Buffalo CA pleads Guilty to $31 Million Fraud

[ICANHASMUNY?]

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2016/11/19/New-York-debt-collection-company-co-owner-pleads-guilty-in-31M-scheme/2521479570945/

 

 

 

 

Maurice Sessum, co-owner of the Buffalo, N.Y.-based debt-collection firm 4 Star Resolution and 13 other company employees pleaded guilty to the largest debt collection scheme ever prosecuted. The U.S. Attorney's Office said the company defrauded consumers out of some $31 million.

 

 

http://buffalonews.com/2016/11/02/head-buffalo-debt-collection-agency-pleads-guilty-fraud/

 

 

4 Star Resolution LLC, Profile Management Inc. and International Recovery Service LLC

 

 

In their lawsuit against Thomas’ firm, the Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman cited what they called a typical example of a 4 Star employee.

The debt collector identified himself as “Detective Jeff Ramsay” and left a voice-mail message for a Washington State consumer, claiming that he was trying to serve a bench warrant on the consumer for “check fraud.”

“... I will be back out to your place of residence, between the hours of 4 and 6 p.m.,” the bogus detective says. “You are to have two forms of identification, no firearms or narcotics or loose animals on the premises...”

[TheVig]

$31 million. Just goes to show how many people are clueless and sent them money.

[unleashedfury]

$31 million. Just goes to show how many people are clueless and sent them money.

Ignorance is bliss, most average people, who got behind on bills probably are to scared to do some research and cough up the cash

[futurehomeowner?]

$31 million. Just goes to show how many people are clueless and sent them money.

I think the amount of scam companies shows how many people send money.

$31 million. Just goes to show how many people are clueless and sent them money.

I think the amount of scam companies shows how many people send money.

[hegemony]

Does anyone know of a report, book, or story that explains how that part of NY ended up with such a concentration of JDBs and CA related firms? I always assume NY state has consumer friendly statutes on these matters yet it seems 716 area code is flush with these places. TIA

[TheVig]

Does anyone know of a report, book, or story that explains how that part of NY ended up with such a concentration of JDBs and CA related firms? I always assume NY state has consumer friendly statutes on these matters yet it seems 716 area code is flush with these places. TIA

 

I don't know of a story. I did ask someone once who was a Buffalo native his whole life until moving south. He's not sure why they settled in that area, other than the fact, there used to be a lot of unskilled factory type work there. You know the type of place you work in your whole life, hoping to retire from there. Those jobs went away, so lets just turn the whole place into one giant call center. After all, how hard is it to harass people for money.

 

I'm not sure how accurate that is. I've never been to Buffalo.

[ICANHASMUNY?]

Does anyone know of a report, book, or story that explains how that part of NY ended up with such a concentration of JDBs and CA related firms? I always assume NY state has consumer friendly statutes on these matters yet it seems 716 area code is flush with these places. TIA

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/15/magazine/bad-paper-debt-collector.html?_r=0

 

 

In many ways, Buffalo never recovered from the loss of its steel mills in the 1980s. Yet at least one industry was booming: debt collection. Buffalo is among the nation’s debt-collection hubs. One of the largest collection agencies in the country, Great Lakes Collection Bureau, was once based there.

 

When many of the com­pany’s managers eventually struck out on their own, their companies prospered, multiplied and hired still more collectors.

[JunkBuyersWorstNightmare]

 

Does anyone know of a report, book, or story that explains how that part of NY ended up with such a concentration of JDBs and CA related firms? I always assume NY state has consumer friendly statutes on these matters yet it seems 716 area code is flush with these places. TIA

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/15/magazine/bad-paper-debt-collector.html?_r=0

 

 

In many ways, Buffalo never recovered from the loss of its steel mills in the 1980s. Yet at least one industry was booming: debt collection. Buffalo is among the nation’s debt-collection hubs. One of the largest collection agencies in the country, Great Lakes Collection Bureau, was once based there.

 

When many of the com­pany’s managers eventually struck out on their own, their companies prospered, multiplied and hired still more collectors.

