i ended up getting tired of the threatening phone callls i also  saved every number  ive heard that "do not disregard  this msg" soooo many times ive got it memorized. I changed my number and the calls stopped. Problem is they (4 diffrent callers one is female) are utilizing a trunked number system periodically i called the numbers back and its always not in service.

I just got 13 missed calls from them and 3 voicemails saying I have 3 charges against me and to contact them or have my attorney call them and do not ignore them or I will be sorry.

That is exactly what "Alex Cruz" said to me.  I was nervous at first but a friend googled the number and this is what I found.  What a joke, he could barely speak english and couldn't understand hardly anything.

I just received a call today from a man with a very heavy indian accent left a message on cell phone and 3 on home number saying that not to ignore the call and call him back or have my attorney call him.  Very time sensative matter.  could hardly understand him so don't know what company he said or if he even said one.

I had the same experience, this guy started calling me at 7 in the morning telling me i was gonna be arrested in 3 hrs at my job if i didnt pay 400 dollars, still sleepy i said who is this and he started getting very sexually explicit and i Hung up he called 8 times that day so i have been turning the tables on these ppl and i have started to call them all the time, and harass them, and have reported them
DONT SENT THEM ANY MONEY, NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY, THEY R A BIG SCAM GOING AROUND

I just received a phone call saying they were some "Federarl Burea of lawyers " and they wanted to kinow if I knew of the charges being brought up against me. They wanted to give me to John Anderson abut wanted to verify my name.  When i said I woulded give them my name becvause they called me they said then just wait until the sheriff comes to pick you up tomorrow and they hung up.  I called back the # immediately and the phone line is dead

I just got that call yesterday...exactly with the heavy Indian accent guy and the federal criminal charges and everything. I was gonna ask him if he was calling from India. I do Have a payday loan that I am almost done repaying but I live in Illinois so I don't see what CA has to do with anything. I think they get our info through the payday loan people (prolly hack it or something) and instead of paying back the loan company those who do fall for this scam end up paying them. It's BS ya'll. And that's right, an attorney can't press charges against someone. And you need a warrant to have someone arrested. Vermin, that's what they are.

Just got the same call wanting my attorney or myself to contact them back, that they were representing a company that I had done business with before in the past and that I owed them money and it needed to be paid immediately.  It's a scam I contacted the company and they state my account is in good standing.

got the same threatening phone call at 8am in the morning. the accent was so thick I could barely understand.

I received a very threatening call from this number also and they had all my information and Icouldnt understand them and when asked about their company information they were offensive & defensive and they made another threatening statement then hung up on me and it was an asian accent and John Anderson

I received the same message to call back or have your attorney call back..................For some reason I just felt that it was a scam, so I told the caller "Mark Watson", who had such a severe Indian accent that I could hardly understand him, to serve me the complaint legally. When he started to press me further, I told him I thought it was a scam and that he was probably calling from India. I ended the conversation with "Go f..k yourself and never call here again". He hung up.

This is a scam to make you think you owe money. Never send money regardless of what they say. Tell them you are calling the cops and they will hang up.

I got the same call this morning i knew something was fishy because this indian guy could barely speak english i said send it in writing you should have my address if i've done business with you and hung uo please people don't send in your hard earned money we''re all struggling in this economy

I got a call from this number and a man with a very heavy Indian accent said he was calling from an attorney's office and that there were federal criminal charges filed against me in the state of california (where I used to live)  for money laundering and writing bad checks.  I told him I had no idea what he was talking about and he should send me a letter from the attorney if there is some issue I should be aware of .  Then he said "YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!" and then proceeded to tell me that the sherrif would be at my place of employment in 24 hours.  I repeated that I had no idea what he was referring and at that point he started this threatening rant about the sherrif coming to my work and I hung up the phone.

i  received a call from this number telling me that i have criminal charges pending in the state of california to call back and speak to a lawyer who was going to explain me everything. When I did the guy name john anderson said that i had a charge of theft by deception and check fraud in the state of california due to a loan that i supposly received from a pay day website.When i told him that i was going to call police the guy that sounded indian started telling me that he was coming tonight to my house and F@#$% me.

I got a call from this number two days ago with a voice message from a Mark Watson say don't disregard have my lawyer call when I called them back another  guy said I owe 500.00 and when I ask them when this happen he told me he didn't know only thing he had in front of him was what I owe  then I snap and said it no way because I can check my bank statement on line he hung up I called my bank they told me no one try to put money in there I called them back they kept hung up then the number was not in service them I called back again got the same got and I want more info he said good bye  and hung up and the calling from California

This just happened to me on Friday except it was a woman named Jenny Smith that left a voice mail on my work phone and when I called back a guy answered with a thick accent. After he told me that he was pressing charges against me I asked him to give me all the information so that I could forward to my lawyer. He said 'if you pay the $582.00, we will not press charges. I told him he could press whatever he wanted because I did not owe the money and was contacting the police and my lawyer. He then hung up on me. I tried to call back all day Sunday but could not get through. These people are idiots and have nothing better to do then try to scam hard working individuals.

