A debt collector claiming to be “Erica Shaw or Erica Shah, ” a “legal processor” from a “law firm” called “Rephen Law Firm” (which she purposely pronounced “Restin” to avoid identification online) has attempted to collect a debt she claims is $220 for a bounced check with the original amount of $70. Their phone number is 845-678-1296.

1) She refused to give information about the alleged “law firm.”
2) She refused to give information about the original debt.
3) She claimed the additional funds from the original debt amount were for their “processing fees” and interest.
4) She threatened to take me to court, sue me and take legal action against me if I did not pay the debt and their “fees” in full with an unreasonable time limit.
5) She refused to send the debt information in writing or on the law firm’s letterhead.
6) She became irate, accused me of doing illegal activity, and became verbally abusive on the phone when I questioned the fees and requested the information in writing.
7) She attempted to justify the fees under the “Uniform Commercial Code” and refused to tell me what part of it she was citing or how my state, FL, had adopted it.
8) She became irate and refused to tell me the address where I could send them a letter requesting no contact.
9) She said their only method of payment was Western Union and at first refused a payment plan I proposed. She eventually said yes to a payment plan but refused to offer any means by which to document the original debt or document my payments with receipts.

It is obvious from the overwhelming number of online complaints made to debt/credit complaint forums (e.g., ripoffreport.com, pissedconsumer.com, etc.) that they are an illegitimate operation.

It also appears if they have set up a phony website to garner information from consumers threatened by them in order to appear legitimate: http://mharveyrephenlaw.com/.

I have reported them to the Federal Trade Commission and urge other consumers to do the same here: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en

I was contacted by Mark Cooper to call him immediately regarding a debt before further action was initiated. I called him back. He stated I owed money for a check that had not been paid. Stated check was written in June, they had spoke with me on August 18 and stated I said I would pay the check and had not done so. The check was paid, cleared my bank on August 19. Amount was paid to Cybrcollect to whom I owed the money. I tried to tell Mr. Cooper that it was paid. He would not let me speak, was horribly rude and threatening. He stated I now owed not only the original amount, but that I owed more. I asked several times how much I owed and he finally stated the amount. It was $150 more than the original amount. He said I would need to contact Cybrcollect, have them send a paid in full letter on their letterhead to him and that it needed to be taken care of by the next day. I asked him if he had Cybrcollect's phone number for me to contact and he stated he could not give me the number to contact as it was attorney/client information. I do not understand how this firm continues to be allowed to do business with these type of tactics. To threaten people who have paid the debt, not allow them to speak or obtain the information they need to resolve the matter with this company, and to come up with exaggerated, inflated, unsubstantiated fees is reprehensible. I am planning on reporting them to the Better Business Bureau, Federal Trade Commision, and the Attorney General of New York if I can ever find an address for this company. I may contact my attorney to see about legal action against them if the harassment continues. I hope anyone contacted by this firm
really follows up and does not fall victim to their tactics.