Delaware Solutions (for) Creditor's Exchange Alleged Delaware Solutions Company (on behalf of Creditor's Exchange) Trying to Scam Us Unknown Nationwide

Got a call on my cell phone today from this phone number:  888-677-7127, giving "Unkown" as the caller ID for this number.  So I returned the call and was told they were trying to reach my husband.  I asked why, and was told that he had an unpaid payday loan going back to December, 2012.

They said they have sent numerous letters about this issue.  I said we'd not received anything in the mail, did they by chance send it via certified mail.  I said that in recent but previous years, there had been somebody identified riding a bike around our neighborhood and searching through people's mail boxes.  Some times this person would take mail from the mailboxes and leave some of that mail scattered on the ground within about 10 feet of the mailbox.  I offered that maybe this explains why we hadn't received any previous mail from this company.

Then the person at this company said they didn't have time to send 100's of people certified letters.  This person went on to explain that their company acts as some kind of "mediator" between the collection company and the original creditor.  They call to offer the person who has some unpaid debt a last chance to make payment on it before the original creditor proceeds with a law suit.

I told this person that neither me or my husband would pay anybody anything until we had written confirmation of the debt claimed to be outstanding.  I didn't know if this person claiming to be from Delaware Solutions would give me any details of this issue since they'd said it concerns my husband, but I tried to get as much information as I could.  So I asked who the collection agency was and who the original creditor was that they were acting as mediator for.

The person said the collection agency is Creditor's Exchange, and the original creditor is a payday loan company named 500FastCash.  This person did have my husband's correct Social Security Number, and they had a former bank account number for an account we closed in about May, 2013.  This person did ask for my husband's work phone number, but I didn't give it. I said that we would need the information about this debt in writing, from her company, Delaware Solutions, before we would pay anything.  Then I ended the call.

Feeling pretty sure my husband had never taken a payday loan out with 500FastCash, I looked this company up on the Internet and called them to inquire about any unpaid payday loan. The representative I spoke with at 500FastCash asked who had called me about this collection issue, and I replied saying "Delaware something."  The rep said do you mean Delaware Solutions?  I said yes, that was it.  The rep told me that they knew of a number of people who had been scammed by this company, and then she asked for as many details I could remember about this call I'd received.  She did check her company's records, and 500CashFast did not have either me or my husband in their database, so neither one of us had ever taken a payday loan from 500FastCash.

The rep told me they are gathering as much information as they can, because for them, this has become a real issue, and they want to get these scammers shut down as much as possible.  She thanked me for the information and we ended the call.

Then I again called this alleged Delaware Solutions company, and this time I reached not the same woman I originally spoke with, but some very rude man.  I tried to tell him that I had contacted 500FastCash and learned that no payday loan had been taken out by my husband from that lender.  Before I could go on to suggest maybe they had the wrong person, this man practically yelled at me that unless I was calling to settle this debt, he wasn't going to talk to me, and we could expect a court summons since we were not going to pay.  Then he hung up on me.

I have done some more research and found that this company alleging to be Delaware Solutions (there IS a real collection company by this name, and I have written to them to tell them I think someone is impersonating their company) just to be sure, and to let them know that if it is true they were not really whoever did say they represented Delaware Solutions, this probable scammer is giving the real Delawere Solutions a bad name.  I say I don't think the call I received was from the real Delaware Solutions, because on the real company's web site, they state how they operate, and they do not operate as any kind of "mediator" for some other collection company.

Further, as the person who called me from the alleged Delaware Solutions told me they represent a collection agency by the name of Creditor's Exchange, I looked up that company online and could only find that they, too, are a scam only company, and not a real collection company at all.

This Delaware Solutions company, stating they were some kind of mediator between Creditor's Exchange and 500FastCash (and who knows how many other companies they lie about) told me that when a debtor gets to them, it means that the collection agency has been unsuccessful in collecting the past due debt and have determined that, due to a lack of any response from the debtor, have come to the point where they can only feel that the debtor is refusing to pay, and will seek to sue them in a court of law.

This person from the alleged Delaware Solutions said that it is offering the alleged debtor one final chance to make payment before they receive a court summons about this debt.

This is a new twist on trying to take people's money on false premises.  I mean their stating the alleged debtor has this one final chance to make payment before they are sued.  How convenient to make this claim, leaving the alleged debtor this one, last, "golden opportunity" to make payment, and in this way, they hope to get around having to respond to the alleged debtor by sending them any written information (like a debt validation notice regarding the debt), since they hope the debter will belive the collection agency has spent time and stamps on letters, telling the debtor about this debt.

