Got a call fromt his number from a man stating he was Officer Anderson from the Credit Crime something or other and as I looked up this number and tried to call it back, there was no answer.  I didnt leave a message because it looks and smells like a scam.  Other reports on the WEB say it is if you ever checked into getting a payday advance but then didnt.  They are trying to collect on money not barrowed. BTW, thay have all your information. So if they call you report them to your local police dept or the FBI.

Yesterday two of my friends were called and harrassed by a foreign speaking "Mike Edwards" about me. He gave false information and threatened an embarrassing event would occur to them. I am reporting in the hopes others will know this is a scam and perhaps these culprits will be found.

Thank you.

They do not follow correct procedures and anyone that receives a call should report them immediately.

a arabic man named don wilson called my home and told my dad i was facing criminal check charges. I callled the numbers back and no anwser. one number was 206-855-5354 and 804-205-3023

A person named John Wilson called my parents house stating there was a pending lawsuit against me. Called the number 206-855-5354 multiple times with no answer, only a voice that stas leave a message

this number called me and got my ssn somehow and told me to pay him or he would put me in jail. He asked me for $1,255 dollars. I called my banks and everything and they said i did not owe thenm that money. please help me.

the same number contacted me and said i owe them money

he also said his name was ron johnson

When i called the number back, i just left a mesage that saying that i had already called my local police, the FBI , federal trade commision  and my attorney generals office. Have not heard back since. I think once they realize that u know its a scam they just leave u alone.

Make sure also that u say u know its an attempt at extortion which is exactly what it is!!!!

I have received several harrassing calls from this number at home and at work.  Now they are calling friends saying that I owe them $9,000. I've actually called back and spoke with "Ronald Johnson" who will not give any information about the debt just makes threats. I've contacted the police.

the same d*** head jus called looking for my aunt and mother talking crazyness....it starts to get quite hilarious after a while...their lies are so mixed up....the are foreign as s**t with these american names...that there is a red flag.....what idiots!!!

These people called my sister and old boss and threatened to put my sis in jail over a lawsuit against me. My mom called and talked to them....supposedly I am facing 3 criminal charges dealing with a payday loan I didn't take. They want $4500 to settle now. Knew where I bank. I had to change all my info just in case.  So not real!

These people called my sister and old boss and threatened to put my sis in jail over a lawsuit against me. My mom called and talked to them....supposedly I am facing 3 criminal charges dealing with a payday loan I didn't take. They want $4500 to settle now. Knew where I bank. I had to change all my info just in case.  So not real!

called back no voicemail message

I have received a call from a Mark Watson from a company called ACS claiming to be an agent looking to protect me from an affidavit of a very serious financial matter leaving a phone number (347-590-4535).  I did a tracer on the number which was coming out of Weschester, NY.  I tried ringing the number back numerous times and it immediately rings busy.  The man is obviously from somewhere in India judging by his accent.

Now, I'm getting calls from an Officer Joshua Watson, again with an East Indian or Middle Easter accent, from (609-318-3095) claiming to be an Officer from State Financial Clients Investigations saying that if I don't call him back at this number I run the risk of being arrested for a financial matter he did not specify.  Both numbers showed up as +06 numbers which immediately tells me that the call is from outside of the country.  I tried to call this 609 number back and it immediately would not ring through saying "ALL CIRCUITS ARE BUSY".

Neither of these companies are locatable in those area codes or anywhere on google.  After reading these reports, my thoughts of a scam are substantiated.  How these people have my personal data, particularly my social, is most perplexing and certainly irritating!

LOL They've started calling me again.  16 calls between 2:57 & 3:05.  I hang up, tell them to hold on, play loud music in their ear, press the buttons.....  They got me so worked up before now I want to frustrate them as much as they frustrated me.  But there is no number on the caller id now just "unavailable".  Don't let 'em grind you down!

the same d****head jus called looking for my aunt and mother talking crazyness....it starts to get quite hilarious after a while...their lies are so mixed up....the are foreign as s*** with these american names...that there is a red flag.....what idiots!!!

as indicated in my previous post - the FULL complaint process that also includes the FTC, FBI AND Secret Service - you have to do all of them!

These crooks ARE NOT IN THE US - spoofing US phone numbers.  You have to complain to all agencies in order for them to be stopped.

