The operators of a debt collection company that used false threats and other unlawful tactics to collect consumers’ debts have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they violated federal law. The settlements bar future violations and require the defendants to pay $225,000. According to the FTC complaint, the defendants, who had about three million consumer accounts and collected debts in every state, falsely threatened that nonpayment of debt would result in garnishment of consumers’ wages, arrest, or legal action. The FTC alleged that the defendants used illegal and abusive debt collection methods: they called consumers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.; called their workplace when the collectors knew or had reason to know that the calls were inconvenient; told employers, co-workers, relatives, and neighbors about the consumers’ debts; continued calling after receiving consumers’ written demands to stop; and used harassing and abusive tactics such as calling many times a ...