Consumer complaint received 2017-01-03
Company: Goldstein, Cruise and Smith LLC
State: NJ
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Payday loan
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Impersonated an attorney or official

Complaint:
In the above box, I wish I could have checked off multiple issues, since that is my complaint. My sister, on XX/XX/2017 received a voicemail on her personal cell phone, from a man stating that there was a XXXX arrest XXXX out for me. He left a number and case id on her voicemail. The number is XXXX ; case id # XXXX. This same company called my brother in law on XX/XX/XXXX, and told him the same thing, but my brother in law stated he did not know me, as the person calling sounded like a scammer. So, now that my family is terrified, I call the number and get a XXXX XXXX, who asks for my case id # and states that yes, there is an " incident '' attached to my name and social. I ask what it is, and he proceeds to tell me that back in XXXX a loan was taken out at XXXX bank by me and that I am being charged with check fraud. This was an immediate red flag, as I never took out a loan. XXXX XXXX proceeded to tell me that I could resolve this before court by setting up a payment plan, which I refused and told him that I never took out a loan, so this must be a case of identity theft. XXXX XXXX assured me that was not the case, as they check for that, and again offered me the payment plan. This is when I started asking him more questions, because none of it made sense. I asked what company he was from and he told me " The Law offices of XXXX XXXX XXXX ''. I said " Law offices? Then why did n't I receive any court documents in the mail? '' He told me that the XXXX Attorney is ready to have the felony arrest warrant put into action, but I could prevent that by taking care of the money owed. This is when I demanded the truth and he admitted that he was calling from a debt collection agency. I asked him why he called my family members and scared the **** out of them by saying there was a felony arrest warrant out for me and that I was going to go to jail. He denied calling and denied that anyone from his company called them. Fortunately my sister saved the voicemail message she received, so I knew he was lying. At this point I told him that I was ending the conversation, as he had no right to lie to my sister and brother in law about this. So, after reading your website I realized that he violated many of the rules you have in place. He threatened me with jail, lied about who he was ( said he was from a XXXX XXXX ), lied about the reason for calling ( he told me it was for a felony fraud charge ), he never asked to verify my information ( except for my email address ) and he never offered to send me anything in writing about this debt. I did a search online and many others have gotten calls from this number, using the same threatening tactics. Also, the company name seems to be just XXXX XXXX XXXX - not a Law office, but a collection agency in XXXX XXXX, NY ( according to the Better Business Bureau ).

Company public response: Company disputes the facts presented in the complaint
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation