number in spam text to call maybe a scam

I had a call from 052-797-796 last week and a very rude middle Eastern speaking person claimed that a William White listed me as his father and they had a pending case against him. They didn't believe me when I said I had no clue what they were talking about, asked me my son's name, and tried to scare me by telling me my number was under investigation and I would be legally liable for "William's" legal issues. I told them off, gave them ZERO information, and hung up.

Today they called again and left a message. Again, a middle eastern person who said he was from Central Investigations and his name was George Watson, (lmao, sure you were a George!), said I HAVE to call him immediately regarding a pending case against William White! Ummm, I don't think so "George"!

SCAM!!!!!

don't feel bad i have been getting calls from them also. i just finally had enough of it and got my number changed. you know that its wrong for them to harrass you, so spend a few dollars and get your number change you should have a peace of mind.

i have been getting these calls saying i owe on payday loans 800 dollars or they will arrest

Information for Filing Telemarketing complaints in Canada and the United States:

CANADA

RCMP Phone busters
Telephone toll free: 1-888-495-8501
Mon-Fri 8:30-5:20 pm (Eastern Time)
E-mail: info@phonebusters.com
RCMP Website is at: http://www.phonebusters.com  
File complaint online:  https://www.recol.ca/intro.aspx?lang=en
(Register with a password and then can continually file complaints)

Canada National Do Not Call Registry, file Complaint:
Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
Telephone toll free: 1-877-249-2782
CRTC online complaints form: https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/pfplin-fccoin-eng
that is at  www.crtc.gc.ca

Better Business Bureau, Check out a Business, find owner, contact info; file a Complaint:
http://www.bbb.org/canada/

UNITED STATES

US National Do Not Call Registry, file complaint: https://www.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx

Federal Trade Commission
http://www.ftc.gov 1-877-382-4357
File complaint online: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov
that is at www.ftc.gov

Federal Communications Commission
Telephone toll free:  1-888-225-5322
http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html
File complaint online: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumers.html
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm
FCC Abandoned Calls Complaint form:
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/1088D-R.pdf
email:  fccinfo@fcc.gov

Better Business Bureau, Check out a Business, find owner, contact info; file a Complaint:
http://www.bbb.org/us/

I received a call from Joshua Jackson to call 443-524-7337 since there was a lawsuit agaisnt me  and that he was a affidavit processor. He then tranfers me to Mark Obenen who was a "supervisor". I was then trasnfer to Roky Wilson who told me that i was gonna be charged with 3 items, such as check fraud and all this other stuff unless I paid them $795 and it woudl be a OOCR-out of court payment. They had my name, my old bank acout, my last 4 of my socials. I almost paid them cause I was scared. After hanging up I search their names, their phone # 052797796-caller ID and came across all SCAM stuff. I was supposed to provide them with my acct# today. I called the Florida State Generals Office this morning and they told me it was a scam, to just hang up on them, that you cannot be arrested for a debt. When Roky Chalidi called me this morning I told him to go ahead and do whatever paperwork they wanted, cause they were a scam and i had contacted the state dept and I yelled at them.  A few minutes later I received a call from another name asking me if I wanted a $1600 payday loan. I know what they are trying to do...get my chekin acct to debit money. PLEASE BE AWARE...I AM GREATFUL FOR INTERNET SEARCH. I am glad I am not the only one.

I got my first call from this the other day but didn't answer because the number wasn't real. It was from +052797796. Now I just got a call I didn't answer from a cell in Alaska. Do you think this could be the same people? I don't know anyone in Alaska but didnt know if the other calls people got were from cell phone numbers????

Fake Debt Collectors and Collection Tactics

If consumers did not have enough to worry about having to deal with rising credit card interest rates, late fees and over-limit fees, zombie debt, and fervent bill collectors, now we have to worry about collectors calling about fake debt.

While many legitimate collection agencies follow the FDCPA, there are some collectors out there that are only running a scam operation and will be quick to use threats and scare tactics to get you to pay up quick. Their scams turn up in mailboxes, on the internet and through the telephone every day. Some collectors pose as national banks, government agencies (FBI, CIA), or even popular celebrity stars to gain personal information. These phony collectors may threaten to repossess your house, issue a warrant for your arrest, or even garnish your pay check, all of which are against the FDCPA rules. Some of which are even laughable (for example, there is no debtor?s prison in the United States).