I got one of these calls the other day  they guy said he was from a attorneys officehe said i owed over 300 dollars  and said if i dont pay it back i will go to jail i told him i dont owe money this sounds like a scam he hung up on me so i went to the police gave them the number  then i called them back they called me fn a**le and to stop calling them.

I also called a call from this number saying that are Kenny Smith and attonerty in Cal. and I needed to call them back or my attonerty call them to settle a debt of $375.62. When I called them back what sounded to be lady named Kenny Smith said I needed to pay this today or they were going to serve paper if I don't and I can pay $2500.00 in court. When I asked what payday loan was this for they said the owner or who they representing owed 365 website. Then all they could say was good luck and hung up.

Someone from this numbered left a message for me on my work phone for me or my attorney to contact them immediatley and do not disregard this message, that if I did all he could say was Good Luck to you.

One leg of this extortion scam was shut down several weeks ago:  

Even scam artists are outsourcing. On Tuesday in its first crackdown on fraudulent telemarketing in South Asia, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it was shutting down two California-based companies that used a call center in India to defraud Americans out of more than $5 million over the past two years.

Workers in India made threatening calls to Americans getting them to pay money on debts that they didn't owe, the FTC charges. At an FTC press conference in Chicago on Tuesday, fraud victim JanLaree DeJulius explained that she had received a call from someone claiming to be an enforcement officer from the (phony) "Federal Department of Crime and Prevention," who threatened to have her arrested and have her wages garnished if she didn't pay a bill of more than $730. The scam artists had gotten her name and information from a payday loan her ex-husband had taken out in her name.

"It was very embarrassing," Dejulius said. "He knew everything about me so I agreed to set up an installment." She is not alone. According to the FTC, more than 8 million calls were made since 2010 and at least 17,000 transactions processed across the United States related to the global scam.

On Tuesday under request from the FTC, a U.S. District Court in Chicago stopped the international operation, charging Varang K. Thaker and two companies he owned, American Credit Crunchers, LLC, and an affiliate Ebeeze, LLC, with violating the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

"This is a brazen operation based on pure fraud, and the FTC is committed to shutting it down," said David Vladeck, director of the FTC's consumer protection bureau. "Consumers should not be pressured into paying debt they don't remember owing. Legitimate debt collectors must provide consumers with both written information about the debt, and instructions for protecting themselves if they don't think they owe the debt."

According to the FTC's charges, Thaker used Social Security numbers and bank account numbers obtained from payday lenders to identify the victims for his scam. He outsourced the work to an Indian call center, where workers made threatening calls to American consumers to pay fake debt or collect on bills for which they were not authorized.

Thaker was not available when contacted by telephone on Tuesday. A woman who claimed to be Thaker's older sister and asked not to be named for privacy reasons said he is working with the FTC to help the Indian government pursue the fraudster call center operators. She also said he was innocent in the scam. "He was being used by somebody. He didn't even know where they got the information," she told The Huffington Post by phone. She said that her brother got 10 percent of the earnings from the scam operation.

The FTC charges against Thaker are the latest in a series of police actions by the government agency to put an end to rogue debt collection operations that have become more frequent in the aftermath of the Great Recession. In January, the FTC struck a $2.5-million settlement with debt-buying company Asset Acceptance, LLC, charging that the company had falsely represented itself to customers, including making up phantom debts that customers no longer owed. Last October, the FTC filed a complaint against seven other fraudulent debt collectors, alleging that they had engaged in the same techniques -- demanding money from customers who owed nothing at all.

The growing number of Americans who are unable to pay their bills has meant there are more companies looking to profit from their economic difficulties.

Debt collectors have been taking more aggressive tactics as fewer people are able to make ends meet or are in a cycle of debt. More than 30 million Americans are in debt collection, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Since 2010, more than 4,000 complaints have been filed with the FTC and state attorneys general about fraudulent debt collection calls, the FTC said.

Charles Junitkka, a personal bankruptcy attorney who represents clients in the New York City area, said, "In the last few years, the desperation of the collectors and their efforts have intensified because of the economy."

This story has been updated to reflect comment from a woman who says she is the sister of Varang Thaker. Thaker himself was unavailable for comment.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/21/ftc- ... _n_1289751.html

They called threatening like they did everyone else:so we decided to call back and play along: they insist that you pay with a "Pre-paid"card and must fax all your information to their "accounting department". Also when asked what charges were pending:to pay $300.00 to settle it all. Do NOT believe them!!! When asked for a routing number and name they hung up.

Also phone carrier for these scammers which are NOT aware of what these people are pulling is is MCI-Communications-Verizon (again not aware)

I received a call from an unknown number. I picked up and there was no answer. Then I saw I had a voicemail. I listened and there was this Indian sounding man on the line that could barly speak English threatening me, saying that I needed to call him back or have my lawyer call back. He said, "if you don't I feel sorry for what will happen to YOU." I called the number back and there was no answer. It is a non-working number that does not take incoming calls. I googled the number and this forum came up. I'm going to my town police dept.

