Description

Received a call from local area number stating they were from the courthouse and giving me a courtesy call and stated they had received documents for a lawsuit filed against me and to call the attorney listed on the claim. I did so and Monica answered and said the issue was being taken to court to sue me for $26,000. I was shocked! She then stated that she could arrange a 50% reduction in the amount for a one or 2 payment arrangement or make an arrangement of $250/month for the original $5,000 owed. I was scared to possibly be sued for $26,000 so I obliged and agreed on the 2 payment option for 50% of the original debt from 20 years ago. I then gave her my banking information with the promise the agreement would be sent expeditiously to my email for review. I did not receive this until 3-4 hours later and discovered the company was a debt collection agency and they had fraudulent notary public stamps on the paperwork. I called the original creditor and they have no record of me. She gave me the name of Southerland and Associates law firm and Trinity SGroup as the debt owner. I then went to the BBB site and they are not accredited and have several complaints similar to this. They actually have a comment from a previous employee that said they do this and use people’s banking information later on to charge fraudulent charges, all while Monica was on the phone with me. She stated that they were not accredited because “her supervisor said they are going through some changes but not sure what they were,” and also discovered they are using an address of a virtual office that can be rented out by anyone.