So as far as the poor debtor knows, a bunch of written information about the alleged debt has aleady been sent by the alleged collection agency, getting this alleged Delaware Solutions company off the hook for providing anything in writing.  Like they told me, Delaware Solutions is the final step before a court summons is issued.  They hope that the people they contact will feel sufficiently pressured about a court summons to take this last opportunity to settle the debt with this alleged Delaware Solutions company to avoid the horror of a court summons.  I imagine they do get some traction with this ploy, but not from me.

If anyone claiming to be from Delaware Solutions or Creditor's Exchange contacts you, first off, ask them for their physical address.  Ask for the name of the person you are speaking with.  Ask if they have a fax number, and of course, ask them if they are acting as a mediator for some collection agency and some creditor.

I did call our personal lawyer about this, and he added that if you do really owe some debt, do not give out any bank information.  Instead, if you do need to make payments on some actual debt to anybody, NEVER give them your bank account information, and NEVER send them a personal check with your bank account numbers stated on the check.  Instead, only agree to make payments by sending them a cashiers check that does not have any identifying information on it.  Our lawyer told me that this kind of thing is becoming more and more common, and most of all, do not let them scare you in any way with threats of a court summons.

Often, your phone conversations with actual debt collectors are recorded, and if they are, the company has to inform you that your call will be recorded.  If you get a call from an alleged debt collector (add debt mediator to that now), and they don't inform you that your call is being recorded "for training and quality purposes" or something to that effect, this should be a possible clue that they are not a real collection agency, which by law, must record anything said by someone they are trying to collect from.

You can also record any calls you receive at your end.  If you don't have an actual way to record the call, you can still say that your call with them is being recorded, and if they aren't actually who they say they are, you'll have this on record too.  It's also possible they will end the call before anything further is said because they know a recording of their conversation with you is not a valid attempt to collect an actual debt.

Finally, if you do or have received a scam collection attempt call, please report it to the following entities.  It will help the federal agencies to shut these scam artists down.

www.nw3c.org

www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

www.fbi.gov

www.ftcomplaintassistant.gov/#&panel1-1

www.esupport.fcc.gov/ccmsforms/form1088.action

www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/

www.fraud.org/

www.stopfraud.gov/report/html

And also

http://.800notes.com/arts/I2neMkbUAAo/where-to-report-phone-crime

You can read more on your rights by visiting the following

http://800notes.com/arts/Jb8EW-eDhQA/harassin ... ou-need-to-know

For some form templates you can use to send to collection agencies to force them to give you the information you are legally allowed to receive, via mail, before you pay any collection agency any amount, see these letter examples you can use:

www/800.notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-319-242-7350

www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpajump.shtm

www.consumerfinance.gov/askcfpb/search ...

www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/pdf-0096-fair-credit-reporting-act.pdf

www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0149-debt-collection

See also:

www.fbi.gov/scams-safety

www.ic3.gov/media/2014/140627.aspx

http://800notes.com/forum/ta-944ec142a8bcbb/ ... service-attacks

www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/ ... r-phones/ndF4c/

www.net-security.org/article.php?id=1828

http://800notes.com/forum/ta-8621707a9c8dad/ ... 077595690349410

www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0258-fake-debt-collectors

You can never know too much information about legal and illegal debt collection practices.  I know I have read posts on various review and complaint web sites where people have stated that the caller so frightened them with certain threats, that they felt their only option was to agree right then to pay on the debt (some claiming that the caller said if they did not, they would go to jail.  Some of these uninformed consumer victims of scam artists sometimes gave the scam caller some $1,500 or more of their hard earned money, out of fear of going to jail or whatever else the scam caller threatened them with.  Keep in mind, that America discontinued "debtors prisons" a very long time ago, and an unpaid debt is NEVER a criminal matter, thus, you cannot go to jail ever for not paying some debt.  ALL issues over debt are ALWAYS handled only in small claims court.  Not paying a debt is NOT a crime. Ever. So don't let anyone take you for a ride and get money from you.

As stated: ALWAYS ask the caller to have their company send you, by mail, a "Debt Validation Notice," as additional proof that this company and the debt are both valid. Do not agree to pay someone any amount of money until they provide this to you.  If you encounter an issue like mine, where the person calling uses a new twist on scam collecting practices, and claims to be some kind of "mediator" for the creditor and the collection agency in the hopes that you won't ask for a Debt Validaion Notice before you will agree to pay anything,  And again, if you ever do agree to pay on some debt, ALWAYS do so by cashiers check. NEVER give them any bank identifying information.  Not ever.

Good luck!