Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

This sounds like a scam and I've even had scammers like this pretending to be someone working for my office. It is ridiculous. Here are a few tips to protect yourself:

* Go to www.annualcreditreport.com and get a copy of your credit report. Dispute any inaccurate information.

* Put a preliminary fraud alert on your credit report. The collection agencies that do this seems to have loads of personal information about people and you could be at risk for identity theft.

* Contact your local police. A debt collector impersonating and attorney might be committing a crime.

* Consult an attorney. You may have a claim for damages against the collection agency under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and you may also have a claim for damages against them.

Let's assume for a minute they are not a scam, at least in the sense that they appear to be a real collection agency collecting on a payday loan that you really owe. They appear to have violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act six ways from Sunday. Keep a careful diary of when they call and what was said, even better if they were to leave nasty voice mail. Specific violations of FDCPA (from your question) include threatening you with jail, and falsely stating that a summons will be served next Tuesday (unless they really do serve you with a summons next Tuesday). Certainly you would never pay the inflated amount, and if you were to settle with them you would need a written agreement that the debt is paid in full for whatever you can settle for, and never give a collection agency your bank account number, if you do pay do so with a money order or bank check. See creditboards.com and find an attorney in your locality who handles FDCPA cases.