live together it doesnt matter whose debt it is. The phone number that shows on the phone goes unanswered and we dont have any info about them to send a registered letter so a lawyer said there was nothing they can do.

We ended up having to change our number because they would call 3-5 times a day starting early in the morning until 10 at night and there was nothing to stop them, its stupid that it falls on you to stop these scammers.

I would also pull a credit report just to make sure

Ugh. I'm no lawyer, but that phone call to your sister sounds illegal in more ways than one. I agree with Rosiemac that a call to the police might be a good idea.

Some phones have a "call block" feature that can be very useful if you're being pestered by people who have no business calling you.

She already had a copy of credit report before I learned what was going on. I talked to my Mom about an hour ago and she told me that my sister hasn't received any calls today. I told my sister last night she needs to file a complaint with the FBI. I think she should also file one with the state attorney general's office. Should she call the local PD as well? She also has the phone numbers and times they called as well as the messages saved on her phone. Even though the area codes are California, I'm wondering if the calls are even originating from inside the US itself. She said they guy had a foreign accent.

Originally Posted by Essayons89

Even though the area codes are California, I'm wondering if the calls are even originating from inside the US itself. She said they guy had a foreign accent.

Click to expand...

That's possible, because even here in the UK i get calls from the USA asking to speak to my Director, when really it's a sales pitch. I have caller display on my phone as well so i know when it's overseas calling.

I'd call the police and also the local media. The sooner the news of this scam is out to the people the better.

In Wisconsin we have a Dept of Consumer Trade and Protection. We can go online and fill out a complaint. This dept also has a phone # to contact. This info is then available to the public. In fact I used it last year when my parents bought one of those infra-red heater that are advertised all over the place.

Your state might have a similar dept??