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PRHCCPC 10 Holiday Picks
From JUST DANCE : https://www.facebook.com/events/230131243820960/permalink/230561503777934/
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Business of The Week :GIFT DELIGHT / Tamara Aponte
The Holiday's are here , beware of those "spammers/ scam artists" on the phone and online! They're relentless and outright dangerous!
How many times a call comes through and you do not answer it because the number is not a recognized one? But your curiosity gets the best of you after several attempts by these different numbers calling you. You figure , "OK , what is going on that every half hour I'm getting a call from numbers I have never ever seen on my ID caller / screen of my phone. So you finally give in to get to the bottom of these insisting calls , you answer the call , and all hell brakes loose.
This scenario happened to me last week. Believe me I did not appreciate the scenario that unfolded and I wish to share it with you , so you can be weary of the types of calls that are scamming citizens all over the USA today.
For weeks my cell phone had been bombarded by calls from all areas of the USA , from area codes such as these : 786 , 352 , 302 , 345 and 702. Now I originally felt these were probably companies wanting to know about our chamber and so I answered one of these calls. It happened to be a 786 area code, which is the Miami area. So a woman with a foreign accent (not American) answers and asks to verify my name and I did (first mistake). She tells me call this number and state the case number she will give me. I asked her what was this all about and she just tells me , you better call this number NOW/today. Well my stomach got crazy because I don't react to people telling me information like this very easily especially if I feel threatened. My curiosity got the best of me (second mistake) , after all this is why I made the call in the first place.
I call the other number that was given to me which happened to be from the same area code 786. A male voice comes on with another heavy accent and he asks for the case number given to me at the previous call.Now if the area code was the same , why not put me on hold and transfer me to this gentleman (RED FLAG). This male gave the name of "Sam Wilson a Paralegal representing United Legal Collection Agency". I was , like what? So once again my curiosity took me farther into this scenario that was unfolding (third mistake). While trying to ask this individual what was this all about he spewed a plethora of information about my past addresses , my husbands name etc. he stated that they were hired to collect on a debt by the IRS! I was like ,wait , what the hell are you talking about? The IRS would have contacted me asap if there was a discrepancy on my filed taxes. Well he was like a on an eight wheeler with no brakes. He would not stop speaking. One piece of the information he was saying was that I had ONE hour to pay up my debt which originally was $200 now it had gone to $489.69 from my 2012 taxes , amount went up because of penalties etc. That if I did not pay up this debt within an hour he would send a warrant for my arrest because I was a tax evader and a criminal.That they will come to my place of employment , arrest me and then place a black dot on my Social Security number. My employer would fire me and I would never ever be allowed to work in the USA!Well I checked my tax returns and we were in compliance and these people were just outright thieves. Besides nuts in re-writing the laws of our democratic society.
I told him I need to speak to my husband and I will contact you within 10 minutes.I never returned his call. I called my husband and one of our member lawyers. I knew something was up when I could hear in the background the same script being told to another victim. After speaking with our member attorney, he told me stand your ground because they seem like con artists. If they call you back call me at once. Well I did stand my ground , I blocked all numbers and I went further , I filed a complaint with the office of Attorney General Pam Bondi and a complaint with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation , an office that overseas collection agencies in the state of Florida.
This is one of the areas that this "Sam Wilson / Paralegal extraordinaire" , did not comply with.
"A debt collector may not harass or abuse anyone. For instance, a collector may not use threats of violence against the person, property or reputation; use obscene or profane language; advertise the debt; or repeatedly or continuously make telephone calls with the intent to harass or abuse the person at the called number. In addition, debt collectors are required to accurately disclose their identities to the person at the called number.
A debt collector may not use false statements, such as falsely implying that they are attorneys, that you have committed a crime, or that they operate or work for a credit bureau or misrepresenting the amount of your debt, the involvement of an attorney in collecting a debt, or indicating that papers sent to you are legal forms when they are not. Debt collectors may not tell you that you will be arrested if you do not pay; that they will seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages unless the collection agency or creditor intends to do so and has a legal right to do so; or that a lawsuit will be filed against you, when they have no legal right to file or do not intend to file such a suit."http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/main/7cd1ef6dd790c14685256cc900560bd6!OpenDocument
So how did this story end.... every time I get a call from an unrecognizable number I simply answer with this call is being recorded and my attorney is on the the other line , how may I help you and they immediately hangup.
