it was a call to my cell phone.

They have been calling the house all day long. Often using another phone number. Asking for an old old boyfriend of mine. I don't even know where he is anymore. Who doesn't live with me!!!!!!! I have told them several times?wrong number. They just keep calling back. How do you get rid of these people!!!!

Just received a phone call from this 202-239-2003 number, stating that this message was intended for me or my attorney, and that if I do not call, all he can to do is wish me luck with this matter at hand.

They just called me at 6:29am in California which is illegal in the collection world.  Such a scam I have been getting calls stating that that was going to be arrested for years.

I just spoke with the same,"attorney" named Matthew Shaw and I asked for an address of their location. They gave me 500 Indiana Ave, N. Washington D.C.  20001. I asked if there was a suite number and he said "there is no other number besides the one you are calling." I then asked him if he knew what a suite was and he replied no. He said he was going to call the U.S. Marshalls... I laughed and he got a bit angry. I googled the address and it's a courthouse. Real legit, I think not. I knew this has scam all over it! I just don't appreciate them having my social.

consistently  calling about car loan or payday loan/ advance.  politely asked to stop calling that I have never applied for advance or loan.  they keep calling  up to 20 times a day or more no joke!  told them to take my number off their call list.  they hang up on me. I call back and they hang up again. I block the number and they call back with another number.  it's never ending!  this is harassment  it is illegal and needs to stop!  there has got to be something we can do.

Just had the same exact thing

I was contacted today for the first time. The same exact thing happened to me as what happened to you Sunni. I was told I did not pay some fee for a payday loan advance application fee of $90 and that I now owe over $5000. He said the police would be showing up in an hour. I told him I will have a lawyer contact him back and actually called a lawyer because I thought I may get picked up at work. The lawyer stated that this guy is full of ish and to ignore it. I did file a complaint with the federal trade commission and advise all of you to do so.

Do not answer these calls they are scammers that want to get your money!!!!!!!!!!!!!They will try to scare you to pay them..........Whatever you do do not PAY them any MONEY.........................They will keep doing it until you are bankrupt......Let them work a REAL JOB for the pay.........................................

Report them here, and advance fee loans are illegal period:
File reports with the FBI, your state attorney general and Department Of Justice,CFB,FTC & FCC..

http://www.nw3c.org/
http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
http://www.fbi.gov/
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#&panel1-1
https://esupport.fcc.gov/ccmsforms/form1088.action
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0078-advance-fee-loans
http://www.fraud.org/scams/direct-marketing/advance-fee-loans
Payday loans
http://www.paydayloaninfo.org/state-information

This number called me and said that I needed to call the same number back right away but to speak with a guy named Michael Shaw. When I called back I spoke with him and he said that I am being sued because I have applied for too many loans without paying the "application fee" of $90
He said that I am being sued for $5,000 but he is giving me a chance and if I pay $198.32 then I would get my name wiped clean. So I asked him if he was able to send me via e-mail or fax what I had to do and he said that if he does I will be liable for the $5,000.
He was very intimidating and was posing as a lawyer. If you call the number now all it is saying is to leave a message and he will get back to you as soon as possible. He doesn't even mention a law firm or anything...
DONT GIVE THEM ANY INFORMATION OR MONEY!

About a loan that i have never receive

This is crazy. I have been scared out of my mind due to these calls then to see all these reports on the exact number i got the call from... wow. Saying may god help me if i dont call back and i need an attorney. My question is, how do you get them to stop? Ive contacted my local police department, called the bbc. I just want it to stop

These people just called my work and said they were going to f-ck my mother SCAMMERS DONT ANSWER REPORTED TO POLICE!!!!!

THEY ARE HARRASSING ABD THREATENING ME AT WORK AND CALLING RANDOM FAMILY MEMEBERS.

I just told one off over the phone. I know the law Thank God so I know its all BS. its just aggravating like how did they get ppls numbers from their jobs?? how do they do that??

This middle eastern man called my job and I put him on speaker so everyone could see how stupid he sounded!!! we all know your a scammer so stop calling you idot!!!

I received a call with a message that I owe money and to contact a lawyer im glad I read the post listed above that this is a scam I will ignore caller and report it to the ftc.

