Payday loan - what to do?

I had a similar bogus 900 called made from my PC. I have since disconnected my PC from the phone line, since I use a cable modem anyways.

I received a call from Paul Kupferstein and Associates few days ago, where he left a message on my home answering machine. I only check my answering machine once a week, since I believe that if it is important, the person will call back when I am home. Besides, any persons relavent in my life has my cell phone number.

After reviewing this site and several others regarding this firm (it goes back to 2004) I decided that they were not really a law firm.

I am a lawyer, and I work in one of the top law firms in New York. I called them back and asked them to fax all of the relevant court documentation to my assistant (since he said that my case was going to court in 24 hours, there should be filed paperwork) Upon receiving the documentation, I told him that I would gladly appear in court to fight my case. My Firm has Associates in Canada as well. If I am unable to represent myself, I am sure that one of them will gladly represent me.

I requested him to serve me with proper documentation from the court, requesting my attendance, case date, and the name of the judge that will be handling my case.

I also began the conversation stating that I am recording our coversation, and clearly stated that anything said in the conversation may be used against him.

That was a week ago.

I have not received any documentation yet.

And you will not receive any in future also. They've realized that you're already informed about their activities and it won't be easy to deal with you.

I really appreciate the way you tackled them. Please let us know if you collect some more information on them.

Bryan

I was called Mr. David today with the same line. Hasd anyone gotten a followup call from these scumbags?

It makes not sense what so ever to me that you can be arrested for owing money!!! First of all when you owe the government money I would think that is the most serious, and quite frankly I have owed Student Loans to the gov. and they have never threatened to arrest me behind it. That is our goverenment, so how any other company can say they are!!!! The way I look at it challange them let them know you know the law. Say ok so you are going to waste more of your money on a out of state process server to serve a warrent to me legaly? Then at that point you are going to pay the court fees? Plus I can not think of any police department that will pay to extrodite-sp? me to another town so I can go to jail there. Gosh these people are dumb(meaning the debt collectors). Play the same game they are with you!!!

Daniella

Daniella,

collection agencies take the chance of our lack of knowledge. Most of the people don't know the rules stated under fdcpa and as a result they cannot protect themselves from the unethical collection activities.

There is no such jail that is made for debtors! If a collection agency threatens you of an arrest, don't get scared, laugh on them instead.

WE JUST GOT scammed by this Kupferstein freak. The sargent called my dad up and told him he owed 600 dollars becuase of some 1-900 numbers that were made from our computer for three days at the end of May. The thing was, my parents were out of town at the time of the phone calls, but my sister and I were still at the house and on those nights we had friends over. When we heard about this we thought maybe someone who was at the house made these calls as a practical joke or something and now we were going to have to pay over 600 bucks for it. Threatend with legal action, my dad just wrote the check and sent it today, but now doing more research online we can see that we got screwed real bad. We were wondering if anyone has tried to file a civil or criminal lawsuit against Kupferstein, and if so, was there any success? Our main concern here is whether or not we get the money back, and if we can actually take some serious legal action against these guys.

Hi Paul

Was there any disclosure when you or your friends made the calls to 1-900 numbers? If it was not stated legally before making the call, you can file your complaints at the DA's office in your state. You can also add your complaint at the FTC and the BBB.

My husband and I are yet more victims to this scam. The man who left the message on our machine was Mr. Sargent and I called him back since it was the 2nd day in a row that he had called. He also told us that we would be receiving papers to go to court within 3-5 business days. What do we do??

Robyn,

Do yourself a favor and call Phonebusters at 1-888-495-8501. They are an official arm of the RCMP and have an extensive file on these crooks. They are slowly but surely building a criminal case against them and they need the help of everyone who is being harassed by these con artists. If you are certain that no legitimate calls were made from your house and that your are a victim of modem hijacking, stand your ground. Demand for them to send you a detailed log of the alleged calls and make sure to tell them that you WILL hire an attorney and that you WILL see them in court. Don't get intimidated and certainly don't send them any money until they can prove to you that the charges are legitimate. Good luck.

sickofit,

Thanks for the advice. You said this happened to you too--what did you do, and has it since been resolved?

Robyn,

My story can be found at the top of page 2 of this post. Like everybody else on this forum, the charges for the 900 numbers I was being told to pay were completely fraudulent. The calls were made from my modem by a modem dialer without my knowledge or consent. The first and last time I spoke with these crooks was over three weeks ago. Of course, they threatened to take me to court within 24 hours and all that jazz. I filed a complaint with my state DA, phonebusters and FTC. Other than that, I did not contact them again and have not received any more phone calls or any documents from them. I can only say that if they do suit me, I will spend every penny I can muster to fight these criminals. They count on people not standing up to them and just sending them a check. Again, I urge you to call the above three agencies and if they do contact you again, be polite but firm in your stance. Offer no personal information other than the bogus case number they have assigned to you and insist on seeing an itemized invoice. They will try to tell you that since you disputed the charges through your phone company, there is no way for them to get the transactions and call details to you. Too bad. You should not have to pay fraudulent charges on your phone bill and then try to collect from these bastards afterwards. Tell them that without times and dates of these calls you will not pay and if they threaten to take you to court tell them that you'll see them there. You can also check out the following website for complaints regarding the billing agency that handles the initial billing for crooks like these. Good luck.....

badbusinessbureau.com


[color=red][size=2][Link made inactive as per forum rules-Vikas][/size][/color]

My wife received a call from them two weeks ago today. Same story, bogus 900 number calls that we didn't pay. When we called the phone company, they said it was probably a dialer virus and they would remove the charges. When, presumably, Kupferstein's office spoke to my wife, who's name our telephone service is in, they quickly referred to the 900 calls, informed us we were being sued, very quickly gave her the name of their firm, but so quickly that she was unable to remember it, and hung up on her.

I found this thread only because I googled their phone number off the caller I.D. Its been two weeks and we still have not heard from them again or received anything via the mail, UPS, FedEx... nothing.

I did, however, purchase recording equipment so that if they call again we can record the telephone conversation.

I am an Illinois attorney looking into this for a friend. It is the same story as most, i.e., an urgent message and a rude "Mr. David" threatening to turn off phone service, ruin credit, sue and demanding cashier's check by end of day. Thank goodness my friend called before the check was sent. No money was sent per my advice. Now we are working with the Attorney General's Office in Illinois. We also have contacted the BBB of Markham Ontario and were informed of another name for Liability Solutions. It is International Billing and Recovery Services, Inc. and it has an unsatisfactory record for failing to respond to two or more complaints (it has had 4 in 36 mos.) I am wondering if any type of more coordinated effort could be undertaken, although will be contacting as many agencies and entities as possible including those listed on this highly informative and helpful site! Perhaps some of the claims are legitimate, but the vast majority, like the claim against my friend, are not. Does anyone know if this Paul Kupferstein is the same as one who works at another law firm with other attorneys in Markham or is he solo? I called that law firm but that Paul Kupferstein was "out of town." Also, is he the same Paul Kupferstein as the professor at Huber College who is rated poorly and referred to as a scam artist on ratemyprofessors.ca? I have only just begun my research and efforts. If I do determine that this is a true scam, I plan to contact the media also.
Thanks.

Dear honestabe2
Good questions, I have wondered myself if there are two different Paul Kupfersteins. I've seen the ratemyprofessor.ca posts and have also seen another phone number listed for him besides 905-474-3535. If there's only one Paul Kupferstein in Markham, does he know his name is being used like this or is he behind it all? Liability Solutions' website refers to their "emplotees" rather than their attorneys. I have filed complaints to FTC, FCC, BBB, the state AG and phonebusters. I got a lot of good information from calling phonebusters, nothing when I complained online to them. Although they can't give you many details about Paul Kupferstein, they confirm he's buying old phone bills and he is under investigation. They also offer advise as to how to handle the phone calls from Paul Kupferstein's office.

honestabe2, thank you so much for sharing and please keep us informed. I hope the media attention will be shared nationwide. An earlier post asked if there's a way to get their money back, another post mentioned a class action lawsuit. What are yor thoughts?

I cannot give legal advice and am helping my friend with this - as a friend. I don't have a law practice; I work for the state government. That said, my thoughts as to getting money back, either individually or as part of a class action lawsuit -again with the presumption that this is indeed a fraudulent scheme in every case(something I don't know enough about yet)- is that one should contact an attorney, legal clinic, their own state attorney general, etc. Also, it appears that all of us should be reporting thesae incidents to the other sites listed here. I intend to further pursue the issue of whether there are 2 Paul Kupfersteins and if, so, whether one is using the identity of the other. One is listed at a law firm (on the Martindale-Hubbel website). Is there anybody in Markam, Ontario, Canada that knows anything more? Is Paul married to a Judy?