So if you get a call stating : a debt collector (without a letter in the mail) , or you have been approved a loan , student loan consolidation, help with monies with a grant for your small business or a free trip ... GET INFO RECORD IT A, REPORT IT ...HANGUP or just sign up for the DO NOT CALL REGISTRY. https://www.donotcall.gov/
The holidays are upon us and that last thing you need is someone or something disruption your celebrations.
This scenario happened to me last week. Believe me I did not appreciate the scenario that unfolded and I wish to share it with you , so you can be weary of the types of calls that are scamming citizens all over the USA today.
For weeks my cell phone had been bombarded by calls from all areas of the USA , from area codes such as these : 786 , 352 , 302 , 345 and 702. Now I originally felt these were probably companies wanting to know about our chamber and so I answered one of these calls. It happened to be a 786 area code, which is the Miami area. So a woman with a foreign accent (not American) answers and asks to verify my name and I did (first mistake). She tells me call this number and state the case number she will give me. I asked her what was this all about and she just tells me , you better call this number NOW/today. Well my stomach got crazy because I don't react to people telling me information like this very easily especially if I feel threatened. My curiosity got the best of me (second mistake) , after all this is why I made the call in the first place.
I call the other number that was given to me which happened to be from the same area code 786. A male voice comes on with another heavy accent and he asks for the case number given to me at the previous call.Now if the area code was the same , why not put me on hold and transfer me to this gentleman (RED FLAG). This male gave the name of "Sam Wilson a Paralegal representing United Legal Collection Agency". I was , like what? So once again my curiosity took me farther into this scenario that was unfolding (third mistake). While trying to ask this individual what was this all about he spewed a plethora of information about my past addresses , my husbands name etc. he stated that they were hired to collect on a debt by the IRS! I was like ,wait , what the hell are you talking about? The IRS would have contacted me asap if there was a discrepancy on my filed taxes. Well he was like a on an eight wheeler with no brakes. He would not stop speaking. One piece of the information he was saying was that I had ONE hour to pay up my debt which originally was $200 now it had gone to $489.69 from my 2012 taxes , amount went up because of penalties etc. That if I did not pay up this debt within an hour he would send a warrant for my arrest because I was a tax evader and a criminal.That they will come to my place of employment , arrest me and then place a black dot on my Social Security number. My employer would fire me and I would never ever be allowed to work in the USA!Well I checked my tax returns and we were in compliance and these people were just outright thieves. Besides nuts in re-writing the laws of our democratic society.
I told him I need to speak to my husband and I will contact you within 10 minutes.I never returned his call. I called my husband and one of our member lawyers. I knew something was up when I could hear in the background the same script being told to another victim. After speaking with our member attorney, he told me stand your ground because they seem like con artists. If they call you back call me at once. Well I did stand my ground , I blocked all numbers and I went further , I filed a complaint with the office of Attorney General Pam Bondi and a complaint with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation , an office that overseas collection agencies in the state of Florida.
This is one of the areas that this "Sam Wilson / Paralegal extraordinaire" , did not comply with.
"A debt collector may not harass or abuse anyone. For instance, a collector may not use threats of violence against the person, property or reputation; use obscene or profane language; advertise the debt; or repeatedly or continuously make telephone calls with the intent to harass or abuse the person at the called number. In addition, debt collectors are required to accurately disclose their identities to the person at the called number.
A debt collector may not use false statements, such as falsely implying that they are attorneys, that you have committed a crime, or that they operate or work for a credit bureau or misrepresenting the amount of your debt, the involvement of an attorney in collecting a debt, or indicating that papers sent to you are legal forms when they are not. Debt collectors may not tell you that you will be arrested if you do not pay; that they will seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages unless the collection agency or creditor intends to do so and has a legal right to do so; or that a lawsuit will be filed against you, when they have no legal right to file or do not intend to file such a suit."http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/main/7cd1ef6dd790c14685256cc900560bd6!OpenDocument
So how did this story end.... every time I get a call from an unrecognizable number I simply answer with this call is being recorded and my attorney is on the the other line , how may I help you and they immediately hangup.
So if you get a call stating : a debt collector (without a letter in the mail) , or you have been approved a loan , student loan consolidation, help with monies with a grant for your small business or a free trip ... GET INFO RECORD IT A, REPORT IT ...HANGUP or just sign up for the DO NOT CALL REGISTRY. https://www.donotcall.gov/
The holidays are upon us and that last thing you need is someone or something disruption your celebrations.
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