NR Associates

APRIL 16, 2013 - Someone called me at (718) 440-1080 from phone number (973) 943-4020 Claiming to be from "NR Associates". The person who initially called knew the last 4 digits of my SSN, but gave an address I haven't lived at since 1981. He said that the call was an attempt to collect a debt, and that the IRS required them to attempt to collect a debt before they filed a form 1099(c) "Collection of Debt Cancellation". I told him that I didn't have any outstanding credit cards, or any outstanding debts, and he hung up.

I called them back and recorded the conversation. I spoke to a female operator who said her name was Cassie. When I asked her "What does NRA stand for; what is the name of your company?", she replied "NR Associates". I asked her what her company did, and she replied "We are a business.... We do several things". After my attempt to verify that this was a legitimate company, she also hung up.

I called back again (with the recorder still running) and attempted to verify what company or entity I was dealing with. This person also couldn't answer my question, and then she handed the phone over to someone who identified himself as "Mr. White". He said the debt was with US Bank Visa Card. I have never had any dealings with US Bank, and the amount owed was $11,796.33 and they would settle for $7,077.79 or put me on "a payment plan". Later on in the conversation, he said the debt was owed to Bank of America (whom I haven't had any dealings with since Vietnam in 1971), I told him I don't owe Bank of America or anybody else anything, and the person he was looking to collect from is a name-double who lived in Connecticut, but died 11/27/2009 (see above).

"Mr. White" could not verify to me that he was a legitimate businessman, and a Google search on "NR Associates" brought up a page on www.RipoffReport.com that stated that NR Associates was a scam.

I did a reverse-phone lookup on NR Associate's phone number (973) 943-4020 and www.WhitePages.com/phone/1-973-943-4020 comes up as VOIP (Internet phone - Voice Over Internet Protocol) out of Newark, NJ. I requested information about who owns the phone number. I printed the Web page for police.

At 3:50PM, April 16, 2013 I called NR Associates (973) 943-4020 from my Magic Jack (VOIP) phone (876) 322-6414 (a number which wouldn't flag me on their caller ID). I asked the person who answered - who sounded like "Mr. White" - the address of his company so I could send them some paperwork. He replied that he could not provide the address because it was "a safety issue".

I called US Bank (877) 595-6256 at approximately 2:48PM, recorded the phone conversation, and spoke to Dianna. I explained the problem to her, and she transferred me to Veronica in the "Recovery Department (866) 434-2103. I gave Veronica my SSN and she verified that I do NOT have, nor have ever had an account with US Bank, and that there is no debt that I owe them.

I called Bank of America (800) 432-1000 - the number they have listed to report suspicious activity not associated with online banking, at approximately 4:15PM, while recording the call. I spoke with Daniel, who referred me to their Privacy Response Unit (800) 252-2867 and spoke with Phillip. After explaining the situation to him, he referred me to the Credit Card Division (888) 991-8478. They were able to pull up an old (1997) joint business credit card I shared with a friend, and has long been closed. It was verified that there is no balance owed on any of the accounts.

Obviously this is a SCAM. These people are using OLD DATABASES with very old information; the first clue was the address that they had for me was (Queens NY), which I haven't lived there since 1981. The other obvious "red flags" were the fact that they could not give the name of the company, and their address was "a safety issue". The fact that I owe US Bank or Bank of America NOTHING, was verified by recorded phone conversations with the appropriate departments of those banks.


REPORTED THIS MATTER TO WATERFORD NJ POLICE