I located the law firm with the Paul Kuferstein through WhitePages.com, not Martindale Hubbell. The law firm is listed as both Berlin & Azoulay and Berlin, Azoulay & Kupferstein. The reverse address lists neighbors in both Unionville & Markham; I am not familiar with Ontario, perhaps they are the same? Anyway, I called the firm (905-470-9444) and left a message with Paul Kupferstein's answering machine. I asked him whether he was the attorney Paul Kupferstein related to the demand for money from Mr. David and if so to confirm this with my friend who received the threatening call from Mr. David. I do not believe that he responded. I am thinking of calling one of the other attorneys, but I hesitate to call this long-distance number (905-470-9444)again. I am hoping the Attorney General of Illinois (who we are working with) will get to the bottom of this. As to a coordinated effort, I think I will contact the national association of attorneys general. I am familiar with American authorities and becoming familiar with Canadian authorities. Hopefully, my concerns will be addressed. It is a little challenging dealing with an out of country attorney.

I recently got a call about 900 number charges that were never made from my computer. I was threatened with legal action if I did not send them $700. I felt like the whole thing was fishy because Mr. David completely refused to send me any proof or information about the bill. Paul Kupferstein was the only thing I could consistently get from Mr. David. He also said he worked for a company called Live Interaction. I hammered him with questions and accused him of being the originator of the 900 charges to which he got angry and hung up on me. I too found Liability Solutions Inc by searching the web with the phone number. I have filed a complaint with the FTC and the BBB of Ontario.

This Mr.Paul called my house and spoke with my 12 year old daughter. He said your mom is going to get sued for everything you guys own, if she does not call me back by the end of the day. She freaked and she has asthma she could not even breath to tell me what had happend.I called him back and let him have it.I am reporting him .

Mary,

I am so sorry to hear that your daughter had to get upset like that. It is a lessoned learned however. She is young and hopfuly will learn from this fraud guy!!! Stay strong and beat these people!!!

I found this site and I too been bothered by this scumbag over 900 numbers.. I hear alot of hype on being sued. has anyone actually ever recieved any papers?? or are they just flexing muscles to try and trick people into paying them something? whos actualy being sued? Im reporting them to all the organizations I saw on this site.. including my atty general

:o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

You people are all STUPID!!!!!!!

These calls are being Pumped out of your homes and
you dont want to pay for them??????


If you ask me maybe you should be looking at WHO
in your homes are making the calls?????

Stop making 900 calls and you wont have the 900
provider come after you!!!!!!!


:?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

(905-470-9444) (905-470-9444) (905-470-9444) (905-470-9444)

Is the real Paul Kuferstein phone #

This Mr.Paul called my house and spoke with my 12 year old daughter. He said your mom is going to get sued for everything you guys own, if she does not call me back by the end of the day. She freaked and she has asthma she could not even breath to tell me what had happend.I called him back and let him have it.I am reporting him

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I filed a complaint with the BBB. At the time I filed the complaint I still wasn't sure who I was dealing with. The BBB's file matches the phone number and Address to a Paul Kupferstein & Associates. It has been five business days since first contact and they still haven't provided me with written documentation on the debt they claim I owe. In MN, the AG requires that they provide written documentation within 5 days of first contact. The BBB says they have 14 days to respond to my complaint. We'll see what happens. I will post as things develop, or as they don't develop.

Zack,
For yourself and others be aware there are scamers out there. I do believe that these people were scammed and this company is making up a fake debt. It is common sense you should use it sometimes, that if multiple people are having the same problem with the same people then more then likely the problem is not with the people on this forum but with the people they are having the issue with. Please do me and everyone else a favor leave your negative comments to yourself. I hope you will never be in a situation like this and never have to deal with people harrassing you ILEGALY on the other end of the phone. And if these people really do owe this debt then you should also know that the way they are handling themselves is illegal and not factual. Go to some saten website and post your views there!!!!

I agree with elisia_louise, but I think mermer, zack and johnny's messages are from "Mr. David".

I agree with Truth seeker.... I think these post are from Mr david and his phoney firm too.. after all, if you do a google search on him, this site comes up the most so if they are out there looking at themselve they will seee this site just like any others that find it and there are more and more every day finding this site..

Zack is an idiot.. and if Zack still feels this way, then Zack...send me your IP address and Ill show you how easy it is to put a dialer in your connection box and dial out of your IP.. its a snap and even if you have a decent firewall.. It can be done.. so wake up pal, these people have all been scammed and we are not taking it lightly, myself included. Im filing complaints with this crook. Im starting to believe there is some connection with him, ESBI communications and MMI... and the 900 calls, seems too many have this same companies billing them..

