I received a call from 15324. The only reason I answered, is I have a family member Afghanistan and he calls from wierd numbers. He claimed to be with the IRS and needed to verify some information on my company.  I told him to contact my accountant in writing. He offered to fax the documentation so I could verify in writing.  I objected as the IRS contacts you initally via mail.  He gave me his # 800-829-1040 and name: David Schiesl and IRS I.D.#as 1824919.  I looked up the name and # and found out all this..beware...this is their new scam...

Hello,  I have actually been called by this number as well. In fact, yesterday they called me at work about 20 times and told me the same thing, and then I stopped answering the phone, and they called my assistant a Stupid Lady and then called my boss, who was getting frustrated with the calls a "MF and shouted out other obscenities to him.  This morning I came in to 3 voicemails and I could hear the same loud background noise as from his calls yesterday, so I knew it was him.  They would not give me any other information either. other than he was Officer James and with the Department of "something I could not understand" and when I asked where he was calling from he said South Beach, California.  I checked the number through google and it looks like a landline out of Colorado. What scum! What do we do?  I need him to stop harrassing me!!!

Called and was saying profanities over and over again

left message said he was from a law firm

You can sue them for this.  They are not allowed to harass you and if you tell them you can't get calls at work they are required to stop.  Fair Debt Collections Act.  Do not let them get away with that!

yes me again.....so i called the number back and of course the phone lines were transfered to someone across seas...(typical) First they told me htey were the legal dept of justice, out of colorado....then some Federal law enforcement...lol.....they are acting on behave of a cash loan site on the internet...of course they wont tell you that. They did state to my girlfriend that they have a lot of info on her which can be scary....so i told them i think they are terrorist and that i am going to contact homeloand security on them......which then he hung up then.  WE ARE AMERICANS AND DO NOT CONDUCT OUR SELVES IN SUCH A MANNER. WHEN OWED A DEBT WE DONT THREATEN WE ACT!!!

I received a calls today from 303-578-5553, 315-982-6578 David Walker from a Legal Association and an international number +052312293.  The man who called from the area code 303 number, I could not understand his name because he had a foreign accent.  He said  that a lawsuit had been filed against me.  I asked him what lawsuit and what for and that I had not done anything wrong.  He would not tell me anything.  I asked him to mail me the information and he said that he would.  He further stated that he had been trying to get into contact with me.  He mentioned my father's and brother's name.  I advised him that the only way that he got their names were on an application for a CASH ADVANCE loan in which I had not received.....SPECIAL NOTE:  There is no telling who is getting our information when we use the internet.

This number called my work and left a message on my managers phone stating that they were calling from a Law office of Investigation.  Then they called me at home and told me if i didn't pay them money they would keep calling me at work 73 times a day and talk to my manager to get me fired.  I asked them about the money but they would not tell me what it was for.

my girlfriend received a call from these morons today too......umi think they might be terrorist and homeland secrurity should call them.

I got the same call - they were trying to reach my husband.  They bug him at work.  Officer Ronnie Williams-with an accent, told me he was from the Law office of investigations.  He said it was regarding a payday loan. He wouldn't give any information for the loan company.  They called the house this morning at 8am called 2x in that hour and then and 17 times between 9-10-all documented on my caller id.  I also received a call from a friend who was concerned because they were calling and harassing him about the same thing.  I got quite upset and answered and inquired who the company was, if i could get a cert letter chowing the debt.  no answer I called atty general and filed complaint.

Received a call from this idiot today at work.  He states that I am going to go to jail.  Says he is a federal agent.  Tells me to shut up and listen to him very carefully or the authorities will come and have me arrested.  I told him no way he is a federal agent because my father was an FBI agent for 30 years and they don't talk to people in that tone.  He started swearing and going off on me.  I told him I have  his number and that I would alert the FBI that he was harrassing people and impersonating an officer.  He keep ranting and I just hung up.  If you try and call the number it just rings back busy.  Boy would I like the agencies to get a hold of this guy and send him back to India or at least arrest him for harrassment.

