Consumer complaint received 2020-10-12
Company: Populus Financial Group, Inc. (F/K/A Ace Cash Express)
State: FL
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Check cashing service
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I received this email in my secondary email I rarely use. I have never applied or accepted any loan from these people and they're trying to intimidate me into believing I owe someone money. Below is a copy of email I got : Case File No : XXXX Balance Amount : {$970.00} Today 's settlement amount {$750.00} Case File Transferred to XXXX : - XX/XX/2020. 



Contact : mailto : XXXX Dear Customer, Having checked your Social Security Number through our National Checking Database The system, and finding out that you have been never charged for fraud activity, XXXX has decided to give you a chance to take care of this issue outside of The court without you having a report on your Credit History and SSN. In order to avoid a lawsuit of {$2800.00} against you, we request you to kindly pay the Court Restitution Amount which is {$970.00}. If you settle this matter today, you may be entitled to get some percentage of deduction on the restitution amount. You will have to send us a promissory note in order to hold your case file from being sent to the courthouse. On a case to case basis, you may be given the solution to pay 45-55 % of the  pending amount in the same month & a 30 days extension to settle the rest of the settlement amount as mutually agreed. 



This is ACS ( Ace cash services ), it is a parent payday loan company which owns and operates more than XXXX parental payday loan websites, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX , XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, etc. you applied from one of our website and you never bothered to pay this debt, so the creditor wants to know your intention about this matter of yours that what would you like to do it. We would like to update you, the initial loan the amount was {$300.00}. And now with the late fees and tax, the Rate of Interest the initial amount of {$300.00} goes up to {$970.00}.

We have settlement amount for you ; 1. If you can make a one-time payment of {$750.00} then we can close your case file with this amount only. 

2. If you are looking for a bi-weekly payment then you have to pay a  total amount of {$840.00} with payment arrangement and you can pay {$210.00} bi-weekly till paid in full. 

As we were unable to reach you so we are sending you this final notification through email. This legal matter will require your cooperation, so kindly get in touch with the department to make a payment and freeze down this case. 


As you are a defaulter on this credit, the following counts are likely to be represented against you at local County Courthouse : ( 1 ) VIOLATION OF FEDERAL BANKING REGULATION ( 2 ) COLLATERAL CHECK FRAUD ( 3 ) THEFT BY DECEPTION Once the court action is initiated and a Judgment / Decree against you to recover the balance amount with the cost of a lawsuit is received, we may need to ask the court to give one of the following order, should the debt remains unpaid : -  Attachment of Earnings base ( Earnings Arrestment ). Deduction from your wage by your employer or arrestment of part of your salary to satisfy the debt. 

Warrant of Execution ( Exceptional Attachment Order ). Seizure and sale of movable non-essential assets/property by a County Court Bailiff /Sheriff Officer.

If you are under any state probation or payroll we need you to inform your reporting officer or manager about what you have done in the past and what would be the consequences once the case has been  downloaded and executed in your name. If we do not hear from you within 48 hours of the date on this letter, we will be compelled to seek legal representation .We reserve the right to begin litigation for intent to commit wire fraud under the pretense of refusing to repay a debt committed to, by use of the internet and your SSN. In addition, we reserve the right to seek recovery for the balance due, as well as legal fees and any court cost incurred.

The Factual Basis for the complaints are as follows : You accepted to return the funds from this aforementioned pending loan.

And as per the agreement the funds have yet to be returned and the collateral has proven to be null that is to say of no value. 


At present, XXXX XXXX is seeking either of the following remedies : - All funds to be returned as per the terms of the initial contract. 


Dear debtor, as we were investigating your profile credit bureau & social security administration we need some right answers from your side. Also, we would like to know when you can pay the requested {$970.00} to settle this case.

To resolve this issue contact us during the working hours Monday to  Saturday XXXX XXXX  to XXXX XXXX  EDT by reply back to this E-mail to get in touch with the representative. 


Yours sincerely XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX 2020 | | Terms of Use | Careers | Complaints | Privacy Policy -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Confidentiality Statement & Notice : This email is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. 2510-2521 and intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. Any review, retransmission, dissemination to unauthorized persons or other use of the original message and any attachments is strictly prohibited. If you received this  electronic transmission in error, please reply to the above-referenced sender about the error and permanently delete this message. Thank you for your co-operation.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation