Is there such thing as a lawsuit scam?
i had gotten a voicemail from a "lawyer" claiming i was being sued. the entire message,the"lawyer" had a low voice,didn't specify what the suit was about,and at the end of the message said "good luck". i called the number they gave me and told them who i was. then they said "do you know what this lawsuit is about",as if i was supposed to guess. i talked to several people about it and they said it might be a scam.during the course of the conversation when i called the number back,they changed the "settlement amount" twice,deducting it more than 1,000$ each time. no paperwork had been sent to me. it was from a company i haven't dealt with in 5 years.no legal consultation or anything like that.no proof of the actual amount the i owe the plaintiff(in writing). they said i was being sued for breach of contract and theft. it is from a credit card i had 7 years ago. i stopped paying because they stopped sending a bill or any other oral proof of what i owe
Answers:
This is almost certainly not a legitimate lawsuit. Attorneys generally serve complaints, they do not call and harass debtors. This sounds like the typical intimidation tactics of a collection agency. The debt has been written off by the cc company and has been sold to an aggressive collection agency. They often take actions that border on, and sometimes cross the line of, what is legal. You should record any conversations that you have with them if that is legal in your state (Most states require only knowledge of one party to the conversation). Do not pay them anything unless you determine that you actually owe the debt and that they are the legal holders of the debt. Some of these scam companies will even run your credit and find a charged off debt and then attempt to collect the amounts even though they do not hold the note.
Good luck to you.
Talk to a lawyer about debt reaffirmation. The credit card company may be trying to get you to reaffirm a debt that you had/have to them so they dont have to write it off. Flags are going off in my brain about this, but I dont remember the specifics well enough. Contact a lawyer, and check your Credit Report to see if the credit card company has you down for failure to pay.
If the "Lawyers" keep calling, let them know that unless they are willing to send you something in writing, your going to report them for harassment. Also get ahold of your states Attourney General and talk to them.
If you're an American citizen, you should contact your state's department of financial regulation; they regulate the practices of debt collection agencies. Although laws vary by state, there are also federal laws regarding this matter. It's been awhile since I read the federal regulations, but it seems plain that calling someone, posing as an attorney, forcing someone to pay by stating there is a lawsuit against them, but refusing to provide information -- these things can't possibly be legal.
You should also contact your state's consumer protection division (which is a division of your state's Attorney Generals' office) to see if they can assist you, as well.
AND SAVE THE VOICE MAIL -- it's evidence.
It sounds more like a really shady collections agency (some are also law firms and toss around the "law offices of" part a lot).
If it's a scam, I'm not sure what their scam would be, especially if they haven't asked you for your bank account information or something.
The thing is, if anyone threatens to sue you, they better be serving you with papers, and you would, at the very least, get something in writing showing how much you owe and to whom. They're breaking the law by even mentioning the WORD "lawsuit" to you unless a) they're attorneys and b) they have authorization from the person/entity to whom you owe money to sue you for it.
Next time, get their contact information (as much as you can, their address, name of the business or firm, name of the person you're speaking with, his or her supervisor, phone or fax numbers) and report them in violation of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act -- you can do it with the Federal Trade Commission at this link:
https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.start...
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