I received two calls today from this number (actually the second call ended in 5551) and on the second call the person identified himself as Officer Mike Walter.  He proceeded to read the allegations that I borrowed 300.00 from Cashnet and that I never paid  back the loan because the bank account was closed. I asked why he was calling and if he was trying to collect a debt. I also told him that if he was alleging that I owed money to someone that I wanted it in writing.  He advised me that he was not authorized to send anything in writing.  He further informed me that since he was an officer, he was not trying to collect the debt.

The bottom line is he asked me if I had an attorney to represent me because this was such a serious matter or if not, I could settle this matter out of court for $520.00.

I told him that if he could not provide anything in writing it was a scam and second, CashNet does not make payday loans in my state.

I told him not to call again and that this matter was closed.  He ended the conversation by telling me that an officer would be at my house in 2 hours to arrest me for nonpayment of a debt.

Anyone that knows the law, especially under the fair credit reporting act, that any initial attempt to collect a debt must be followed up in writing to give you the opportunity to dispute the debt.  Second, a private debt is a civil matter and does not involve any police agency.  You cannot be arrested for failure to pay a private debt.

For at least the last four years, possibly longer, a group has been calling former payday loan applicants advising them that they have defrauded a bank and are now being sued for non-payment of a loan.  The callers will claim to be calling on behalf of an attorney's office (name varies), the Dept. of Law and Investigation, ACS, or other similar combinations below:

United Legal Processing Division
Midline Marketing
Crime Monitoring Services
Monetary Crime Division
U.S. National Bank
Attorney General?s Office (usually in California)
American Legal Services
Affidavit Consolidation Services (ACS)

You will be threatened with arrest, a costly trial and possibly worse.  In no shape, way or form can you be arrested for non-payment on a consumer debt.  Do not believe these threats, as they are without merit and cannot be carried out in the manner they allege.  

Who are they?

In the past when pressed by law enforcement for an address, the callers have provided the following information:

David Morgan and Associates
Morgan & Associates
Morgan Associates
954-727-8481
1155 Northwest 85th Street
Wintergarden, Florida  33150
(Address is likely invalid)

The collector's MO matches a once legit collections agency called Ellis Crosby & Associates.  Here are some links on them:

http://www.budhibbs.com/collectorpages/ellis_crosby_and_associates.htm
http://www.budhibbs.com/collectorpages/EllisCrosbyJudgment.pdf

They have been previously fined over $1.3 million for various violations.  They have been known to use phone banks in India to make their calls, which more or less coincides with the difficult to understand accent many of us detect when we are contacted.  

The last time this group went by any "official" name was back in 2008:

Ellis Crosby & Associates / Douglas & Morgan Associates
4494 Southside Boulevard Suite #200
Jacksonville Florida 32216
Phone:  800-928-3536 / (904) 928-3536
(Address is likely invalid)

There are NUMEROUS consumer alerts out against this group of individuals:

Florida:
http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/061107/met_176207561.shtml

Kansas:  
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/01/ks_debt_collection.html

Colorado:  
http://www.coloradoattorneygeneral.gov/press/ ... lls_likely_orig

Rhode Island:  
http://www.collectionscreditrisk.com/news/rho ... -3002135-1.html

West Virginia:
http://www.wvago.gov/internetloanscam.cfm

Missouri:
On July 15th, 2010 a Public Awareness Bulletin was sent out by Missouri Information Analysis Center.  

"..received reports from individuals in Ohio and Illinois reference suspicious telephone calls they received. In both instances, the callers are reporting that a voicemail is received from a man, with a Middle Eastern accent, identifying himself as an officer working with the Financial Crimes Unit.  The message indicates that the reason for the call concerns a loan made by the receiver or someone in the receiver's family. The voicemail requests that a return call be made and a telephone number is provided. When a return call is made, the caller is asked to provide personal identifying information such as their date of birth and social security number.

