LPSG or LPS Group claims to be a debt buying agency.  They are registered in Garden City, California with a business license as "debt collection services".  They do not observe FDCPA and will not provide validation of debt.  They had a legal process server contact me at my place of employment stating that I was going to be served, but I could contact "Dawson & Associates" at (484) 429-6630 and speak with Murray Douglas to reroute the document.  I called them and said they could not reroute the document.  The one woman who answers the phone ALL the time, does not identify them as a law firm unless asked.  She makes payment arrangements with the debt buying agency while placing you on hold several times.  The debt buying agency then supposedly authorizes it and then you're "transferred" to them.  When you try to get validation that the company is real, they send you to a poorly built website with no accreditation, likely to skirt having to adhere to the FDCPA.  They will not provide a copy of their business license and they threaten to sue you and cancel payment arrangements because you want to know who they are.  God forbid, I'm already in debt.  Why should I NOT be precautious.  I cannot find any information about any of the companies that I dealt with.  Dawson & Associates or Murray Douglas are not listed in my state bar association.  There is no court case entered against me in my city.

I was contacted by someone at 619-928-9570 claiming to be from a law firm working for LPSG (LPS Group). The numbers I got for LPSG included 888-256-6985 and 888-782-3660 and multiple fax numbers (some disconnected). I have found multiple addresses for them: Garden City, CA; Orange, CA; Westminster, CA; Alverado, CA; I could find no record of LPSG or LPS Group with the BBB (better business bureau) or the attorney general. No court cases by them or this supposed law firm, and no record of this law firm or the supposed lawyer with the California Bar. When asked for a debt validation letter and proof of who they were they claimed the FDCPA didn't apply to them. They threatened all kinds of things - law suit already filed, papers served in a few hours, wage garnishment, etc... - and were very rude. They pointed me to a shady looking two page website with no relevant information and that was not linked to from anywhere else. I was able to find a link to a slightly modified copy of the website at some ipage.com address. Looks like they simply changed a few graphics, wording, and the hostname. Beware!

These people keep calling my job and telling whoever answers the phone that they are having the Sheriff serve me.  I have spoken with 2 of their reps and they both tell me that 1: They don't have documents to prove anything because the "Sheriff" has them, 2: They can call my job as much as they want, though Ive asked them to stop, 3:They are not interested in payments, just court (for this mystery debt), 4: They are garnishing my wages soon for $450 per month.  I live in Texas and know that it is a no-garnish state and when I brought that up, they got even nastier with me.  Just more of "they're on the way now to serve you".  I have noticed the multiple addresses that seem to go nowhere, their email address bounces back, and there is no real presence of them online except people with similar stories of these crooks.  I asked them what they have to gain from calling jobs and making threats to my co-workers and the supervisor told me court fees and costs.  REALLY??  They take old stuff and add "fees" to it?  a $350 debt is no over $4000 according to them but they don't "HAVE" to prove it.  I work across the street from a Sheriff's station.  They are NOT on their way and I WILL be calling them to check out any "process server" that appears.  I hope these crooks get caught!

This company, LPSG, aka LPS is a legitimate Debt collecting company.  I traced my credit card debt all the way back to the original debt.  They were extremely helpful and very polite with me at LPS.  So if they contacted you and you were rude I suppose they could be that way too.

LPSG does indeed buy old records of debt. Usually, harassers/scammers like them will be the third, fourth, or even fifth company in a long chain. The reason they buy these old debts is to get information - names, account numbers (perhaps partial), phone numbers, etc...  in order to make themselves look legit. They don't have enough information (can't provide adequate proof for debt validation) or legal standing (almost always the debt is beyond SOL) to actually collect on the debt though. Their tactic is to call people at work and threaten that papers (which don't exist) are on the way, via some pseudo legitimate sounding company like "Legal Delivery Services", unless you pay them by the end of the day. Or they threaten that the Sheriff is after you, etc... These tactics are highly illegal. They are hoping you will panic (and because you're at work you wont have time to investigate) and give them a checking account number or debit card number because it is difficult to get money back with those payment methods. However, if you are quick and get to the bank within a day or two after being scammed and file a fraud complaint it is possible to recover your money. It can take a while though, up to 120 days for the bank to investigate.