Scam Alert! I answered call from this number is the caller said he was an attorney for a firm in Natchez, Mississippi called Phillip & Morris. He said his firm had been retained by a lender to whom I owe an outstanding balance. He said the debt was from June 2011, and that if I didn't make arrangements immediately, he would tell the lender I refused to work things out, then they'd file a lawsuit.

There were several red flags. During the call, I Googled the # and there were no real results. When I mentioned this, the "lawyer" dismissed the question and said he has no idea. When I asked him to send me verification of this supposed debt, he became defensive and belligerent, started yelling at me, and said I should stop stalling. He refused to send any kind of verification, and said when his firm files the lawsuit I'll get all the information.

I refused to give him my bank info, so after yelling at me some more, calling me a loser, and telling me his firm would get a judgment and take my paycheck, he hung up. I called the Mississippi Bar (www.msbar.org) and asked them to verify the info about these supposed attorneys. The Bar rep told me none of the 3 people I spoke with were registered attorneys in Mississippi, nor was there a firm by that name either. Plus, the phone number was not in the Bar's system as belonging to an attorney or other legal entity.

Case closed.