Friends, family and work recv calls from this number.  Making unlawful threats.  When ever they are asked for information they hang up.  They leave messages stating I am being investigated by the federal govt for fraud.  Stating if I pay them money to stop the calls.  Found this is a huge scam and have filed a complaint with the FCC an Illinois AG.  If you get this kind of call hang up and give NO INFO.

***Alert*** I started receiving calls from these guys last week (02/17/10). I traced the number back to a city in Washington state, but that's not where the calls are originating.  Please just hang up on these guys when they call.  If you don't get mad and do what they say they won't waste time on you.  I contacted the police in Washington and they have turned all the information over to the FBI.  These people are coming up with new scams every day and the law is closing in.  Protect yourself and hang up on them.  I received calls from 206-855-5352 Officer Mike Owens, but the numbers are all very close.

I got the same phone call today from a guy stateing that his name is Joshua Watson and then he acts like he is James Green stated that he  was calling from State Financial Investigation due to a pay loan. Also threatening that he was going to have me arrested if i did not pay him a balance of 500.00. I needed to fax in all my information and a copy of my ID and credit card.
Please be aware of these types of call.
I am aware and i will call the cops on you and make sure you get caught if you call me again!!!!!!

I too recieved a call and message from this number on my cell phone on wednesday morning. They had also contacted my parents and a freind of mine. When i called the number back, it went straight to voicemail. I never spoke with anyone, but i did leave a message saying i had contacted my local police department, the FBI, federal trade commision  anad social security admin. regarding their extortion attempt. Havent heard back from anyone since...

Thank you for you who contacted our Department regarding this issue. As stated in others in this forum this is a scam and  wanted to inform you that the number although appears be a "landline" from Bainbridge Island it is not.

After a bit of research I found that a company called "net2phone" leases numbers from companies like Comcast, Quest then 3 party vendors out the number over voiceover IP with limited to no subscriber information. This is just one company of many.

This allows people from other Cities, States and Countries to gain access to numbers making it look as if it is a local landline number suggesting some legitimacy.

With truly such a large problem which needs to be address on a Federal level our only and best protection is being educated on the scams and just hanging up.

A thought of contacting your local congress person regarding these ?3rd party? vendors and that issue which  seem to have no other use except to provide  untraceable access to scammers. Contact with the company showed no care  or accountability and why should they since they are getting paid.

Don?t give any information on the phone, make sure to use that annual free credit report and look at those credit card summaries each month for inconsistent charges.  It?s a one on one battle at this point until laws change.

More importantly don?t let these guys work you up. Its all about intimidation, hang up, they will call back until they realize that they are getting nothing from you and will move on.

Be Safe

Bainbridge Detective Unit

LONG RUNNING AND KNOWN SCAM ? ALL OVER INTERNET AND NEWS

Fake Debt Collectors ? Terrorizing Consumers

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5621205&page=1


MORE ON FAKE DEBT COLLECTORS
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-904-425-9141
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/call4action/17285785/detail.html
http://www.800helpfla.com/newsletter/2008/092008.html

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/01/ks_debt_collection.html   latest release of information on this scam

http://www.wvago.gov/internetloanscam.cfm
Attorney General Darrell McGraw took the extraordinary step today of warning the public about a band of scam artists making threats to consumers who allegedly obtained Internet payday loans in West Virginia and across the nation. The consumers they threaten never obtained a loan at all or paid it off years ago.

Internet payday loans are short-term loans or cash advances, usually for 14 days, made over the Internet via interactive web sites and secured by an agreement authorizing debits of the loan and all fees owed from the consumer?s checking account. These loans typically charge interest rates ranging from 600-800 APR and are unlawful in West Virginia.

The scam artists, who speak English with a foreign accent, call themselves ?U.S. National Bank,? ?Federal Investigation Bureau,? ?United Legal Processing? and numerous other phony names. They refuse to disclose real names and addresses and are believed to be operating ?off the grid? from homes, automobiles, or from off shore locations or foreign countries, including India. Since the scammers have kept themselves purposely well hidden, thus far no law enforcement agencies have succeeded in locating or shutting them down.

The scammers typically pose as law enforcement officers, investigators, lawyers, and bankers and threaten consumers that they will be arrested for ?bank fraud? or other fictitious crimes unless money is wired immediately. They simultaneously scare and confuse consumers by using meaningless legalese gobbledygook phrases such as, ?We are downloading warrants against you? or ?We are filing an affidavit against you.? Consumers who don?t immediately fall for the scam are warned, ?Only God can help you now.?