Fake debt scammers rely on the fear and lack of knowledge about debt collection laws within the population. They also figure that a certain percentage of their calls will be received by individuals who may be carrying debt on credit cards anyway and may be susceptible to intimidation. When collectors use misleading statements and fail to provide identification, they are breaking the law. Never pay money to a possible thief. Keep cool when you hear from collectors to avoid this collection abuse.

Many times, people who took out payday loans online in the past are most susceptible. If you took a payday loan, be aware scammers may have access to your Social Security number and other personal information, and keep your guard up against such tactics.

Ironically, real "deadbeats" probably wouldn't fall for these scammers, since they have no intention of repaying their creditors anyway. But upright citizens may doubt themselves, thinking they've forgotten to pay a bill. Many times, the sums involved tend to be fairly small, so some people may be tempted to just pay the "bill" and "get it over with."

Ways to Protect Yourself Against Debt Collection Scams

Review your credit report frequently to find inaccuracies.
Be aware of your current creditors and how much you owe.
Ask creditors for identification before you provide any information over the telephone.
Reporting Fake Debt Collectors

If you ever receive a call from anyone identifying himself as a debt collector, the law requires that the debt collector provide you with identification, and that the debt collector refrain from making misleading and threatening statements.

You can report any problems you have to your state Attorney General?s office www.naag.org and the Federal Trade Commission www.ftc.gov. Many states have their own debt collection laws that are different from the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Your Attorney General?s office can help you determine your rights under your state?s law.

http://www.internetautoguide.com/credit-cente ... on-tactics.html

Called by "Joseph Martin"...said I had a lawsuit against me, had all my personal info and threatened me with bank fraud arrest for a payday loan. I got as much info from him as I could but having been a collector for 24 years nothing was legal or made sense. When I told him my attorney will call him to settle the matter he responded that they won't talk to my attorney and will be sending someone to arrrest me immediately. He then hung up. Scared the crap out of me but I knew something was not right and Googled both the number they left to call "610-427-5060" and the caller ID of 052797796. Glad to know its a scam but not happy about them having my SSN and other serious info.

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-598-1752

This scam has been going on for well over a year, now and has been recognized as such by the BBB:

Chicago, IL ? August 5, 2009 ? The Better Business Bureau is issuing an alert about phony debt collectors that are calling consumers nationwide and claiming that they have defaulted on a payday loan and will be arrested if they don?t pay immediately. Claiming to be lawyers, the scammers say they are with the ?Financial Accountability Association? or the ?Federal Legislation of Unsecured Loans? and are equipped with a disconcerting amount of personal information about their potential victims.

?Because the scammers have so much information about potential victims, the BBB is concerned that this may be the result of a data breach,? said Steve J. Bernas, president & CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and Northern Illinois. ?Thousands of people may have had their personal information compromised, and given the scammers? tactics, it appears that those who have previously used payday loan services could be particularly at risk.?

According to reports received by the BBB and posted online, the scammers accuse the victim of defaulting on a payday loan and claim they are being sued. The phony debt collector threatens that, if the victim doesn?t pay as much as $1,000 immediately via wire or by providing bank account or credit card numbers, he or she will be arrested and extradited to California within the hour to stand trial. The scammers often may have the victim?s Social Security, old bank account numbers or driver?s license numbers as well as home addresses, employer information and even the names of personal friends and professional references.

The BBB offers the following advice to consumers if they receive a suspicious telephone call about an outstanding debt:
* Ask the debt collector to provide official documentation in writing which substantiates the debt.
* Do not provide or confirm any bank account, credit card or other personal information over the phone until you have confirmed the legitimacy of the call.
* Review recent copies of your credit reports to ensure that the alleged debt is not affecting your credit. Consumers can do this for free once every 12 months, and can find more information here: http://www.ftc.gov/freereports
* Under the Federal Trade Commission's Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or abuse any person while attempting to collect a debt.
* A debtor may be contacted between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. only and can be contacted at work unless instructed not to.
* File a complaint with the FTC online if the caller is abusive, uses threats or otherwise violates federal telemarketing laws.
* File a complaint with BBB online at www.bbb.org if you believe a debt collector is trying to scam you.

http://www.thinkglink.com/article/2009/08/06/ ... eading-says-bbb

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-618-5897

This is a very active group of scammers, many of whom are calling from India (and probably other countries) and are in cahoots with a group of American pay day loan scammers. They attempt to extort money from consumers with a myriad of false and illegal threats, and alternately pose as debt collectors, federal and state law enforcement officers, lawyers and bankers. Their trademark is to use meaningless legalese gobblygook phrases like "We are downloading warrants against you" or "We are filing an affidavit against you." Another trademark phrase is to threaten the consumer with something like this ridiculous phrase: "If you don't pay then only God can help you."