 

 

 

A once-great, but now slowly dying Rust Belt city with no shortage of desperate people.

[hegemony]

 

Does anyone know of a report, book, or story that explains how that part of NY ended up with such a concentration of JDBs and CA related firms? I always assume NY state has consumer friendly statutes on these matters yet it seems 716 area code is flush with these places. TIA

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/15/magazine/bad-paper-debt-collector.html?_r=0

 

 

In many ways, Buffalo never recovered from the loss of its steel mills in the 1980s. Yet at least one industry was booming: debt collection. Buffalo is among the nation’s debt-collection hubs. One of the largest collection agencies in the country, Great Lakes Collection Bureau, was once based there.

 

When many of the com­pany’s managers eventually struck out on their own, their companies prospered, multiplied and hired still more collectors.

 

thanks!

[cashnocredit]

It's really good to see the DOJ jump in rather than just the CFPB or FTC come down on these creeps. Only the DOJ can prosecute criminally and way too many of these peeps get off with a civil fine and injunction. Club Fed is a much better deterrent.

[ICANHASMUNY?]

Yeah, they have some bright Idea that it's only a $1K fine under the FDCPA.

[steelers1]

 

Does anyone know of a report, book, or story that explains how that part of NY ended up with such a concentration of JDBs and CA related firms? I always assume NY state has consumer friendly statutes on these matters yet it seems 716 area code is flush with these places. TIA

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/15/magazine/bad-paper-debt-collector.html?_r=0

 

 

In many ways, Buffalo never recovered from the loss of its steel mills in the 1980s. Yet at least one industry was booming: debt collection. Buffalo is among the nation’s debt-collection hubs. One of the largest collection agencies in the country, Great Lakes Collection Bureau, was once based there.

 

When many of the com­pany’s managers eventually struck out on their own, their companies prospered, multiplied and hired still more collectors.

 

 

I have a good friend that is a judge in Buffalo.

 

His Mother and other family members worked in the collection industry and that's how they supported their families.

 

He had started a small collections firm buy buying "paper" for a few bucks years ago before he became a judge.

 

Paper = old collection accounts a few pennies on the dollar.

 

There is your birth of a JDB / Collection Agency

 

We used to have drunk conversations about CA's and it always led to me calling him a POS.

 

When we talk we now leave that subject matter out of the conversation.

 

His points of view would make you puke!

[JunkBuyersWorstNightmare]

 

 

Does anyone know of a report, book, or story that explains how that part of NY ended up with such a concentration of JDBs and CA related firms? I always assume NY state has consumer friendly statutes on these matters yet it seems 716 area code is flush with these places. TIA

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/15/magazine/bad-paper-debt-collector.html?_r=0

 

 

In many ways, Buffalo never recovered from the loss of its steel mills in the 1980s. Yet at least one industry was booming: debt collection. Buffalo is among the nation’s debt-collection hubs. One of the largest collection agencies in the country, Great Lakes Collection Bureau, was once based there.

 

When many of the com­pany’s managers eventually struck out on their own, their companies prospered, multiplied and hired still more collectors.

 

 

I have a good friend that is a judge in Buffalo.

 

His Mother and other family members worked in the collection industry and that's how they supported their families.

 

He had started a small collections firm buy buying "paper" for a few bucks years ago before he became a judge.

 

Paper = old collection accounts a few pennies on the dollar.

 

There is your birth of a JDB / Collection Agency

 

We used to have drunk conversations about CA's and it always led to me calling him a POS.

 

When we talk we now leave that subject matter out of the conversation.

 

His points of view would make you puke!

 

 

 

I have no doubt whatsoever of this.

[IndyPoolPlayer]

I've never been to Buffalo.

You're not missing a thing. The official window shade of Buffalo is plywood.

[ICANHASMUNY?]

Niagara falls and Fort Niagara Are not to miss,

 

Countryside is pretty , Finger lakes are cool.

[IndyPoolPlayer]

Niagara falls and Fort Niagara Are not to miss,

 

Countryside is pretty , Finger lakes are cool.

