Beware. This is an obvious collection agency which sounds outsourced. They use threatening tactics violating the FDCPA. Call an attorney before agreeing to anything with them. Do not fall for their tactics. They are trying to scare you. Go to someone like Budd Hibb's, or Dean Malone's information websites, or any other consumer advocate, or even just look up FDCPA. You will see what these people calling are doing is illegal.

you tipped the first give away on them, no one "downloads" a lawsuit or a docket or an affidavnt it all Filed at the clerks office. bust them with that once or stwice.

they are a scam.  I had a very long talk with one of them the other day & he told me that he hates doing this but needes to feed his family.

FYI...the Attorney General of West Virginia recently issued a press release warning consumers of this debt collection scam. Here's the weblink:  http://www.wvago.gov/internetloanscam.cfm

I too received these calls from 415-704-0400 a Henry Smith. Everything everyone is saying earlier was said to me, a heavy Indian accent. The first time they called and left a voice mail. I called back and no one answered. They called again and could not tell me who I owed the money to and I told them unless they could tell me I would not verify any information or send any money -- they said I owed $5,800+ from Sonic Trust and that they had an affidavit for me. They had my old bank information. He also mentioned money laundering and could only wish me well with this matter. I did have payday loans in the past but each one was paid. I also pulled my credit and I didn't owe anyone named Sonic Trust money (just the normal credit cards).
I did a background check on the phone number and it is and unknown number to a landline in California.
Thanks goodness my husband helped me with the research because it was scary to get these calls.
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-415-704-0400

You can relax; it's a scam.  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

The most important thing you can do is NOT pay them anything. Ignore their false and illegal threats, and see my message above from August 13 for more information on who these crooks are and how you can report them to federal and state law enforcement.

I received the same call and they didn't ask me for money they said they were sending someone to my house and work for me.  I'm very upset all that he would say is that i should have gotten something by email. What should we do

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

I recieved a similar call from these same people I've been reading about - "Justin" et al. But they have not asked me to send any money only that they are sending enforcement to my home tomorrow at 11 AM. This worries me in that they have not asked me to send payment, are these goons just going to show up at my house??

Thank you for your story, it was as if I was reading my own.  I was nervous all day until I read your blog and found this site.  Thanks.

I had the same type of call for a couple weeks at my workplace, it quit then this past week the indian man called and its been so bothersome they are calling various depts. asking for me.  I knew I had a payday loan out a while back but not for the amount they said.  I figured interest acrued.  They wanted me to send at least 50.00, so being a single mom and not wanting my low wages garnished I confirmed my social as they asked me to, but then went to google and put in the information they gave me to send the money money gram, and it came up with the scam that others are talking about.  I found my bill from my payday loan and its only 400.00. The indian man was always putting me on hold and whipsering to someone.  I reported this to the FBI and will to other places.  I'm sure in about an hour once they do not get the money from Money gram they will call my son again, and I will let them know that they are violating FDCPA laws and see what they say then.  I am then going to have to report this to the credit bureaus.  Working paycheck to paycheck and going to college, and being a single mom I cannot afford any extra or any scams on my credit right now.  They use a variety of numbers.  The number listed above and the number listed below, and a 646 number as the area code.  I'm scared they are going to do something with my social security number.  I hope they are stopped.

Called from 214-269-8550.  Stated that I owed Sonicash.com $ and that they were taking legal action TODAY if I didn't pay them TODAY!!  They had all of my information including my SSN#!!  I knew that they were fraudulent because they called a friend of mine earlier this week.  I tried to get as much information as possible from them before they hung up.  The money gram is supposed to go to FL.  However, when I contacted Sonicash.com they said that they are probably in India and receiving payments in the US.  Sonicash also stated that they got my number from a collection agency.  I want to get this guy!!

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, Sonic Bank, 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

I had received a phone call today from an 888 # on my caller ID. They had left me a message to call (323)317-9726 that I had a court case towards me about a pay day loan that I had taken out in March 2008. That I owed an amount of $1495.00 that needed to be paid by 8/12/2008 or I would be arrested and had a court date. The gentlemen I had spoke to had a very heavy accent. When I asked for his office location he would not give it to me and when I asked for the fax number he said he would not tell me until I gave him a credit card #. I called him 3 times because he said he did not want to speak to me if I did not want to settle this matter with him right away. I asked him numerous of times what company he stated, "Sonic cash net national process legal affividate office". I told him to repeat himself, because he had a very strong accent, he said that I did not understand english. I laughed at him, he said "you are laughing at me?" "You are the one who will be arrested tommorow".  I called a company called Sonic Cash and they verified I have never been a customer of an pay day loan and I was the 4th call today about the same phone call I had received. She directed me to here and I had discovered that other people had the same phone call!!!
DO NOT GIVE ANY INFORMATION TO THEM THEY ARE A SCAM!!!!!

