BBB, Fort Wayne man warning others about cash advance consumer crime

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A Fort Wayne man has fallen victim to a consumer crime.  He said he's now jobless and left without hundreds of dollars.

This is a story all to familiar to the Better Business Bureau .  What's interesting about this case is the people on the other side of the phone knew almost everything about him and used it to their advantage.  It all started with a phone call from a company called Cash Advance Group.  They told Ernest Robinson he owed $3500 but would settle his debt if he sent them money within the next hour.

He was given specific instructions to go to CVS and put $697 on a prepaid credit card then call them back with the card number.

"They said they were going to put a freeze on my checking account if I didn't get it out there in time," Robinson said.

Robinson said he did that but they kept demanding more money and even began threatening to send the sheriff to arrest him.  The Better Business Bureau says when you get a call like this do more research and ask for the company to send an official letter to you in the mail.

"When they get a call like that threatening call, an intimidating call they just need to hang up or all they need to say to them is give me your number I want to check you out with the Better Business Bureau," BBB Spokesperson Marjorie Stephens said.

The Better Business Bureau's Marjorie Stephens said Cash Advance Group doesn't exist.  A simple web search of the phone number used to call Robinson reveals several websites where people all across the country are complaining about losing hundreds of dollars and being threatened by the person on the other end of the line.  It turns out the person or people committing these consumer crimes are using a phone number from Sacramento, California.

Robinson is now warning others about what happened to him so more don't fall for the same thing he did.

"Right now we have no car and I quit my job because they said that they were going to send a sheriff out there with a warrant on the job.  So, I quit my job because I didn't want my car to be repossessed by law enforcement," Robinson said.

NewsChannel 15 called the number to Cash Advance Group.  The person who answered the phone refused to tell us if it was Cash Advance Group and would not identify himself.