Typical of many financial scams of this variety, they usually demand payment via Western Union or MoneyGram or credit card. They use any number of phony names such as US National Bank, Federal Investigation Bureau, US Legal Investigation Bureau, Hopkins Law Office, United Legal Processing, Morgan Associates, United Pay Services, National Processing, White Collar Crime Unit and many more.  These criminals also use many phone numbers from many area codes; they're probably using caller-id spoofing software and/or VoIP to disguise their real location.

The main thing to remember is that anytime someone calls you demanding money to prevent your arrest, or demanding your lawyer's name so they can sue you, it is ALWAYS a scam. No debt collector (let alone criminals posing as debt collectors) has the authority to have anyone arrested for anything. (And it's illegal to them to threaten such a thing.) And since these foreign dirtbags routinely impersonate law enforcement, it's also important to remember that American law enforcement officers aren't in the business of debt collection.  (Debt is a civil, not a criminal, matter.)

The bottom line is, these are criminals trying to steal your money.

A consumer posting a complaint about these same scammers at http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-718-831-7157 notes that 718-831-7157 is associated with an India-based "outsourcing" telephone bank.  Though a reverse search on WhitePages.com shows that 718-831-7157 is an unlisted land line in New York City, information on Debtbuyers.Com shows that that number is used by India-based Intellisourze. (Source: http://www.debtbuyers.com/debtbuyers.asp ) My guess is that it's a VoIP phone number.

This is another piece of the puzzle that fits in perfectly with other information about this scam. There are some reports on 800Notes that have suggested that the crooks behind this offshore scam are also the crooks behind the notorious Bass/Ellis Crosby & Assoc./States Predisposition scams in Florida and Georgia. The interesting thing is that the number of complaints on here about the US National Bank/US Legal Investigation/Federal Investigation scam skyrocketed *after* April 7, 2008 when Florida obtained a $1.3 million judgment against Ted Ellis Crosby, shutdown his operations and barred him from ever conducting debt collections in Florida (Read http://myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsrel ... 5257424005858A6 ) There's certainly a good chance that the crooks placing these calls from India are doing so on behalf of the American crooks behind the Crosby/Bass/States Predisposition scams.

Here's the contact information for the phone bank in India:

IntellisOurzE BPO
701, Sapphier, Nr. Cargo Motors,
C.G. Road Navrangpura,
Ahmedabad - 9. (Guj.) INDIA.
E-Mail: info@intellisourze.com
Website: www.intellisourze.com

A check on the domain name "intellisourze.com" shows that the website and name registration was created on May 8, just one month *after* the Crosby scams were shut down in Florida:

Domain Name: INTELLISOURZE.COM
Registrant:  Pragra Infratech Pvt. Limited.
Email:  ankur.ranpariya@pragra.com  
908, Aksaht Tower, Nr. ICICI Bank
Opp. Rajpath Club, S.G. Highway
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India 380054
Tel. +91.7926871353
Creation Date: 08-May-2008
Expiration Date: 08-May-2009
Domain servers in listed order: ns5.znetindia.com ns4.znetindia.com
(Source: http://whois.domaintools.com/intellisourze.com )

Though scam calls from these crooks have been going on long before May 8, the frequency of complaints about these calls increased considerably after Crosby was shut down in early April.

This is conjecture, but appearances suggest that Crosby and company were originally running a two-pronged payday loan scam operation -- with some calls being made from Jacksonville, Florida and other calls being made from a phone bank in India (and possibly other countries); then, after the Florida Attorney General shut down the Crosby scams in Florida, the Crosby crooks transferred most of their scam efforts to the India phone bank.

If you are targeted by these criminals, be sure to report them to all the following federal and state law enforcement agencies (most of which you can do online or over the phone):

1) Alert the FBI at https://tips.fbi.gov  Be sure to tell the FBI that you are being targeted by extortionists over the phone. And if the crooks claim to be law enforcement, lawyers, officers of the court or bankers, or if they threatened you with arrest, be sure to include that information in your report.

2) File a complaint online with The Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en

3) File a complaint with your local police. Most police departments will take a report over the phone.  Be sure to tell them that you're being targeted by an extortionist and give them all the details.

