I got a call. What did they want from me?

I received a call saying they couldnt get a hold of the person with the loan but since I was the contact person that now I was responsible for paying the loan. The man later changed his story and said I was the co-signer for the loan, and I mentioned I never signed anything.  He later said I had to go to court on November 21 but then said November 22 which lands on a Saturday. He even gave me a case number and kept going on how if i dont do anything about it they will start garnishing my wages.  I asked for a call back number and he gave me (866) 533-0609. Before he could even continue I hung up.  He called about 5 times after I hung up.  I then looked up the number that appeared on my caller ID on line and this came up.

ABC News just did an investigative piece on this particular scam operation. Here's the report:  http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5621205&page=1

It's a 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.naag.org

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/1-321-221-0018
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-408-404-1520
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-901-328-9342
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-908-244-2001




________________________

"How is a sincere criminal going to get ahead in his profession if his victim fails to cooperate?  Almost all crime depends on the acquiescence of the victim.  If the victim refuses his assigned role, the criminal is placed at a disadvantage." -- Robert A. Heinlein, 1985

"The Collection Agency Who Is Posing As Ace Cash Express, The Pay Day Loan Company"  

 Receiving several calls daily, back to back calls daily on my job. This collection agency would not give me there name, and indicated they were "Ace Cash Express" the actual company who owed. The representative "Jeni" even told me to make sure I do not deal with anyone else on this debt, just directly with her at "Ace Cash Express". After I told them it was against the law per the "Fair Debt Laws" to contact someone more then once daily, claiming I owed them $510.00, when my debt was actually only $340.00. They claimed the additional 170.00 difference was interest. I never received any written letter from this collection agency to verify in writing this information.

  I was tired of receiving the calls, speaking to different individuals several times a day and sometimes the same person twice. I told them if they could send me a letter indicating that they would be willing to settle the debt for 340.00 in increments of 85.00 per month, for the 4 months I would pay over the phone. I gave them my fax number and my email address, I never received anything. They kept calling over and over, asking me for visa number and expiration date. I told them I has not going to give them this information until I received the letter. The transferred me around to several supposed supervisor. Every one I spoke to was from India, but gave me various American names.

  Everyone I spoke to after this point, indicated that the letter had been faxed and e-mailed. I never received anything. When I told them I was not making a payment until receiving this letter, they said they would resend it one final time and I should call them back in ten minutes. They indicated they had not toll-free number, I advised them I cold not call them back, since the number was long distance and they should call be after re-faxing it. The person actually just hung up on me, who was supposed to be the supervisor. I still have not received anything.

 Now I am keeping a log of calls and names, I will be reporting them to State Attorney General's office and the Federal Trade Commission.

Fair Debt Laws "www.ftc.gov"
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm

called me 8 times back to back on my job after i asked them not to. then told me they would put my social security number on the internet and refused to let me speak to a supervisor.

A typical (and illegal) tactic used by debt collection scammers is to pose as law enforcement officers, as this crook did.  

I suggest you turn the tables on this criminal and report them to these federal and state law enforcement:

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 who are posing as federal law enforcement. Be sure to give as many details as you can.

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

3) File a complaint online with The Federal Trade Commission at https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

If these crooks calls again, tell them nothing other than that you know they're a scam and that you've reported them to law enforcement.  Hope this helps.

This is some type of debt collector - threatened to provide the "bureau" with my husband's social security number if there was no response. It was almost amusing listening to the guy (sounded like he was from India) reading (not very smoothly) his scripted information. It just said "California call" when coming in.