Reports indicate that the calls are frequent and persistent and that they even threaten arrest or legal action if information or money is not provided. It appears that the individuals making these calls may have access to some records connecting individuals and their relatives.  Missouri does not have a Financial Crimes Unit and all indications are that this is a fictitious agency. If you receive a similar phone call, please be advised that it is a scam and please contact your local law enforcement agency or the Missouri Information Analysis Center at 866-362-6422."

Bottom line:

Do not supply the callers with any additional information.  Inform them you have reported them to law enforcement and hang up.  If you haven't already, go ahead and report the calls to local law enforcement, your state's Attorney General and beyond.  Look up the local Secret Service branch's information in your area and get in contact with an agent there.  

If you ever applied for a cash advance online, your information is out there.  
Possible sources for the breach of your privacy are:

* The scammers obtained your information from Teletrack - a reporting agency used by many cash advance lenders to determine their risk lending to you.  The service is able to tell cash advance lenders if you have existing loans with other companies, for example.  Many state laws prohibit borrowers from having more than two cash advances out at the same time.

* The scammers created their own fake payday loan application site.  People looking for a cash advance went to the site and applied, thus freely providing the scammers with their information for malicious use at a later time.  

* The scammers were able to get into the database(s) of cash advance lenders - probable targets being Sonic Payday and Cashnet USA.  


How to protect yourself:

* Inform your employer.  You are likely getting calls at home and/or at work, so make sure your employer is aware the calls are part of a scam and to not take them seriously.  Advise the callers that they are no longer allowed to call you at work.  If they continue to call, document the date and time of the calls you received.  Save voice mails left if at all possible.  

* Change your number(s).  For some this may not be an option, for others a one-time number change can be done free of charge.

Be advised - any references you listed on your payday loan application will be contacted.  Let those people know that this is a scam, and they can disregard.

* Use Google Voice.  Google Voice is a great replacement voice mail system for just about any phone number you use.  Messages can be transcribed and voice mail recordings can be saved as mp3 files.  

Pro Tip - call the scammers with a Google Voice number before turning off your old phone numbers.  Make sure when you call you identify yourself so they can start up their script.  At any point after they have your information pulled up just hang up.  They will then start religiously calling your Google Voice number.  At this point, you are free to change your regular phone number(s) and enjoy not having these people ever call you again.  (And laugh at the fact these people are basically talking to a brick wall several times a day)

The scammers change their numbers frequently.  Law enforcement used to think it was because the callers ran out of minutes on their prepaid wireless accounts or they were shuttered due to fraud, but now they understand it's simply to evade detection by savvy consumers online.  With the proliferation of VoIP, it's even easier for the crooks to stay a couple of steps ahead of law enforcement.  Below is just a sampling of the 30+ numbers that have been used in recent memory.

1-201-244-7722
1-209-349-7382
1-209-797-2212
1-212-500-0839
1-213-256-0408
1-213-995-3039
1-281-763-0433
1-347-289-3902
1-347-844-6817
1-347-844-6831
1-424-354-4270
1-516-232-8905
1-516-232-8935
1-518-212-0219
1-561-300-8018
1-561-210-4185
1-626-200-4646
1-631-456-4041
1-646-274-1143
1-646-810-8635
1-650-241-4604
1-707-401-4056
1-707-633-2789
1-708-401-0535
1-716-442-2824
1-717-862-4080
1-718-705-8669
1-760-514-0132
1-760-563-5384
1-772-318-4938
1-850-201-1111
1-858-777-1977
1-859-908-2281
1-866-860-4509
1-877-226-7488
1-888-706-7463
1-888-771-9249
1-888-785-4479
1-909-327-4870

So can they really do anything to you?

It's not a simple yes or no answer.  Logic dictates that, if they really wanted to take you for a ride and drain your bank accounts, they already would have.  

So, why haven't they?  

Authorization.  

