Victim Location 03766
Type of a scam Debt Collections
I was contacted via phone by a man who said that I would be served with legal papers if I did not call the phone number he gave me along with a reference number. Like an [censored] I called the 800-381-9524 number to inquire and was told that I had reached a "financial institution" called "John, Stone and Roe Associates", the woman I spoke to "Taylor Acosta" informed me she was on the legal mediator team there. I provided her with the reference number I had been given, she told me that there were potential legal proceedings on an account that I had closed ten years ago. She claimed that there was an alleged balance on this account, however they were not looking for that amount but for the interest that they claimed had accrued over the 10 year period which was $940. She went on to explain that because she was part of the mediation team she would speak on my behalf and see if that amount could be reduced if I was willing to handle it immediately, she put me on hold and came back on the line a few minutes later telling me she was able to negotiate a reduced fee of $370.09 with the financial hardship department but I would need to pay her while we were on the phone, if I chose not to then the matter would be litigated and I would be served with papers by the local law enforcement. She did sound very professional and convincing. I asked her for written documentation which she claimed she couldn’t provided because of legality. I then asked about a website for her business she apologized and stated that it was under construction and not present on the internet at this time. This woman was very persistent and sounded very professional, saying that she would email me a authorization request to electronically sign, thus "protecting me", she continued on to assure me that after I signed the authorization form and provided payment ($370) I would receive an email that had an official release of liability and guarantee that any potential legal proceedings would be dropped and further guaranteed that this alleged debt would not appear on my credit report. I almost agreed to all of it, she did send me an email that wasn’t working, so she tried to send me a text with a link to sign authorization agreement, that’s when I got spooked and told her I would have to call her back. I looked up the phone number online and found it associated with phone scamming.