I recently filed a chapter 13 bancruptcy, but converted to a chapter 7 in October, 2014. I received a phone call this past Saturday from, who introduced himself as, Atty. Nicholas Schwartz as a representing attorney at the same law firm as my bancruptcy attorney. The phone number in which he was calling from appeared as my bancruptcy attorney's phone number. Mr. Schwartz stated that he was an attorney at the firm and that due to a recent discovery he was working with my attorney on my chapter 7 case. He advised my attorney asked him to call on his behalf and that they learned earlier in the week that one of my creditors was filing a criminal case against me in the courts on Monday (today), October 27th for check fraud. He stated that the bancruptcy didn't cover criminal cases by creditors and that this urgent matter needed immediate attention. He provided several options, one in which he gave me the phone number to the creditor to try to settle it myself and scheduled an appointment for me to meet with him and my attorney on this mornng at 9am. He stated figting it would be costly, time consuming and extremely risky in lue of other creditors following somewhat the same lead should they see the case pending against me. Mr. Schwartz said the creditor was a payday loan company, Hydra Financial. I aknowledged I dealt with them in the past, but was sure I paid them off. I'd taken a loan out with them in February, 2012. The bank account I used at that time was closed 6 months after I first received the loan.
I contacted the bank to retreive the bank statements from that timeframe, but was told it would take 7 business days before I would receive them. I then called the creditor at the number provided to me by Mr. Schwartz, (866) 218 2536, and was greeted by a recorder that said I had called the Fraud Investigations Dept. I spoke with someone name Chris who stated that Hydra Financial was their client and confirmed they were going to court on Monday. He said my full dept was $898, but they were willing to settle the case for $484. He said that it was Hydra's policy to only accept payment via the Green Dot Money Pak Relaodable Card. This was a huge red flag! I already had my reservations with this entire situation from the phone call by "Atty. Nicholas Schwartz" to Chris with the Fraud Investigation Dept. I called my attorney leaving an urgent message, but received no call back. Affraid of what was to come on Monday, I followed the instructions provided by Chris and made the payment. I was given a payment confirmation number, but did not receive a payment receipt as was told via email. I kept my appointment with my attorney on this morning, to learn first by his assistant that there was no appointment set for me and that there was no Atty. Nicholas Schwartz that worked out of that building. My attorney confirmed that indeed I had been scammed. He does not know how the person was able to call me from his registered phone number, but will be investigating this serious issue. He could only assume I was targeted because bancruptcys are public records for anyone to see.
I have filed a police report and contacted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to warn the public. I know that I am out of this money, but I want to warn everyone not to make the same mistake I did. If someone calls you from your attorney's office that you are unfamiliar with, or is not your attorney do not speak with them. Ask them to have your attorney contact you directly. And whatever you do never send money for a payment anywhere via a Green Dot Money Pak Card. Transactions cannot be traced using this payment method. I am not sure if my payment even went to Hydra Financial. Please be careful and learn from my mistake. Peace and blessings to you all.
Hydra Fund Loan Reviews
I recently filed a chapter 13 bancruptcy, but converted to a chapter 7 in October, 2014. I received a phone call this past Saturday from, who introduced himself as, Atty. Nicholas Schwartz as a representing attorney at the same law firm as my bancruptcy attorney. The phone number in which he was calling from appeared as my bancruptcy attorney's phone number. Mr. Schwartz stated that he was an attorney at the firm and that due to a recent discovery he was working with my attorney on my chapter 7 case. He advised my attorney asked him to call on his behalf and that they learned earlier in the week that one of my creditors was filing a criminal case against me in the courts on Monday (today), October 27th for check fraud. He stated that the bancruptcy didn't cover criminal cases by creditors and that this urgent matter needed immediate attention. He provided several options, one in which he gave me the phone number to the creditor to try to settle it myself and scheduled an appointment for me to meet with him and my attorney on this mornng at 9am. He stated figting it would be costly, time consuming and extremely risky in lue of other creditors following somewhat the same lead should they see the case pending against me. Mr. Schwartz said the creditor was a payday loan company, Hydra Financial. I aknowledged I dealt with them in the past, but was sure I paid them off. I'd taken a loan out with them in February, 2012. The bank account I used at that time was closed 6 months after I first received the loan.
I contacted the bank to retreive the bank statements from that timeframe, but was told it would take 7 business days before I would receive them. I then called the creditor at the number provided to me by Mr. Schwartz, (866) 218 2536, and was greeted by a recorder that said I had called the Fraud Investigations Dept. I spoke with someone name Chris who stated that Hydra Financial was their client and confirmed they were going to court on Monday. He said my full dept was $898, but they were willing to settle the case for $484. He said that it was Hydra's policy to only accept payment via the Green Dot Money Pak Relaodable Card. This was a huge red flag! I already had my reservations with this entire situation from the phone call by "Atty. Nicholas Schwartz" to Chris with the Fraud Investigation Dept. I called my attorney leaving an urgent message, but received no call back. Affraid of what was to come on Monday, I followed the instructions provided by Chris and made the payment. I was given a payment confirmation number, but did not receive a payment receipt as was told via email. I kept my appointment with my attorney on this morning, to learn first by his assistant that there was no appointment set for me and that there was no Atty. Nicholas Schwartz that worked out of that building. My attorney confirmed that indeed I had been scammed. He does not know how the person was able to call me from his registered phone number, but will be investigating this serious issue. He could only assume I was targeted because bancruptcys are public records for anyone to see.
I have filed a police report and contacted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to warn the public. I know that I am out of this money, but I want to warn everyone not to make the same mistake I did. If someone calls you from your attorney's office that you are unfamiliar with, or is not your attorney do not speak with them. Ask them to have your attorney contact you directly. And whatever you do never send money for a payment anywhere via a Green Dot Money Pak Card. Transactions cannot be traced using this payment method. I am not sure if my payment even went to Hydra Financial. Please be careful and learn from my mistake. Peace and blessings to you all.