Roy

I just got a call from 'Mr. David' a little while ago. He left a message stating to call 'within 24 hours'. Gave the Paul Kupferstein name. I spoke with this 'gentleman' on Friday and he wouldn't tell me what it was about, only wanted to speak to my husband. Very rude, etc. I had to google the phone number to find out what it was about. We DID have a 900 call removed from our phone bill a few months ago.

What he doesn't realize is that the phone bill is in MY name. It is listed in the phone book under my husband's name which is who he wanted to speak to.

I was too busy when he called to speak to him but I'm ready for the next call. I think I'll ask him what he's wearing.

I got a call today that I am going to be suied tomrrow..and when i called back they told me to send 40 bucks so they willa not sue me. After google search i got into this forum. Plz suggest me whether I should respond to these guyz or not? I am from indiana and its about bogus 900 calls

My caller ID shows Mr. David called today. He left no message. I'm actually surprised he called again after I filed complaints with the BBB and FTC. Maybe he wants 40 bucks

Suggestion

Please don't get scared. They won't sue you because they don't have sufficient information to do so. If have to take legal actions against you, they need to prove that they are truly holding your debt. Ask them to validate the debt so that you get a true picture of it.

It's been over 3 weeks since we got the initial call from Kupferstein's office. Haven't heard a word since. Of course phone calls from them are not going to get a law suit started. Their case wouldn't stand up in court anyway. IF they'd serve me, at least I'd know who their client is. They owe me a hard drive.

According to phonebusters.com, Kupferstein bought old phone records and tries to collect on them. I think they use a shot gun approach and if they collect on 20%, 30%, 40% or whatever, they're coming out ahead. According to some posts on here, people are scared of law suits, they're scared of having their credit ruined, they don't want to waste time in court or pay attorney fees or any of the other hassles so they considered paying (or acctually have paid) them off. Probably most people, if not everyone, feel the same way and just think of how many don't bother with or know how to investigate them. They're the ones Mr. David and his cohorts prey on.

The companies I've filed compaints against have up to 45 days to respond to the complaints. I'll keep you all posted if I hear from any of them. I'm really not expecting anything.

Today I recieved a phone call from "Mr. David. He said that he was from Paul Kupferstein Law firm and that I needed to pay him 490.00 by 4:30 the same day. Let me remind you that when he calle me it was only 10:00. So he gave me 6 hours to have the money sent by Fed Ex. I went out trying to get a loan so I would not have to go to court and he threatened by cousin that she was going to have to go to court. He also contacted my supervisor at work. I was so afraid but when I read this I thought about sending that 490.00.

These guys sound like frauds however a few facts about collection agencies for a little piece of mind.

1) They may not ever tell anyone that you owe a debt.
2) they cannot demand overnight payment
3) they cannot threaten ANYTHING they cannot do, or intend to do.
4) each state has its own limits to "interest" they may charge. In my state its 10%
5) They must prove they have the legal right to collect the debt i.e. you signed a contract with original creditor agreeing to it being turned over to them.
6) write them a letter disputing the validity of the debt and they cannot try and collect a penny until it is sufficiantly validated.

For each one of those violations its 1200 fine payable to you.

I have been given a file number and threatned to be reported to credit bureau. After reading your points,I feel this guy is talking nonsense. I am going to fight against this guy and approached a lawyer. I feel of taking collective action against these crooks. Please anybody who know law better intiate someaction which people like me can join so to end this type of psychological torcher. One more thing please anybody clarify me, I have been told by the phonbusters to send a letter saying that I am disputing (as marc01 told in above) the validity of their claim. Send me the papers. But Do I need to give my address to them in this case. Since I dont want to give more personal information than they got. Will it be better posting them a letter wihtout my address? Waiting for the reply

Try to keep your personal information least updated with such agencies. They may misuse it and put you in deep troubles later

When I called ESPI, a billing agency for the 900 call (these calls are managed by MMI), they told my balance is zero since my telephone company credited that amount for 900 call which i never made. They also told nobody can sue me on this basis. Then how come Mr.David of Paul kupferstein law firm is claiming the 5 times of the original fraud 900 call?
(Here again I am stressing on the point that we are not trying to cheat anybody of their money, but we are victims of fraud 900 calls...please note this Zack)

After his message from Monday stating we must call back within 24 hourse, I've heard nothing. He still hasn't even told me what this is about. I only know from this website that it is about some bogus 900 charges that were removed from my phone bill.