Several months ag, I received daily threatening calls, that I shouldn't disregard their calls and for me or my attorney to call back, "or else!"  Let me just say, I am still here, not in jail, and never returned their calls....ever!  I know you all do not know who to trust and not to trust on these sites.  Unfortunately, so many of today's scams leave us all not trusting anyone.  But, search the web for the FBI website, and look for a "category" under cyberscams, or fraudulent phone calls (however it is listed), you can read for yourself on a legitimate government website, that these types of threatening phone calls are indeed scammers, trying to scare you into paying them.  You should not respond to them at all.  And, if it gives you more peace of mind that there is no way you are going to jail, call your local law enforcement and file a report.  By doing this, you can truly have a sense of security and know you're LEGALLY safe.  These people are a bunch of heartless bullies.  They lose no sleep in ruining innocent people's lives, and you don't need to lose anymore sleep in dealing with them.

Yup, they called me twice this morning, told me not to deregard and knew my full SS number. You can't get scared now-a-day cause, some foreign scam artist call you. Go on with your day and ignore that garage. No ones going to steal your identity. :-)

this people called and they said that i owe a payday loan and that i will be arrested at my job. what should i do. who do i call to file a cpmplaint

they said the same thing. that i had unpaid payday loan. who should i call

I just got a phone call from his people and they said i need an attorney. what to do

got several calls from john anderson and james marvin even an angela threatening saying i had an unpaid payday loan .and hung up when i asked who they where

One leg of this scam has been shut down:

Even scam artists are outsourcing. On Tuesday in its first crackdown on fraudulent telemarketing in South Asia, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it was shutting down two California-based companies that used a call center in India to defraud Americans out of more than $5 million over the past two years.

Workers in India made threatening calls to Americans getting them to pay money on debts that they didn't owe, the FTC charges. At an FTC press conference in Chicago on Tuesday, fraud victim JanLaree DeJulius explained that she had received a call from someone claiming to be an enforcement officer from the (phony) "Federal Department of Crime and Prevention," who threatened to have her arrested and have her wages garnished if she didn't pay a bill of more than $730. The scam artists had gotten her name and information from a payday loan her ex-husband had taken out in her name.

"It was very embarrassing," Dejulius said. "He knew everything about me so I agreed to set up an installment." She is not alone. According to the FTC, more than 8 million calls were made since 2010 and at least 17,000 transactions processed across the United States related to the global scam.

On Tuesday under request from the FTC, a U.S. District Court in Chicago stopped the international operation, charging Varang K. Thaker and two companies he owned, American Credit Crunchers, LLC, and an affiliate Ebeeze, LLC, with violating the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

"This is a brazen operation based on pure fraud, and the FTC is committed to shutting it down," said David Vladeck, director of the FTC's consumer protection bureau. "Consumers should not be pressured into paying debt they don't remember owing. Legitimate debt collectors must provide consumers with both written information about the debt, and instructions for protecting themselves if they don't think they owe the debt."

According to the FTC's charges, Thaker used Social Security numbers and bank account numbers obtained from payday lenders to identify the victims for his scam. He outsourced the work to an Indian call center, where workers made threatening calls to American consumers to pay fake debt or collect on bills for which they were not authorized.

Thaker was not available when contacted by telephone on Tuesday. A woman who claimed to be Thaker's older sister and asked not to be named for privacy reasons said he is working with the FTC to help the Indian government pursue the fraudster call center operators. She also said he was innocent in the scam. "He was being used by somebody. He didn't even know where they got the information," she told The Huffington Post by phone. She said that her brother got 10 percent of the earnings from the scam operation.

The FTC charges against Thaker are the latest in a series of police actions by the government agency to put an end to rogue debt collection operations that have become more frequent in the aftermath of the Great Recession. In January, the FTC struck a $2.5-million settlement with debt-buying company Asset Acceptance, LLC, charging that the company had falsely represented itself to customers, including making up phantom debts that customers no longer owed. Last October, the FTC filed a complaint against seven other fraudulent debt collectors, alleging that they had engaged in the same techniques -- demanding money from customers who owed nothing at all.

The growing number of Americans who are unable to pay their bills has meant there are more companies looking to profit from their economic difficulties.

Debt collectors have been taking more aggressive tactics as fewer people are able to make ends meet or are in a cycle of debt. More than 30 million Americans are in debt collection, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Since 2010, more than 4,000 complaints have been filed with the FTC and state attorneys general about fraudulent debt collection calls, the FTC said.

Charles Junitkka, a personal bankruptcy attorney who represents clients in the New York City area, said, "In the last few years, the desperation of the collectors and their efforts have intensified because of the economy."

This story has been updated to reflect comment from a woman who says she is the sister of Varang Thaker. Thaker himself was unavailable for comment.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/21/ftc- ... _n_1289751.html