Sounded like a recorded msg that i got on voicemail. India sounding voice said i or my lawyer needed 2 contact this number regarding criminal and money matters and do not disregard this msg or God help you. This is the 2nd call like this in a week. 1st call was a different number but same msg. Had one last year from yet a different number. This one from Wash.DC., 2nd from Wisconcin, and last year from California. Sick of these folks.

This is a criminal extortion scam operating out of India. They are making the calls utilizing VOIP and the names of legitimate firms to make it appear the calls are originating from within the US. There is NO "company" or "debt" and you will NOT be arrested. They are harvesting and/or buying consumers' personal identifying information and you need to do whatever you can to protect yourself. This includes: Notifying the FTC: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/, placing fraud alerts with all three credit bureaus, notifying your bank and employer and letting these criminals know you are aware they are attempting to extort money for a non-existent debt and have alerted the authorities.

Read this investigative report ABC News did on this scam:

Hundreds of thousands of cash-strapped Americans have been targeted by abusive debt collectors operating out of overseas call centers suspected of links to organized crime in India, law enforcement officials told ABC News.

The calls are part of a massive scam, one that appears to target struggling Americans -- especially those who have gone online to apply for payday loans. Armed with personal information from those pilfered applications, the threatening callers, who claim to be debt collectors poised to initiate legal action, have managed to pry loose millions of dollars from their victims -- even when the victims never owed money in the first place.

"This is what we call a phantom debt collection scam," said Jon Leibowitz, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. "It's a very pernicious and innovative new fraud."

Working through call centers in India, the commission estimates that the criminals have dialed at least 2.5 million calls, persuading already cash-strapped victims to send them more than $5 million. Some have reported receiving dozens of calls per hour. They are victims like Cindy Gervais, of New Orleans, who went online for a quick loan when her husband's car was hit by a driver who didn't have insurance.

Even though she paid the loan off, the so-called "phantom" debt collectors with Indian accents began calling to say she still owed money.

"He more or less told me that if I didn't pay, they were going to have someone on my doorstep to arrest me," she told ABC News. "And that they were going to contact my place of business, and tell them what kind of person I am."

At first, she said she resisted. Then the calls became more frequent, and started to ring on her cell phone, and at the grocery distribution company where she had worked for 27 years.

"I was more or less in panic mode because he told me there would be someone before noon at my place of business to arrest me and take me to jail," she said tearfully. "So I agreed to pay him."

After receiving scores of complaints, investigators with the FTC said they began tracking the calls, and following the payments. They alleged the payments led them to a California company run by an Indian-American named Kirit Patel, and that such scams would not be possible without American front men.

"I would say that all roads of this scam, or many of the roads of this scam, lead back to Mr. Patel," said the FTC's Leibowitz.

ABC News tracked Patel for weeks, from the suburbs of San Francisco to Austin, Texas.

Patel refused to talk. But his lawyer, Mark Ellis, said he believes it is far too early to pass judgment on his client. Ellis, a Sacramento-based attorney, told ABC News that Patel was hired for a nominal fee to set up an American shell company, and had no idea what the call centers in India were doing.

"I can tell you, he was as snookered by the people in India as anybody," Ellis said. "He's a 69-year-old man who is nearing his retirement who thought all he had to do was set up some corporations and everything was on the up and up. He's completely dismayed that he has become the lightning rod of this entire problem."

A close friend of Patel's also defended him in a brief interview at his home, saying Patel was not trying to defraud anyone -- he was just an unwitting, bit player in a larger scheme.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/phantom-debt-co ... ory?id=16512428

Someone keeps calling me from this number and its not legible what they say. Middle eastern accent. Say they are calling about a legal matter but won't tell me the information.

Get this call too. starts with; "This message is intended for......you. Never gives a name of who they are trying to call. Wish they would stop. probably trying to get some personal info from you.

I keep getting a voicemail from this number. It must be a recording because the beginning of the message is cut off (as if the message starts playing before my phone begins recording it). It is a man with an Indian accent, and the only parts I can make out include "you or your lawyer must return this call" and something that sounds very much like a threat that if I do not return the call, I will suffer the consequences, and ends with "May God help you." No joke.

Another number to watch for from the people with the eastern accent. Caller starts out with "this call is intended for you". The same spiel as others about your social security number, etc.. They just won't ever learn that, with sites like 800notes, their scam is world known.