He doesn't even know who's name the phone bill is in.

I wonder how long he will continue to call those that aren't responding. Anyone know?

Mr. Sargent called us again saying that since we never sent him our attorney's documents that we were going to be served with papers and he was reporting the amount to the credit bureau. #1-He never told us to send him anything, in fact, he told us that HE would be sending us documents in 3-5 business days from the first phone call we received. #2-How can he subpoena us if we never received anything in writing about what we owe?? This guy is a total nightmare.

Did anyone get papers from these guyz? It is really confusing whether these guyz are fake or true. If they are ture why dont they send a copy before about the money owe to them instead of asking for overnight delivery of check

My wife and I were just called today for the first time and reading all of the posts on here is a bit funny (not haha) because it is the exact circumstances that we have been through concerning this matter. We are going to have an investigation into this scam opened on Monday with our state's attorney and hopefully we can get this taken care of before some more honest people are separated from their money dishonestly

I have already sent the money and now I think I might have made a mistake. They told they will send some documents but now they can't be even reached. Is there anyone out there who has paid these guys? They said they are going to put black mark on my credit preventing me from getting any further loans in the future

They are definitely involved in a major scam so please...no one send money to these goons, and tell your friends with dial-up internet to keep an eye on their phone bills for suspicious charges..please and thank you

Has anyone had a call from a Ms. Clemente? Same story...only difference is there has not been a computer on the phone we have...and the 2 calls we had removed were a year ago when no one was home.

I did not get any papers yet from them, eventhough i didnot send money. Don't send them money.Please let us informed so if anything happens others can feel comfort.
Thank you

My son also received phone calls from this woman.Ms. Clemente saying he owes $500.00 to a 900 company for calls made in June of 2004, which he paid in monthly installments to his phone company.She would not give the name of her client,send anything to him by mail,was extremely rude and hung up on me when I called.I found the name Paul Kupferstein by doing a search of the phone number on my son's caller id,the # we have is...905-474-3535.
I will be calling th A.G.for ILLINOIS and filing a cpmplaint with them, I also called the FTC and have a complaint on file with them,and also since finding this site will call phonebusters.

I just received a call today from Mr. David himself. Back in May I received some charges on my phone bill for a 1-900. I called the telephone company disputing the charges though the company wouldn't reverse the charges so I paid it. Mr. David today told me that I was indeed credited and now instead of owing the $28.95 I was charged on the phone bill, I now owe $2700.00 and if I don't pay then my phone will be cut off. I asked how it could jump that high and he stated because the lawyers charge $250.00 an hour, filing fees and interest on top of the $28.95. He asked if I had an attorney and I said yea and he stated that he will see me in court and hung up on me. I called my phone company to see if the charges were ever credited to my account and they said no. I called Mr. David back and he said he wanted my lawyer's name and phone number. I told him to send me all the paperwork they had on me and he said I would see it in court. I asked what court he was going to file in and he said in the state I live in. He is very aggressive and rude. He talks a lot and very fast. He also likes to talk in circles. I did hire an attorney today and he said he was going to call Mr. David himself. I'm waiting to hear from the lawyer. I have never been so made after talking to someone as I was to Mr. David. He needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent. I will keep you posted after I hear from my attorney

As I stated in my earlier post, I contacted the BBB regarding Paul Kupferstein & Associates. The BBB informed me today that after repeated contacts, no response was received from Paul Kupferstein & Associates. It has been logged at the BBB as unsatisfactory. I am surprised that there currently are only 14 complaints against this company. If you haven't filed a complaint against these guys, please do so immediately.

I contacted phonebusters today and made a complaint regarding Paul Kupferstein. They informed me that they have had 250 complaints since January 04. I think anyone who is a victim of this scheme needs to contact phonebusters. I also filed a complaint with an agency that works with various countries to try to discover schemes etc that are out there. I encourage anyone who has had an experience with Paul Kupferstein to go the Federal Trade Commissions website and click on the link for Sentinel to file a complaint.

I have been recieving harrassing calls to my work by this law firm. I have told them to send me something in writing of what I owe. They have sent nothing. If I owe it I will pay it but but I do not deserve the harrassment. My credit references are also being harrassed. Does anyone know their website? I am getting the District Attorney involved. Help!