Consumer complaint received 2020-01-29
Company: Nationwide Recovery Group LLC
State: WA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Payday loan debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Threatened to sue you for very old debt

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I was contacted at XXXX by a company idenditfying themselves as representatives of XXXX XXXX ( I called back after hours and the message machine said it was The Office of XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX , not XXXX XXXX ) dealing with mitigation of a civil case against me, related to a debt from that is far past the legal statute of limitations for debt collection in washington state. The number showed up on caller ID as XXXX. They told me that I would be sued, and would have to go to court and pay legal fees if I did not repay the debt, which is actually a time-barred debt from a payday loan taken in 2010, which I did not recall. The total loan amount and debt total was XXXX dollars. They requested a one time settlement of XXXX. I was told to contact XXXX XXXX at the telephone numer XXXX. I called and reviewed my information. After being convinced that this was an emergent civil case against me which could lead to a law suit against me, I ( not knowing I could dispute this, nor that the statute of limitations had been exceeded for this debt, nor that you can not be criminally prosecuted in court for owing debt ) complied with payment of the one time settlement. I was then referred for payment processing to Nationwide Recovery Group, LLC out of XXXX, New York. They processed my payment and sent my an email that looked like a reciept, but had no invoice number or transaction number, and lacked visual authenticity. I feel like I was just scammed out of almost XXXX dollars, and that has put my family of XXXX in a tight finacial situation just before my rent is due. I want to sue the responsible party for the payed amount of XXXX cents plus an addition XXXX dollars for emotional distress, time loss in legal research and discovery, and financial burden. I have had to take a personal loan, which I will need to pay back, in order to make up the portion of rent I just lost. Please stress the urgency that they return payment for this time-barred debt, or face further legal action. I have attourneys as close friends who have instructed me to file this complaint, and I will envolve them if necessary. This IS worth it to me. And I AM inclined to start a class action law suit. I bet tons of debtors have been scammed in this exact same way. They could be forced to pay out up to XXXX dollars in restitution if class action lawsuit finds in our favor. They need to know this. They have been calling my phone for over a year, non stop. This is harrassment. I pay money for the data used for those phone calls. I am very upset about this shady group of people seeking collections for time-barred debts, and just dont want anybody else to be taken advantage of like i just was. 
I have attatched a copy of the very suspicious looking " receipt '' of my payment. Also have left them a message witth norespons.

Company public response: Company believes complaint caused principally by actions of third party outside the control or direction of the company
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief