Rest assured, this is a scam. I've been getting calls from this and several other numbers since about April or May, all with the same line about me owing on a payday loan that I supposedly took out on the internet and threatening to have me arrested if I don't take care of this right away. Every time they call me, they're always claiming to be either calling from a law firm or the fraud and investigation department of some debt collection company. Ironically, they called me today at work claiming to be calling from "an American law firm." The irony? I work for a law firm. Like you, they have most of my information -- SS #, first and last name, home address, work phone, home phone. They tried to get me to verify my information as well as give my driver's license number but I refused so, of course, the threats begin.

So again, I wouldn't worry too much about it. They can't have you arrested for being late paying back a loan, even if it were real debt. And a lawyer shouldn't and hopefully wouldn't call you at work because any legitimate lawyer knows that's illegal. However, if I were you, I would follow through on checking your credit report to make sure there's no suspicious activity, especially if they have your social security number.

just got a call from a this number stating that I have 3 counts of fraud against me for unpaid payday loans. They had all my information and wanted me to verify it. I refused so they said they will see me in court. I've only used payday loan once, it’s been paid, and fortunately, I have the records to prove it. Can someone tell me if this is an attempt to commit fraud? I'm going to report this with my credit reporting agency because they had ALL my information.

A Mark Peter called me at least 3 times and possibly more I turn off my answering machine at times. I also listed several others on my previous post.

I too received a phone call from Mark Peter from American Law Division. His number was 310-872-2860.
He said I owed money to a company I had never heard of so I thought maybe somebody had taken a loan out in my name. Then I received a call from James Andersen from 559-823-5337 and Max Sampson from 512-487-8782, and some lady with the thickest eastern Indian accent I have ever heard from 513-433-5651 and some other man from APS??? FROM 917-284-9294 claiming my social security # and identity were under investigation. The last one threatened my mother-n-law stating they were going to send me to jail. What a laugh if you knew me. He was Bruce Miller from 805-or 825-322-4552. They also call my work stating I am in serious legal trouble. I heard of this 1-800-N0TES website from the telecommunications man at my work-thank The Lord now I know the truth.

These people all have thick eastern Indian accents and usually end the call with "all I can do is wish you good luck and goodbye." Please do not give them a dime!!!

Well to all you scammers let me tell you something I will report you to Law enforcement and the FTC and whoever needs to know. You are all are nothing but the scum of the earth preying on innocent people and I know without a shadow of a doubt that The Lord of the heavens and the earth will judge you in the Last days and if you are not caught here on earth believe me nothing gets away from God. So if I were you I would repent or all I can do is wish you good luck and goodbye.

Good one!

Have you ever heard of these people sending
death threat e mails.. I believe I received one threatening my life. It's quite scary.

I know you A**holes read your own fake scam phone number lookups...So for "James Williams", "John Smith", and all you other Akbar, no english speaking cowards just know I will find you one day. This is the Dumest scam I've ever been a part of they just want you to confirm so they can pull transactions out of your account. I've had the Credit Bureau trace this number but it's one of there pre-paid wirless numbers. DO NOT LET THEM get over on you. I am personally making my mission to find you Camel Eating Phucks...I'm not racist, but I am AMERICAN and if your going to call accussing me of stealing money and threating me, be prepared to pay the consequences.. You call me at work 10 times a day F-ing with me saying you know where I live, WELL COME and PHUCKING get it Female Dog!!!!! I told you I will be waiting for you. I Know my country has become a melting pot for all races, hell I'm half Mexican and half White myself, but I will be dammed if you think your Bullspit is going to work this side of the Indian Ocean..... I'll be giving you my usual 12:00a.m. Airhorn wake-up call "James Williams"......

i just got a call from a 310-872-2860 and started threating me for lying to them about my information so that they were going to take me to court and dat a lawsuit is against me already unless i give them proof of my info so i told them that i was going to report them and i havent gotten a call since than thank you for the infornation it helped me out allot

You tell em td!!!!!!!simmons? Give me a break! Considering all the money you have been slamming from people you would think that you could get a better translator.....Fred...or Kimberly...or maybe your name is John..........Just like my name is Obama and I am the president of the united states.....leave my people alone! Go scam your own country!!!

Hey dumbass...if you're going to post on this site to try to convince us your b***s*** scam is real, you might want to brush up on your English! Go get a real job, idiot!

i received the simmons and documentations of this lawsuit,,

Obviously you are one of them because you can not even write well.......its broken English just like the fools that call.....nice try.....thank-you very much saint for the tips.....everything you have said has happened to me.....and I have reported to authorities.....I have told them this  yet they keep calling...even my family....so beware of John....officer Justin Scott and officer Justin Williams...all frequent names used.....same person....lol.....last time they called they asked what my intentions were I told them I had none and john said that he would have no other option than to press charges and that he would see me in court on Monday.....what a crock of bull.......my reply......well john or whatever your name is today.....that's funny.....cause I don't know what country you are from but where I am from its a federal holiday....no court......but go ahead and show up...be my guest......click!!!!!!!! A couple of other choice words but you get my drift.....these people need to be stopped!!!!

I've been receiving phone calls from (310)872-2860 on top of other numbers in the California area.  There is a man with an accent, sometimes heavy, sometimes not.  He is telling me that there is a big lawsuit against me and that if I do not call him back that I am in a lot of trouble. That it is a time sensitive matter. This has been going on for weeks. I had a payday loan and it was paid off. I also checked with my bank for any unauthorized deposits and found none. They are harassing me four to five times a day. They represent different agencies like an investigation unit and American Law Division.  They have gotten access to all my information such as where I work, social security number, drivers license, and so forth. Something needs to be done to stop these people from doing what they are doing.

Bull**** !!!!

I researched with all my way what ever u stated, i cant believe this, as i faced this realistic problem with me.

i got this calls,, i thought this would not be a real,, but i was wrong,

they are real law firm who works under attorney general, they sent me the legal documents and after that..

i faced the legal actions against me in the courthouse.

Thank you for that information. I knew it was fraud as soon as "he" opened his mouth and asked me to verify the last 4 of my ssn: something that NO ONE should ever ask unless you're calling them and you know who you're calling. They got the wrong person this time. Maybe we all need to call them and start harrassing them.

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

just got a call from a this number stating that I have 3 counts of fraud against me for unpaid payday loans. They had all my information and wanted me to verify it. I refused so they said they will see me in court. I've only used payday loan once, it?s been paid, and fortunately, I have the records to prove it. Can someone tell me if this is an attempt to commit fraud? I'm going to report this with my credit reporting agency because they had ALL my information.