Jan 8, 2013
A) No law firm would ever warn you that they were going to sue you or tell you when they were going to serve you. You just get served. That's the best leverage any lawyer has to get you to pay, because even once they make the papers, they'll work it out with you if it's legitimate. It's always cheaper from a lawyer's standpoint to settle a debt out of court. (well ok, maybe not always, but small potatoes like this yes)
B) It's illegal to claim to have the ability to serve court summons unless you're a process server. (and again, they wouldn't warn the person, they'd just serve them).
C) It's illegal to threaten you with criminal action for ANY debt. It's also illegal to claim to be someone with the authority to charge you with a crime when they're not a law enforcement officer. This is my favorite when I actually have to talk to them, because I tell them "Let's see who can call the sheriff first, ok?"
D) There is no reason under the sun why "your HR department" would need to be notified about anything related to a civil or criminal complaint against you unless it had already gone to court and your wages had been garnished. It's actually illegal for them to inform anyone else of the specifics of your alleged debt.
E) They will never tell you their own physical location (because then they'd get caught). They use fake names (like Clarence Thomas) and sometimes real law firm names to make themselves sound more legitimate, but they're not lawyers, they're not legitimate, and they're not legal.
If you can't send me something through the postal service, I would really like to see you serve me with a court summons.
In my experience, it's best to simply ignore them entirely.