Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation said the agency’s logo and name are being used in an elaborate con game threatening fines and jail time for past due pay day loans.
The notice is written poorly but, according to the OFR, anyone reading it quickly might be duped.
The notice suggests there are “three serious allegations against you” being handled by a division of the OFR that doesn’t exist: The Bureau of Defaulters.
The bogus notices started showing up last week complete with a phone number using a 904 area code.
The Jacksonville, Florida, phone number leads to a recording of man with an Irish accent who claims to work for the state agency.
The message said in part:“Yeah, you have reached the desk of Sean Phillips, supervisor of financial and division of OFR the department of regulations.”
Jamie Mongiovi, spokesperson for the OFR, said no one by that name works for the agency and she stressed the OFR would “never threaten legal action for past due pay day loans.”
The message continues asking for you name, phone number and the reason you called.
Mongiovi said she personally called the number and the man who answered claimed “to be a victim of the scam.”
WKMG-TV News 6 called the number and left a message asking for an explanation for the threatening notices.
A man, who sounded exactly like the voice on the recorded message, returned our call.
He claimed to be with Green Cash Now, a pay day loan company.
He told WKMG that his personal cellphone number was hacked by “someone in Jamaica.”
Then he claimed he wasn’t Sean Phillips, that Phillips “was the company attorney.”
He never explained why Phillips had a recording on his personal cellphone.
WKMG found a laundry list of consumer complaints against Green Cash Now posted on RipOffs.com
The alleged scam is layered in lies suggesting the Department of Justice and something called the United Nations Government are also seeking action against the targeted individual.
Some telltale signs that notices are fake include: incorrect grammar, multiple misspellings and a sender’s email that doesn’t match the organization listed.
If you think you have received one of these impostor notices file a complaint with the OFR on line:
www.flofr.com or you can call (850) 487-9687.