I first received a call last night saying a bank I have a credit card with "sent my account to their office." The caller immediately asked for my birthdate, supposedly to verify my identity. I knew no one should be calling asking that information and I also know I have never had a past due balance on my credit card. I told her I knew it was a scam and I told her to put me on her do not call list.

Today I received another call from them. This lady said "do you want to have a 3 way call with your credit card company", I said I knew she'd be connecting the call to a phoeny number that's in on the scam. I told this lady to not call me again. I called the police and they said just keep hanging up, but I do not want this harassment to continue.

On both February 17 and February 18, 2009, this 'Agent' David Carnes was on my home answering machine leaving a message for a person not at this number to return the call. I called the 800 number Agent Carnes left several times only to get a recording 'UBC, please stay on line, etc.' The use of the word 'Agent' in his message is a clear and direct violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), since it implies he is with a law enforcement agency, though it turns out he is a telephone bill collector.

Complaints have been filed with the Ohio Attorney General, the Federal Trade Commission and the American Collector's Association in Minneapolis, MN concerning this FDCPA violation. Will update this report when those parties advise of any action they have taken in this matter.

I started receiving calls from an unknown number a few days ago. There were no messages left on my voicemail; therefore, I was unable to return the phone calls. I finally received a phone call at a time that I was able to answer the phone. I was greated with the standard collection introduction. I was informed of a credit card debt that I owe to citicard. I have been unable to pay this debt because I did not have a stable job for some time. Seeing as I now have a stable job I decide to go ahead and make payment arrangements. I listen to the settlement agreements which are unacceptable because of the astronomical amount they wanted me o send in such a short length of time. I informed her that I would send as much as I could afford; however, their expectations are too much. I was told "blah blah blah... you have had this debt long enough it's time for you to man up and start paying my client." Completely taken off guard by this representative I simply hung up. I receive another call in which we go through the same initial greeting and statements. I respond with the same statement from the previous call. The representative by the name of Michelle asks for bank account information. I inform her that my bank account is currently in the process of being paid for as well and I will be unable to provide her with that information. The representative actually tried to coerce me into giving her the account information anyway knowing that the account is closed. I told her that I would not do such a thing because it could come back and hurt me in the future. She tells me that she is trying to help me out and not to have an attitude with her. I ask to speak to her supervisor because by now I have had quite enough of this company. The supervisor comes to the phone and immediately begins to belittle me telling me that all of my accounts have gone into default. He also attempts to say my students loans are in default which not true. They are deferred. Also, he tells me that while I was looking for a job I should have gotten employed at McDonald's or Burger King because they are always hiring. Secondly, he says that I should have gotten two jobs. He then asks were I am currently working. I tell him that is none of his concern. He responds by telling me that I should tell him because he is going to start calling my friends and family members. At this point, I terminated the call.

I did a little more research and found some other cases were this company's representatives have harassed, threatened, and misled people they have called. I have gone to the company's corporate website, and I am going to contact the owner and the president of the company. I have also spoken with citicard and asked them to allow me to pay them instead of paying the collections agency because of their misconduct. Is there anything else I can do?