The scammers almost always call consumers at work several times a day, and tell their supervisors, ?Your employee has committed fraud and is about to be arrested.? Such threats have proven unsettling even to the most savvy consumers and employers who suspect the calls are fraudulent.

Attorney General McGraw stated, ?Ordinarily my office protects consumers from fraudulent activities by seeking injunctions in court. But legal action cannot be taken until the scam artists can be located. Even then, it is unlikely that the persons behind the fraudulent calls and extortionist threats would obey a court order. In this case, the consumer?s best defense is to be armed with the knowledge of the scam so that all demands for money can be resisted, despite the false but scarey threats of arrest.?

McGraw added, ?Because the fraudsters make a special point of calling consumers repeatedly at work, employers must understand that the consumers are innocent victims of a criminal enterprise and cannot stop the calls from coming. I also wish to assure the citizens of West Virginia that my office will continue to do everything possible to locate and shut down the outlaw debt collectors.?

More information about this fraudulent debt collection scheme is available at the Attorney General?s website, www.wvago.gov/internetloanscam. Any consumers who have been threatened by these persons or wish to file a complaint about another consumer matter may do so by calling the Consumer Protection Hot Line, 1-800-368-8808, or by obtaining a complaint form from the Attorney General?s web site.

It's a debt collection scam. And all their threats are false and illegal.
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.    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.
2.    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 or lawyers, officers of the court or bankers, be sure to include that information in your report.
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.    File a complaint your state's attorney general, the contact information for whom is at www.wvago.gov
5.    File a complaint online with The Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en
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
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-499-9983
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-771-9249   Scammer posting here as GARY and GARRY JONES
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-860-4509   Scammer posting here as Mike Henderson
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-212-500-0839   Scammer posting here as Ricky

Scam alert: Bogus debt collectors
By Leslie McFadden ? Bankrate.com
Monday, Aug. 3
Posted 2 p.m.
Bankrate reporter Leslie McFadden contributed this entry.
This scam isn't technically about credit cards, but it is scary enough to post a warning. The Better Business Bureau issued an alert today saying consumers across the country are getting phone calls from bogus debt collectors claiming default on a payday loan. Of course, the consumer needs to pay a large fee to avoid arrest -- as much as $1,000.
The caller poses as a lawyer, and may threaten extradition to face trial if the consumer doesn't pay up immediately.
What makes these calls alarming -- and perhaps convincing -- is that the perpetrators reference the consumer's personal information, such as the person's Social Security number, driver's license number, previous bank account numbers, home address -- even personal references.
"The amount of information they have is really troubling," says BBB spokeswoman Alison Southwick. She adds that the amount of data points to a possible security breach.
Spread the word to your friends and family: Don't give out personal or financial information to an unknown caller. Scammers can spoof Caller ID to display different numbers, so trust your instincts over technology.
The BBB offers these tips:
?    Ask the debt collector to provide official documentation 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.
?    File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission online if the caller is abusive, uses threats or otherwise violates federal telemarketing laws or the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
?    File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau online if you believe a debt collector is trying to scam you.

I received a phone call on my cell phone this morning. The return number on my cell phone said just 221. The caller claimed his name was "Rod Johnson" he was obviously middle eastern by his accent. He asked to verify my information over the phone, I refused since I did not know the caller, He began to get irate, so I hung up. He called me back yelling at me that I am being sued for 78,000 and that I better talk to him. So I hung up again. He called back again, this time I sent it to voicemail, in the message he had my name ss#, old address, and some other old info on me.

I did not answer the call the missed phone # was 1219. When I check my voicemail it was a foreign guy claiming to be officer martin had my social, new my friends names left me the 206-855-5354 phone number to call back. I called back knowing this was insane and it rang forever finally just said leave message at the beep, so obviously this is bogus. Now that I have read all these post I did save the message on my phone, so I will be contacting the police department in the morning.

I got a call from Officer Martin. He told me he is investigating my friend and wanted me to get in contact with her. He said he works for the government. I called the number back that he left, no one would tell me the company name. I was transferred 4 or 5 times. I filed a complaint with the FCC and so did my friend. She also filed a police report.

I got a call from Officer Martin. He told me he is investigating my friend and wanted me to get in contact with her. He said he works for the government. I called the number back, no one would tell me the company name. I was transferred 4 or 5 times. I filed a complaint with the FCC and so did my friend. She also filed a police report.

I had a call from Officer Martin.  This is a complete scam.  Do not give them your information!  Report to your local police department.  If at all possible save their messages.