The Harrison Law Firm The Harrison Law Office Mike Scott and Daniel Martin Cash Advance America PayDay Loan Scam Carthage New York

This is an FYI for anyone contacted by this "Law Firm".

I received an email last week (08.01.2014) stating that a lawsuit was going to be filed against me for a debt owed to Cash Advance America. The email stated that I would be charged with the following:

1) Violation of Federal Banking Regulation

2) Collateral Cheque Fraud

3) Theft by Deception

4) Intentional Misappropriation of funds

Addtionally, my SSN would be blacklisted and I would have to pay $4878.23 and spend up to 6 months in prison, if this was taken into court. The email was full grammatical errors and misspellings, making much of it incoherent. It also had the last four numbers of my SSN, the last few digits of a checking account that was closed almost 3 years ago and an address I no longer reside at.

I called the phone number listed (315-519-7331) and a man by the name of Mike Scott answered the phone. He informed of all the information detailed in the email, but stated I could pay $494.00 and not have to go to court. I requested that he provide me with proof of this claim, in writing, but he defferred to an email attachment that was in the email. Upon inspecting this attachment, it was simply a claim by Cash Advance America that I owed them the $494.00 and that they were handing this over to Harrison Law Firm to represent them in collecting it. The form attempted to appear as though it was a legitimate document and had an image of a courthouse as the header. The flag in this picture is the State Flag of Texas... odd for a firm in New York. Upon inquiring about this, Mike stated that this is because they are not accredited with the BBB. I asked him for a physical address and was given the following:

224 State St., Ste. 200, Carthage, NY 13619

I hung up the phone with him with the expectation he would be calling me back yesterday (08.07.2014), but he never did. In fact, I called, myself, multiple times and only received voice mail with him stating that I had reached the Harrison Law OFFICE (not Firm as he and the email I received had stated the previous week).

Over this past week, I did some digging using the address I was given and very quickly determined that there is no Harrison Law Firm or any Harrison Law anything in Carthage, NY: Information has no listing, a reverse White Pages look-up has no listing, Google Street View shows absolutely nothing at the 224 location and after calling an actual firm in Carthage (at 307 State St), I was told there are only TWO firms in Carthage, NY, period, and neither of them have the name Harrison. I also discovered this individuals name on other sites, supposed representing this Firm, but with a different phone number (315-519-7278). If you call it, it is Mike's voice, but the message simply states that you have "reached the office of the attorneys".

I called today and spoke, initially, with a Daniel Martin (also with an accent) and asked if he could tell me what the nearest cross-street or most adjacent business to him was. He was adamant he was not lying, but could not give the requested information. I asked for an address to their website, but I couldn't understand him. Because I was agitated, he put someone else on the phone... it was Mike! Mike gives the following as their website (harrisonlawfirm.com), but informs the site is currently under contruction, but I will be able to access it within the next 5 business days. It is now 08.08.2014 so I will certainly be checking up on this. I requested, once again, to have proof, in writing, sent to me. Mike stated I would be receiving documentation in the next 7 business days. I also requested to receive the tracking number for this documentation as well as the case/docket number for the lawsuit they claim to have against me (this is supposed to be downloaded into the court system in my state on 08.11.2014, so I would assume the court in Carthage, NY would have some record of it), but I have yet to receive anything (will update this if I actually do).

I have already file complaints with the following and highly recommend others do the same if contacted by this "Law Firm":

The State Attorney General's Office in my state and in New York

The Federal Trade Commission

The IC3

Local law enforcement would not accept a complaint as this is deemed a civil matter, not a criminal one.

I replied to the email I received with a PDF that contains the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act with the statement they were in breach of it (they are pretending to be attorneys).

I just wanted to provide as much info as possible on this in the hopes no one gets duped into paying for something they don't owe out of fear. I tried contacting some local attorneys to see how reasonable it is to go after these people, but was advised there isn't much one can do in these matters, beyond what I have done.

Stay vigilant people!