Niagara Falls is nicer if you cross into Canada at Sarnia and take the 401/403/QEW to St Catherines

 

Finger Lakes are nowhere near Buffalo. Watkins Glen is a neat place - besides the race track there's wineries out the wahzoo there.

Edited November 22, 2016 by IndyPoolPlayer

[JunkBuyersWorstNightmare]

 

I've never been to Buffalo.

You're not missing a thing. The official window shade of Buffalo is plywood.

 

 

 

It was once a beautiful, thriving city, though.

[cashnocredit]

The closest I ever got to Buffalo was on a biz trip to Kodak in Rochester in the 70's. What an incredible company it once was. Things change.

[ICANHASMUNY?]

 

Niagara falls and Fort Niagara Are not to miss,

 

Countryside is pretty , Finger lakes are cool.

Niagara Falls is nicer if you cross into Canada at Sarnia and take the 401/403/QEW to St Catherines

 

Finger Lakes are nowhere near Buffalo. Watkins Glen is a neat place - besides the race track there's wineries out the wahzoo there.

 

 

Well, Buffalo seems a lot closer to the Finger lakes once you've taken all the winery tours...

[JunkBuyersWorstNightmare]

The closest I ever got to Buffalo was on a biz trip to Kodak in Rochester in the 70's. What an incredible company it once was. Things change.

 

 

Because they refused to embrace digital imaging until it was too late.

[cashnocredit]

 

The closest I ever got to Buffalo was on a biz trip to Kodak in Rochester in the 70's. What an incredible company it once was. Things change.

 

Because they refused to embrace digital imaging until it was too late.

 

They were an early leader in digital imaging but they had no significant barriers to entry and the future of imaging really belonged to the silicon foundries, not chemists. The rate of change is even faster today. Disk drive storage is currently getting obliterated by SS chips. Semi autonomous vehicles will obliterate long haul truckers and HOV lanes will transition to lanes for them. Then they will be allowed to drive perhaps 20MPH faster than other traffic but efficient as hell, packed perhaps 20' apart. Within 20 years most autos won't be owned but called on demand. Much cheaper. There will be special provision for self drivers but they will gradually get relegated to secondary roads. Within 20 years they will be in visible decline and in 30 years outlawed outside of rural areas.

 

I think this is likely to occur years earlier in places such as India and China for various reasons.

[JunkBuyersWorstNightmare]

 

 

The closest I ever got to Buffalo was on a biz trip to Kodak in Rochester in the 70's. What an incredible company it once was. Things change.

 

Because they refused to embrace digital imaging until it was too late.

 

They were an early leader in digital imaging but they had no significant barriers to entry and the future of imaging really belonged to the silicon foundries, not chemists. The rate of change is even faster today. Disk drive storage is currently getting obliterated by SS chips. Semi autonomous vehicles will obliterate long haul truckers and HOV lanes will transition to lanes for them. Then they will be allowed to drive perhaps 20MPH faster than other traffic but efficient as hell, packed perhaps 20' apart. Within 20 years most autos won't be owned but called on demand. Much cheaper. There will be special provision for self drivers but they will gradually get relegated to secondary roads. Within 20 years they will be in visible decline and in 30 years outlawed outside of rural areas.

 

I think this is likely to occur years earlier in places such as India and China for various reasons.

 

 

 

It will then be like Eastman Kodak on a steroidal scale. Hundreds of millions unemployed with no way to earn even subsistence wages.

[cashnocredit]

 

 

 

The closest I ever got to Buffalo was on a biz trip to Kodak in Rochester in the 70's. What an incredible company it once was. Things change.

 

Because they refused to embrace digital imaging until it was too late.

 

They were an early leader in digital imaging but they had no significant barriers to entry and the future of imaging really belonged to the silicon foundries, not chemists. The rate of change is even faster today. Disk drive storage is currently getting obliterated by SS chips. Semi autonomous vehicles will obliterate long haul truckers and HOV lanes will transition to lanes for them. Then they will be allowed to drive perhaps 20MPH faster than other traffic but efficient as hell, packed perhaps 20' apart. Within 20 years most autos won't be owned but called on demand. Much cheaper. There will be special provision for self drivers but they will gradually get relegated to secondary roads. Within 20 years they will be in visible decline and in 30 years outlawed outside of rural areas.