Why do you think you are being called so much?  Perhaps it is because they like the sound of your voice?  No, they have to have your authorization to take any form of payment from you, period.  The callers know their audience, and that audience is typically a bunch of people that have applied for payday loans in the past.  Most of those people they call couldn't afford an attorney if they wanted one, and are so used to receiving collections calls that so long as they sound like a real collector, they will likely be perceived as one.

Furthermore, they don't even really want to talk to your attorney - that just sounds official and scary enough.  A real attorney would take the callers to task and write them off as two-bit con artists.  The callers need you, in writing, to authorize payment against the fictitious debt they claim you owe.  Go ahead, ask them for proof you owe the debt - more commonly known as verification of debt.  See what they say.  A phone authorization carries very little weight, so if they have something signed by you on file, you are done for - and the callers know that.  That authorization is the only thing these callers are doing by the book, and for good reason.  If they just went all willy nilly and made an ACH debit from your checking account, without your written approval, you could in turn report the transaction as fraudulent to your financial institution.  In about 7-10 business days, you would get the funds returned to your account.  Then the scammers would be up against a bank and their team of lawyers and investigators.  

Bottom line:

If you haven't paid the callers a dime, don't.  If you planned on paying them to shut them up, just don't.  Remember - you are not being contacted by a legally licensed, ethically owned and operated collector.  Read up on the FDCPA - http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf - and know your rights.

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-646-274-1143/3

This man called you at work?  What kind of threats were they?  Just wondering.  I am a bit disturbed by this phone call and it seems that other people are too!  Any information would be much appreciated.  Thank you.

This number called me this afternoon and left a voicemail message.  I could BARELY understand the man because of his thick middle-eastern accent.  The only words I understood were him repeating the phone number and that he was from the "dept. of law and investigation".  In the VM message, he said to call 303-578-5552  so I called him back.  I told him my name and he repeated it back to me.  Then he asked the phone number from which I was calling and I was apprehensive to reply but proceeded to do so.  Then he said, "Please hold so that I may get your file."  He never put me on "hold", he just set the phone down or something because I could hear other "tele-marketers" in the background and some random beeping noises.  When he came back to the phone, he asked my name again (after he had already previously said it) and I rudely informed him that HE called ME so he should already have that information.  Then he hung up!  Should I phone the police?  What if he calls back?

Heavy accent from India. Posed as a law enforcement agent. Told me I was going to be arrested.  Have called before and just whispered my name "janet janet" over and over. Very threatening. Call me at work at the law firm.

these people have been calling me for about 7 months.  They have my work #, my address, phone#, SSN and quite a bit of disturbing information. As well as names and phone number of friends and family.  All these calls are coming from middle eastern sounding names with extremely American sounding names such as Sam Jones, Robin Wilson and several others stating that I owe a Payday loan to a company cash net marketing and they are from the Federal department of Law and investigations, gave me a "case" number and everything.  When I told them I have already contacted the FTC, FBI, Attorney General and police He became extremely upset.  He laughed and said oh yeah, we've been calling you and this information about you is correct and you will see. Someone will be there to arrest you in 2 hours and you will be taken to jail on 3 charges.

Threatened your family, they threatened mine to. They threatened to harm my young son. I told him if he advances any trouble with my family i will terminate him myself. I did call the state police and file  a report and they called him back also.

i just got the same call inquiring me about my friend. Said he was Sgt. Sam Johnson from legal and very thick indian accent?

PROTECT YOURSELF!  IMPORTANT INFORMATION YOU MUST READ ? HOW THE SCAM WORKS AND WHAT AGENCIES TO REPORT THEM TO

LONG RUNNING AND KNOWN SCAM ? ALL OVER INTERNET AND NEWS FOR ABOUT 4 YEARS NOW


Fake Debt Collectors ? Terrorizing Consumers
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5621205&page=1

MORE ON FAKE DEBT COLLECTORS
http://www.wvago.gov/internetloanscam.cfm
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  
http://consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/07/video_bill_collector_scam.html  WITH VIDEO!  
http://consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/09/fdic_debt_collector_scam.html  9/7/2010 -NEWEST CONSUMER ALERT ?SCAMMERS NOW CLAIMING TO BE WITH FDIC