I received a voice mail at work from a man by the name of "Justin Smith"  with a very heavy Indian accent.  He said for me or my attorney to call him back immediately to not disregard the message or he could only wish me luck in what was going to happen.  I called him back & he said I was being charged with 3 charges-bank fraud, check fraud & theft by deception. He said he was calling on behalf of US Bank National Assn about a pay day loan that I had not paid.  I have several pay day loans but they are all drafted out of my checking account each month.  I questioned him about the name of the specific pay day loan company & he said that they had over 500 pay day loan companies & he couldn't give me the specific one.  I got very upset & he said let me talk to my lead attorney "Jason Conners" & see if we can work something out. He then put the "Jason Conners" on the line who also had an Indian accent.  The Jason Conners told me to fax a letter of apology to 714-710-4103 & that if I would pay $1495.00 by credit or debit card that the charges could be stopped.  I came home & did research & found out that this was a scam.  I am glad that I didn't pay them the money.

Too funny!!

These scumbags called me too!!!  So I called them back at 10PM and of course got voicemail.  Their password is 1234 so I got into their system and changed their greeting to NOTIFY americans of this scam they are pulling.

HAHAHAAHAHAHA...  I changed the password and deleted the 120 messages in their inbox.  They are now locked out of their voicemail system.

I'm using their own voicemail system against them.  I love it!  They think americans are stupid... well... we'll see about that!
Caller ID: 310-867-6326
Caller: Legal Aff Office US Bank

I received the exact same phone call but the only thing was the I was told that the original amount was $300.00 but since I didn't pay it I would have to pay over $800 and some change.  I'm glad that I thought about using google to check out these individuals.

This people did the same thing to me yesterday.  I don't know how they got in touch with my cousin and best girlfriend but they did and they told me about some type of bank fraud.  That the original amount was $300.00 now it is $835.93.  They talked the same thing about an attorney to me.  The two different individuals that called had a heavy indian accent also.  I'm glad that I googled them.  They gave me the information to send money via Money Gram to Palm Coast Florida.  They said that they were getting ready to download the lawsuit.  I can't believe these people.

i got one of these calls today but they made a mistake cuz i am part of the us gov. they say they suppose to call back tomorrow so they can come pick me up...lol i aint gonna lie though i was a little nervous but things just didnt add up. just be careful everyone with yo finacial information.

Hi, Big D.  I'm curious about what method of payment that these crooks demanded of you. MoneyGram? Western Union? Credit card?  If you wired the $100 to them, then the routing information would be helpful to law enforcement. (I'm guessing that they had you route the money to Florida.)  And if it was a credit card, then the information about that transaction should help law enforcement as well.

See my message above from July 9 for information on reporting these criminals to federal and state law enforcement

I like everyone else have experienced this same call. All of the melodramatics and everything. The same " a case will be downloaded to your file". Please understand that if you have no knowledge of this it is very easy to get rattled and even taken. I was told that I had to send $500 to avoid arrest. I did send about $100. They told me to try for the $500. After thinking about this all day I decided to do a investigation of my own...And this is where i found other stories with the same individuals attempting the same SCAM! I want to thank all of you for your stories.........They are the reason I didn't loose very much.......Remember these names associated with this call.... Attorney Jason Conners, Justin Smith-(financing).

they have called stated they were united legal service these people are finding names from somewhere he states  his name is john powers heavy accent
about a payday loan false

Yes I rec'vd that same call and they ask me to verify the last 4 digits of my social security number.

I had a call from this number and another. They stated I had taken out a payday loan with Sonic National Bank in California. I have asked them today if I can get anything faxed to me and they said "NO" after you pay us with a debit card or a credit card of 1,095.00 which they stated the loan amount was for 350.00, they stated they have been sending me emails and I havent responded. They said on Monday at 11am they are having a court hearing and that I am going to be charged with 3 counts 1. check deseption 2. Theft and 3. Fraud. I have previous taken out loans before and really sat back and almost started to cry I was so upset, Anyway getting ready to pay this debt off a friend and work says look this number up and see what happens. I was really going to send these people this money. If I did or do owe this money I would have something sent to me stating I owed this money and or on my credit report after 3 years, Again they wont send me anything stating my signature or anything else util after I pay this amount off. They also stated they are Ray Stuart and Scott Miller (AMERICAN NAMES) which they ARE NOT!!!!!!

Their most hilarious line is "If you don't call us back, we will download warrants, and only God can help you." (Cue the melodramatic music!!)

Some failed soap opera writer must compose that stuff for them.  :)

They did the same thing to me. Except they called my work #.. they were actually calling for somebody else (a Linda Hernandez) and they left a very tacky vm. My coworker and I heard it a couple of times on speaker because it was friggin hilarious "If you don't call us back, then.... I can only wish you good luck.... as this situation unfolds on you" lol
I think the best part was when he said his name was "Scott Miller" with a thick Indian Accent.
The left a call back number, 949 544 2523 (CA number) and I called it for s**** and giggles, it was a disused line. The dumbasses can't even get their numbers right.
Tried calling the 310 number, it rang but nobody picked up.

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-909-8245

above is a link to show you what these guys do they have various other number too .. LIke 408-404-3021 or 607-428-0037.

Glad to hear that you didn't get ripped off by these criminals.

The fact that they wanted you to wire the money to Florida reinforces suspicions that even though these calls are coming from outside the United States, all roads with this scam lead back to the Sunshine State.

If you haven't already done so, I strongly suggest that you also file a complaint with Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum.  McCollum's office is very aggressive in pursuing debt collection scams. Here's the link: http://myfloridalegal.com/Contact.nsf/Contact ... Economic_Crimes

SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM!!!!!!!!!!!