 

I think this is likely to occur years earlier in places such as India and China for various reasons.

 

 

 

It will then be like Eastman Kodak on a steroidal scale. Hundreds of millions unemployed with no way to earn even subsistence wages.

 

 

Tech and automation will change employment patterns. A lot. But increased economic efficiency is only of value if consumed. So there will be work but it will be different. There will likely be some sort of base income, perhaps something along the lines of Nixon's negative income tax notions. There will also be resistance. The good is the enemy of the better. One of the reasons I suspect this change will happen faster in Asia. The good wasn't all that good. Lower resistance to change and a greater belief tech progress is a "good thing."

[JunkBuyersWorstNightmare]

 

 

 

 

The closest I ever got to Buffalo was on a biz trip to Kodak in Rochester in the 70's. What an incredible company it once was. Things change.

 

Because they refused to embrace digital imaging until it was too late.

 

They were an early leader in digital imaging but they had no significant barriers to entry and the future of imaging really belonged to the silicon foundries, not chemists. The rate of change is even faster today. Disk drive storage is currently getting obliterated by SS chips. Semi autonomous vehicles will obliterate long haul truckers and HOV lanes will transition to lanes for them. Then they will be allowed to drive perhaps 20MPH faster than other traffic but efficient as hell, packed perhaps 20' apart. Within 20 years most autos won't be owned but called on demand. Much cheaper. There will be special provision for self drivers but they will gradually get relegated to secondary roads. Within 20 years they will be in visible decline and in 30 years outlawed outside of rural areas.

 

I think this is likely to occur years earlier in places such as India and China for various reasons.

 

 

 

It will then be like Eastman Kodak on a steroidal scale. Hundreds of millions unemployed with no way to earn even subsistence wages.

 

 

Tech and automation will change employment patterns. A lot. But increased economic efficiency is only of value if consumed. So there will be work but it will be different. There will likely be some sort of base income, perhaps something along the lines of Nixon's negative income tax notions. There will also be resistance. The good is the enemy of the better. One of the reasons I suspect this change will happen faster in Asia. The good wasn't all that good. Lower resistance to change and a greater belief tech progress is a "good thing."

 

 

We can't all sell each other stuff on eBay and provide rides on Uber.

[cashnocredit]

 

 

 

 

 

The closest I ever got to Buffalo was on a biz trip to Kodak in Rochester in the 70's. What an incredible company it once was. Things change.

 

Because they refused to embrace digital imaging until it was too late.

 

They were an early leader in digital imaging but they had no significant barriers to entry and the future of imaging really belonged to the silicon foundries, not chemists. The rate of change is even faster today. Disk drive storage is currently getting obliterated by SS chips. Semi autonomous vehicles will obliterate long haul truckers and HOV lanes will transition to lanes for them. Then they will be allowed to drive perhaps 20MPH faster than other traffic but efficient as hell, packed perhaps 20' apart. Within 20 years most autos won't be owned but called on demand. Much cheaper. There will be special provision for self drivers but they will gradually get relegated to secondary roads. Within 20 years they will be in visible decline and in 30 years outlawed outside of rural areas.

 

I think this is likely to occur years earlier in places such as India and China for various reasons.

 

 

 

It will then be like Eastman Kodak on a steroidal scale. Hundreds of millions unemployed with no way to earn even subsistence wages.

 

 

Tech and automation will change employment patterns. A lot. But increased economic efficiency is only of value if consumed. So there will be work but it will be different. There will likely be some sort of base income, perhaps something along the lines of Nixon's negative income tax notions. There will also be resistance. The good is the enemy of the better. One of the reasons I suspect this change will happen faster in Asia. The good wasn't all that good. Lower resistance to change and a greater belief tech progress is a "good thing."

 

 

We can't all sell each other stuff on eBay and provide rides on Uber.

 

 

Not to worry. Uber will be amongst the first to ditch their driver-contractors.