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/1-888-771-9249   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
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-201-244-7722   Scammer posting as Carole, David Brown and Amanda
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-626-200-4646   Scammer false postings at this new number as silshan kanniue and Tina ? preparing a new number to use.
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-424-354-4270   Scammer false postings as Rose
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-785-4479   Scammer posting as Robert
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-909-327-4870   Scammer false postings as Marry
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-646-274-1143   Scammer false postings as Karen Miller, Chichi and Tom Little
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-561-300-8018   Scammer false postings as Marco Polo and Covenant
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-226-7488   Scammer false postings as SAM, David S
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-706-7463   Scammer false postings as George
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-209-349-7382   Scammer false postings as Towanda Robinson, Shannon Walsh, Jack Dawson and Cynthia
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-760-514-0132   scammer false postings as Suzy01, Johanna Hall, Cindie McMellon, Michael Dublin, Mark Williams, Carol and Rio   (800notes removed some of the scammers posts because the all came from the SAME IP ADDRESS)
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-209-797-2212   scammer false posting as Jaison Connar
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-707-401-4056   Scammer false posting as John Carner, KSR
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-650-241-4604   Scammer false postings as jhon and Kevin
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-708-401-0535   Scammer false posting here as JHON
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-518-212-0219  Scammer false posting as Prince Christian, Arpit
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-718-705-8669  Scammer false postings as Alicia
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-707-633-2789  Scammer false postings as Rojer, Minni, Rhone, Smith, Lisa Jack, Julie, Sean, and Carol. ? preparing a new number to use to steal money
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-205-294-6271  Scammer false posting as Thomas Jhonson
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-661-263-4011  Scammer false posting ?ILLEGALLY claiming to be an attorney Charles F Robinson
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-321-684-4117  Scammer false posing as Harry Patt
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-518-565-0306  Scammer false posting as Wellvishers
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-678-791-4673  Scammer false posting as Sherrie Ann and Elvine Buris
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-305-390-0607  Scammer false posting as James and Mark
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-209-349-3112  Scammer false posting as Roger Brown. David Macrow and Andrew
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-646-360-1702 Scammer false posting as STATE LEGAL DEPARTMENT
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-850-254-8883  Scammer false posting as Stella
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-347-875-8165  Scammer false posting as Lisa L Johnson, Mark Taylor
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-872-2861  Scammer false posting as Jim, Keith
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-760-582-0311 Scammer false posting as Alex Morrison
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-817-393-0246 Scammer false posting as Mark Smith
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-678-619-1686 Scammer false posting as Beckham, Beckh, BECK and MOCK and MINDY
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-352-653-1302 Scammer false posting as Christy and ANNA 2 times, KAT V DON, SANDRA JR, PAUL WRIGHT ALEX SCOTT DR Kim preparing a new number to use in their unsuccessful scam ?
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-646-770-2937 Scammer false posting as officer
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-623-465-9849 Scammer false posting as Bob Keeshan
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-325-260-0090 Scammer false postings under Jhon, Mishele and Tyrone Johnson
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-213-784-5745 Scammer false posting as United Man and Don't be so sure & immediately judge, ac

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 call from his number. It was nasty. My friend warned aagainst this caller. Her husband received it to. Beware!!!

THEY CALL ME ALHOURS OF THE NIGHTAND TELL ME IM GOING TO JAIL..

They called me claiming to be officer sam johnson from law department.

Threatened me and my family claimed to be a federal officer Mack Watson

I filed a complaint agaist on www.ftc.gov and attorney general office and i faxed a copy to them.  I have not received any more calls from them since.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm

Please read

Very nasty, threatened me and my family.  Said I would be in "big trouble"  heavy Indian accent.

someone keeps calling, from this number. I can't understand  a word he is saying.  Keeps calling multiple times.

Threatening csll

Threatening phone calls