Business ProfileforDepartment of Legal Services

In mid January 2018, BBB of MD received a BBB Scam tracker report about this business. The report alleged that this business phoned a the consumer, their spouse, and grandparents in an attempt to collect a debt that accrued from an old Bank Account. The Business informed that they would soon make several attempts to serve the consumer with court papers at their home address and place of employment. The Business representative expressed a sense of urgency, and claimed that the consumer had till 5pm to return the call, or face legal action.

On 02/14/2018 BBB of MD initiated an investigation on this business to research the allegations further.

Over the course of the investigation, BBB of MD determined that this business is not registered as a business entity with the Maryland Department of Assessment and Taxation.

BBB also determined that the business is not properly licensed to perform debt collection services. ( See Licensing section for further detail)

Google search of the business name revealed that this business is using/spoofing the name of a legitimate government organization.

BBB of MD determined that numerous scam reports can be found online about this business, that detail experiences that are very similar to the relevant BBB Scam tracker report submitted.

Many of these reports indicate that the business representative possessed consumers' personal identifiable information such as social security numbers, phone numbers, previous addresses, etc.

Business contact information reported by consumers:

BUSINESS REP NAMES:
Amanda patrick
John
Karen Green
Eileen Smith
Brian Henderson
Seth Thomas
Lori Jones
Attorney Laura Jones
Sheila Mays
Michael Keene
Brenda Austin
Michael Bennett

BUSINESS TEL #:
866-703-2084,
1855-325-1795
1-855-303-2206
1-(866)303-2594
(844-623-6932)
855-637-0948
-855-830-2657

BUSINESS ADDRESSES:
-PO Box 502 Baltimore, MD 21203-0502
-248 Johnson Rd Depew, NY 14211
-2265 Niagara St STE 2 Buffalo, NY 14207( mail returned)

Better Business Bureau of Upstate New York also investigated this business based on the claimed business location.The investigation findings confirm that this business is not a legitimate, licensed collection agency operating in the state of NY. For more detail about these findings and/or to read more about consumer experiences with this business, access the link below:
https://www.bbb.org/upstate-new-york/business-reviews/collections-agencies/department-of-legal-services-in-buffalo-ny-235970632/reviews-and-complaints

Consumers who were impacted by this business are encouraged to follow FTC's steps necessary to protect their identity.

FTC Identity Theft Information:
FTC has extensive information, available on their webpage, which details steps to be taken when your identity may have been compromised. Read more at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/topics/identity-theft

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0005-identity-theft

To report Identity Theft visit:
https://www.identitytheft.gov/

To Learn about the steps to take when compromised, visit:
https://www.identitytheft.gov/info-lost-or-stolen.html

BBB will continue to monitor the nature of reports submitted about this business, and will update the profile with developments, as they surface.