4) The caller placed the call under a Texas area code. Even though the caller ID was probably spoofed or they're using VoIP technology to hide the fact that they're really calling from overseas, you should also file a complaint with the Texas Attorney General at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/complain.shtml

5) File a complaint your state's attorney general, the contact information for whom is at www.naag.org

6) The U.S. Secret Service is responsible for protecting the country's financial infrastructure and payment systems from international and domestic threats. Call or write your local Secret Service field office to alert them to the details of this attempted extortion. The addresses and phone numbers for the local Secret Service field offices are listed at http://www.secretservice.gov/field_offices.shtml or in your phone book.

If these crooks call back, promise them nothing, pay them nothing and tell them nothing other than that you know they're a scam and that you've reported them to law enforcement. (And be sure to report them to all the agencies above each time they call you.)

By the way, here's just a small sample of numbers used by this particular group of scammers. Read the reports and you'll see the same pattern time and again -- phony organization names, thick foreign accents, and oddly worded threats that are so melodramatic and ridiculous that it's laughable:

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-925-262-1327
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-678-954-6346
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-341-4004
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-856-831-0640
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-949-743-1140
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-410-505-8128
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-917-464-2534
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-210-858-6602
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-775-2121
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-949-743-1156
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-245-1402
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-245-0922
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-723-5572
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-904-425-2863
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-718-831-7157
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-904-425-2857
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-858-244-0444
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-954-678-9724
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-610-571-3252
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-909-8245

...and many, MANY more.

I have been getting calls from the wierd number +052797796. At first it started out as a person from "Central Investigations of Finance" with a very heavy accent. He told me his name was Rocky Wilson and told me that my mom was in heavy debt and she needed to contact him at the 202 number. I made her call it and then the same guy called me back and told me he was going to come to my house and kick me and my mother's butt and that the cops were going to arrest us. I reported it to the police. It turned into a very ugly conversation between "Rocky Wilson" and I because I was getting so angry! He started to speak very vulgar to me. I tried to block the number with my cell phone provider and I couldn't because it's not a real number. It's kind of scary that an unknown person can get info on people like that. I get at least 4 calls a day from that number and when I have enough I answer and scream "what the hell do you want" and he says "I want to be phone friends". I think the best option is to change my phone number because it is getting to be rediculous!!

I got the same exact call you did, If you have any insite please let me know as well as I'm a bit shocked!!!

I have been recieving calls from 052797796, which is not a complete nubmber. A lady with a heavy accent leaves me a message and tells me to call her back. The first time she said her name was Julian smith, when she called again she said she was Angela Brown. It was clearly the same person calling my cell phone and my work number. Her message says to call her back at 202-379-1917 and that this is time sensative information. She says that she is from Central investigations and that I am apprently in a legal mess. I obviously have no clue who or what this is and I'm worried becuase she has the last 4 digits of my social security number. Does any know what can be done to stop this? I have been on top of my credit so I don't think she is charging anything on my credit cards or opening accounts.Help??

I received a phone call from Rocky Wilson at Central Investigation Headquarters.  He told me I would be arrested for fraud for not repaying a payday loan from Cash Transfer, Cash Net USA.  I have received other calls at work from 415-880-5599 using the same scam.  I have blocked this number on my cell and reported the scam to police.

I received a call from Rocky Wilson at Central investigation Headquarters in Washington, DC he said that I was being sued for check fraud, steeling money, wrong back informaiton. He also said that I would have charges against me and that the payday loan company was going to have me arrested at work or home. Then I asked for him to provide the information of when I had taken out the payday loan how much and from which company he said that he couldn't provide that information until I agreed to pay off the debit the only thing he could tell me was the company name which was Cash Transfer, Cash Net, US Financial, US Transfer Financial.Just beware they wanted me to give out my debit informaiton


Rocky Wilson 202-379-1917 This is a Scam

its a SCAM!!! My Txt Message said:

san bernardino school employees fcu has deactivated your DEBIT CARD

sanbernardinoschoolemployees_fcu_has_deactivated_your_"DEBITCARD"

I don't even live in California!! Bunch of lame losers trying to steal your info and money. F%&K THEM!

I got the text too - but it gave the name of a different bank that I do not use either. Seems to be going around the country.

If you receive a text from Covenant Federal Credit Union regarding debit card deactivation, it is a SCAM. My husband received a text from 202-379-1917 about his debit card being deactivated. First of all, we do not use this credit union. I looked up Covenant Federal Credit Union and there was a message that said if you receive an e-mail asking you to go to a Covenant web site don't do it - it's a scam.

i get texts from this # all the time and it's annoying.  it says my debit card has been suspended and to call right away.  this is a 100% scam.

this same # also has an email address of:

fstomk@messaging.sprintpcs.com

Had the same text, has to be fake.

I got a text with the number saying my debit card has been deactivated.