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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Critical Resolution Mediation LLC, another debt collection scam based out of Atlanta, Georgia.

The move was part of the Commission's Operation Corrupt Collector, a nationwide law enforcement sweep targeting debt collection companies engaged in abusive and fraudulent business practices.

In its complaint, the FTC alleged that Critical Resolution Mediation, its owner Brian Charles McKenzie violated the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) in connection with the company's abusive and deceptive debt-collection practices including harassing consumers to pay debts they do not owe.

Parliament Services LLC, a company that applied for and obtained
merchant processing accounts for Critical Resolution Mediation' phantom debt-collection operation, is also named as a defendant in the complaint.

Allegations against Critical Resolution Mediation

According to the FTC, Critical Resolution Mediation's collectors allegedly posed as law enforcement officers, attorneys, mediators as well as process servers when calling consumers about their supposed debts.

Its collectors allegedly threatened consumers with arrest and imprisonment to deceive and force them into paying "phantom debts," which were never owed in the first place or had already been paid.

The FTC also alleged that the defendants used other tactics to threaten consumers into paying such as contacting co-workers and family members about supposed owed debts, threatening to revoke drivers licenses and lowering credit scores, and garnishing wages.

When consumers attempted to challenge the scammers on the validity of their debt claims, Critical Resolution Mediation allegedly used profane language and refused to allow consumers to review key information regarding their debt, a direct violation of the FDCPA.

A federal court granted the FTC's request for an order to shut down the operations of Critical Resolution Mediation.

This marks another big victory in the FTC's ongoing battle against phantom debt collectors who have fleeced consumers for millions of dollars over the course of the last few decades.

The Commission filed the complaint against the defendants in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

The FTC and its federal and state law enforcement partners in Operation Corrupt Collector already executed 50 enforcement actions across the United States. The Commission recently filed lawsuits against National Landmark Logistics and Absolute Financial Services in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.