ARE YOU BEING SCAMMED?

Well, you’re definitely NOT being scammed by us, however, there are companies out there that run complete scams trying to collect on debts that were previously paid, never paid, or in some cases never even existed. This page is devoted to scams against customers of ours that are either under investigation or are in the process of having legal action taken against them.  Please review the information on this page and contact us IMMEDIATELY if you are making payments, have paid off, or have pending payments with any company aside from Diversified Consumer Services on an account with the same ORIGINAL account number. We are relentless in dealing with scammers. We will demand payment from them and take severe legal action against them if they do not pay! We’re protecting our own company, but we’re also protecting YOU!

YOU MAY BE A VICTIM OF A SCAM! WE CAN HELP DETERMINE IF YOU ARE!

IN GENERAL

If you have made payments to anyone other than our company on the account you received notice on, please contact us IMMEDIATELY and let us know the name of the company you have paid or are paying.  We will be able to determine whether or not you are the possible victim of a scam. If you are a victim, we will advise you to STOP PAYMENT on any future scheduled payments with that company and/or open a new bank account and close the affected one and/or cancel the credit card you made payment with and request a new one. We will work with your bank and/or credit card company if we can, and will assist in recovery of those funds so you can pay us, the legal owner of your account.  When we purchase a debt portfolio, the previous owner is no longer permitted to collect on the debt. Legally, any payments you make to them have to be routed back to us by them if made after the date we purchased the portfolio that includes your account(s). There is usually more than one previous owner aside from the original creditor before it comes to us. We are provided information that is SUPPOSED to be 100% accurate, however, there are oversights that do happen with previous owners sometimes. In these cases, you need to be able to provide proof that you paid the debt or payments you made toward the debt. If there is still a balance due, you must make those payments to us, not the previous owner of the account. Please visit Valicate.com, a free fraud prevention tool from Diversified Consumer Services to track your account.

The following companies are suspected of or verified as being a SCAM organization. Click the link to learn more!

Bart, Burt, Bartz, Bortz, Barr (???), Reynolds & Associates (The Internet Cannot Agree on the Name!)

Critical Resolution Mediation

Cordoza & Wexler Recovery Services

InHouse Solutions

Sales Antidote & Bryan Pereyo (UPDATED 6/18/2021)

*** IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THIS LIST IS NOT EXHAUSTIVE OF POTENTIAL SCAM COMPANIES! ***
The companies listed above are the ones we have had to interact with regarding debts collected without legal authority to do so. You can check out the FTC information on this page (click here) for a list of suspected, charged, closed and/or banned companies and/or individuals from the industry. NOT being on that list does NOT mean the company you are dealing with is legitimate, but being on the list is a definite “throw caution to the wind” situation!

 

More About Scammers and the Laws That Protect YOU…

There are MANY scams that the Payday Loan Industry and the Credit Industry in general.  You would think that a “good scammer” (oxy-moron) would follow all the laws to earn your trust, but much like the scammers that send phishing emails titled, for example, “Your package has been arrived!”, the bulk of scammers in the credit industry must figure if they’re going to break the law anyhow, go big or go home!

We get regular reports of harassing or threatening calls made to debtors (or as we call them, customers) about payday loans and credit card debts.  Using scare tactics, even the sharpest people have fallen prey to these scammers.  They often threaten warrant for arrest, jail, showing up at your job and more if at least a portion of the debt isn’t paid NOW.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) creates guidelines under which debt collectors may conduct business, and also defines the rights of consumers. Although Diversified Consumer Services is NOT a Collection Agency, and for whatever reason, exempt from many laws collection agencies have to follow, we run our company as if we must be fully compliant with the law. We’re not afraid to comply with the laws we don’t have to conform to when we’re not breaking the laws we have to follow.

There are some rules that have to be followed no matter who is contacting you.  If you receive a call where the caller claims to be from Diversified Consumer Services and you didn’t leave a message with a representative requesting a return call or didn’t schedule a follow-up call, it is NOT us calling you! We make NO exceptions to our conditions for calling customers; returning a call or for a scheduled follow-up call you have agreed to in advance.  Please contact us immediately at 1-800-657-5785 if you find yourself receiving a suspected scammer call claiming to represent us.

A Collection Agent may not do any of these things:
  • threaten arrest, jail or physical harm
  • threaten to freeze your assets without due process (legal proceedings awarded in favor of the creditor/collector/agency)
  • threaten actions against a family member
  • continue to call if they know you are represented by an attorney
NEVER do any of the following in such cases:
  • follow the instructions of the caller
  • provide any financial, account or payment information
  • provide any personal information

The list of activities prohibited by the FDCPA is not limited to those outlined above. The activities listed above reflect what has been reported regarding these attempted scams. The complete text of the FDCPA may be found at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf.

Additional Links:

Please visit our Resources page for more!