Consumer complaint received 2015-04-22
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: OH
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.)
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Indicated committed crime not paying

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX, XX/XX/2015, at XXXX, I was contacted by my grandmother regarding a phone call she received. My grandmother stated that a woman called her claiming that if I did n't call her back today, a sheriff would be sent to my home. I called the phone number given to me. The call was first answered by a man who gave me hisname only. Upon telling him my name, he identified the company as " XXXX XXXX '' and transferred me to my case worker. The next person I spoke to was a woman who said she needed to retrieve my file. While apparently shuffling papers, she gave me a lot of vague information regarding " the case. '' She did n't specifically identify the company suing me until I asked her what she was talking about. At that time, I stated that I did n't purchase anytjing for {$1200.00} in XX/XX/XXXX because I was out of work. This is when I was told the case involved a bank account. When I continued to ask questions, the case worker made statements such as, " I 've never heard of anyone forgetting about a bank account before. Maybe a loan, but not a bank account. '' and, " If you choose to go to court, you will owe {$3200.00} instead of the {$1200.00} this company is asking for now. '' When I continued to ask questions and state that I was confused, the case worker transferred me to someone she described as the attorney handling my case. This woman was more threatening than the case worker. She told me that the bank has camera footage of me entering the premises to attempt to defraud them and that people go to jail for robbing banks. At some point during our conversation, the woman identified herself as a paralegal. I then told her I thought I was speaking to the attorney handling my case. At this time she said I could speak to the attorney for a fee of {$250.00} per hour, and did I want to pay this fee with a Visa or MasterCard. I stated that I would not be paying anyone {$250.00} per hour to speak to them. At this time, I was looking up information online about debt collection practices. I asked the woman for validation of the debt, to which she responded, " We are beyond documentation at this point. '' She also said that, while I 'm " XXXX '' things, I should " XXXX whether people go to jail for stealing from banks. '' In an attempt to reason with this woman I stated that I would not be handing any money over or making any payment arrangements until I was sure of the debt. She then gave me an account number and told me to go today to the US Bank near me, give them the account number, my name, and social security number, and they would provide the information I 'm seeking. I was told to call her back by XXXX. At this point, she said " Good luck to you. '' and hung up on me. I 'm now terrified to do anything that this woman told me to do. I feel like I was being " shaken down, '' so to speak. This law firm never XXXX said they were attempting to collect a debt, I was only told they were attempting to avoid court and anything I said would be held against me in court, as if I was being arrested.

Company public response: Company chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation