Consumer complaint received 2018-02-28
Company: HSBC NORTH AMERICA HOLDINGS INC.
State: NC
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Impersonated attorney, law enforcement, or government official

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I was contacted by an XXXX from what he stated was XXXX XXXX XXXX. The first call was to my place of employment, on my day off, but luckily I was in the store when the call came in. I really did not understand the name of the person calling, and the place they were calling from was not stated during this call. The only information given was that I was being served papers. When I inquired what these papers were, it was for a debt that began 7 years ago. I kindly told them I would give them a call back as soon as I got home and would further discuss this with them. I was caught off guard that being threatened as soon as I got on the phone. Not only did they threaten me, they told my co-worker who answered the phone they were calling for me and that I was going to be served papers there the next day. 

Once I called " XXXX XXXX XXXX '' back, XXXX claimed I had been mailed papers four weeks prior to this call. XXXX also stated that they were mailed to my place of employment. When I was confirming the address, it was my home address they had on file. I had not received any written explanation about this debt at the address they had on file, and have not received any written documents to this day, XX/XX/XXXX. While I was speaking with XXXX on the phone, he sent me an email of the debt that was owed. I was informed that the original debt was somewhere between {$500.00} and {$600.00}, the exact amount I do not recall. The email that I was sent, and the information that XXXX gave me over the phone, is that the settlement amount was {$1100.00}, but the balance on the card was at {$1800.00}. XXXX is now telling me the new settlement amount is {$830.00} ( if I am remembering correctly ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with XXXX again, after I had spoken with an attorney for myself, XXXX XXXX with XXXX XXXX  XXXX in XXXX XXXX, CA. She informed me she had previously had a call similar to mine about a scam and someone using " XXXX '' as the name of their law firm, but she assured me it was not her. She informed me to contact the original holder of the card in order to track down this debt to know for sure if it was legitimate. Since then, I have contacted the original holder of the card and 6 other collection agencies, the most recent one the card was sold to in XX/XX/XXXX. I have been diligently working to find the owner of this account, but have hit a wall and not receiving calls back from the newest holder of this debt, which is not XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

Also, on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX called my place of employment after speaking with me, and informed my boss that he would be faxing over wage garnishment forms to be filled out. My boss immediately called and notified me of this, and soon after XXXX called and told me wage garnishment papers would be faxed. I did inform XXXX I had spoken with my boss and informed her not to fill out anything until I knew this was not a scam. She agreed with me, after I told her all the details of what is going on. 

Since these calls started I have been in contact with the FTC, the FBI for possible identity theft since all of my personal information is in the email, trying to contact my state Attorney General, finding out the NC laws regarding being sued for a debt and the statute of limitations on being sued. I have researched the address on the email letterhead, which leads to an Executive tower in XXXX XXXX, but since there is no XXXX XXXX for this law group, I can not validate its legitimacy. I have researched the phone numbers, business name, checked with the California Bar Association, and I am unable to find this law group. 

I am now receiving more threatening calls, latest one was today XX/XX/XXXX, in which XXXX told me I will be served with court documents tomorrow at my place of employment.This now contradicts what was previously stated on the XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX went from being able to send the garnishment papers straight to my boss to having to appear in court and have it court ordered. I can understand someone doing their job, but receiving threatening calls about being sued and being served papers is illegal, and XXXX calling my place of work telling them what is going on and speaking with my boss is not acceptable.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation