Victim Location 10023
Type of a scam Debt Collections
My husband was called on his cell phone, told there was a judgement against him, given the 844 506 1287 number, and a case number. The individual I reached, Malcolm Brown, told us there was an outstanding debt with Verizon from an account held 1991-2004 in the amount of $857.62. He could not initially provide a telephone or account number, but did claim to have my husband’s social security number (he asked us to confirm this information; we declined). Recognizing a scam, I told him he was a despicable human being and hung up on him. He called me back on my office landline (using caller id, I supposed) and continued the spiel, having obtained phone numbers that may or may not have belonged to my husband 13 years ago. He threatened a "10 year judgement" if we didn’t settle with him via credit or debit card TODAY, but that he could "speak with his underwriters" to reduce the debt. I told him to consult with his underwriters while I checked our records and that we could speak again the next day. He proceeded to tell me "time is of the essence" and that if we did not settle "today," this "10 year judgement" would ensue. Mr. Brown was very persistent and very good with the legalese jargon. Fortunately, we are not that gullible. However, a great many people out there have chronic bad debt and are the most vulnerable to this kind of scam while being the least able to afford such victimization. It is extortion and should be legislated as such. What terrifies me is that these unscrupulous people have somehow obtained birthdates, legal names and social security numbers with the obvious intent to defraud. How does THAT happen? And what is to prevent them from further exploiting that information – selling it to yet another equally despicable party? Please help stop this.