they called my boss at work to and they are now using the tactic that you the the IRS money and that you have 1hr to wire the money or they will issue an arrest warrant with your local police dept. DO NOT fall for
this scam. they are fake.

This is a criminal extortion scam operating out of India. They are making the calls utilizing VOIP and the names of legitimate firms to make it appear the calls are originating from within the US. There is NO "company" or "debt" and you will NOT be arrested. They are harvesting and/or buying consumers' personal identifying information from unscrupulous websites like the one you may have filled out an application with, and you need to do whatever you can to protect yourself. This includes: Notifying the FTC: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/, placing fraud alerts with all three credit bureaus, notifying your bank and employer and letting these criminals know you are aware they are attempting to extort money for a non-existent debt and have alerted the authorities.

ABC News released an investigative report on this scam a year ago:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/phantom-debt-co ... ory?id=16512428

Just got 2 calls from "Alex Watson" - 760-262-0976. They claim I did not repay a payday loan. (I never took one out.) They have my SSN, and said that I will be arrested at my job tomorrow - and that then I will give some answers. I immediately called my local police department, and was advised that they are "fishing" to not give any information, and to notify the credit bureaus.

You paid this jack***? Why? You will probably never be able to get the money back. Can you trace where the money was sent?

This person calls me from 510-227-1819 and says that I owe money to them. and if I don't repay him he will start legal actions against me. I paid him 2000 $. now they are not answering my call.

Someone called me with the same Alex Watson name, saying I got a payday loan and didn't pay it back.  When I returned the call, he said there was a law suit against me & they would be at my job on tomorrow morning to arrest me. I asked him who was the loan with that I supposedly took out. He then got upset saying that I was over talking him and he wanted to speak with my supervisor. He wanted me to apologize to him for being rude but he was the one being rude. I simply asked him a question and he would not give me any informaiton. He called me 20 times at my job saying he can do it all day. He never got to ask me for any money. Then he blocked his number and pretended to be a police officer from CA calling to tell me they have the papers for my arrest and will be faxing them here to the state I live in. Then I told him I had his name & phone # and I was gonna report him to the police. I haven't heard from him since. He called from 818-408-8912.

Someone called me with the same Alex Watson name, saying I got a payday loan and didn't pay it back.  When I returned the call, he said there was a law suit against me & they would be at my job on Monday to arrest me. I started questioning him immediately so he never got to ask me for any money. I called him back repeatedly, and he kept answering & hanging up immediately. Finally he answered and said, "Why do u keep calling me?" I said, "you're harrassing me so I thought I'd harrass you too!". Then I told him I had his name & phone # and I was gonna report him to the police.  I haven't heard from him since.  He called from 951-537-5323

Lets just say this week i was scammed 5000.00 from these peple this week.  I would like to know who to contact to try to get this money back. Or put these peple out of business and behind bars.

Just got a call at my job wanting to know if I had contacted my attorney yet due to the lawsuit against me! Called my wife to try and figure out what was going on. Called them back and they belittled me with a bunch of crap and then told me the cops would be at my job tomorrow to arrest me. Would not give me anymore info. My wife looked up Alex Watson and found this page. thank you everyone for posting your problems too. the number that they called from was 415 329-0352 . I am sure it is from a loan company. We had applied online for a loan and have had numerous calls from forgien sounding people who have been extremely rude to my wife when she tried to tell them we no longer needed the loan. I am sure from the sound of the guy today it was probably the same company.

THIS IS A SCAM. DO NOT FALL FOR IT. IF YOU HAVE EVER TAKEN OUT A LOAN ONLINE, THATS HOW THEY GOT YOUR INFORMATION. NOW, YOU CAN FIGHT BACK.

On my first call I politely threatened them with legal action as I was aware of my rights even if I had actually taken a loan from them. They backed off. Then they called my job a week later. I called them back from my cellphone and was not able to get a hold of ALEX WATSON, but the guy that answered the phone said that he was a manager. I was extremely aggressive and told them a lot of nasty things... I also kept calling them back because he kept hanging up. On one occasion he said, "f u b*****d." That is sufficient proof that its a fake collections agency.

PEOPLE, DO YOUR RESEARCH AND DO NOT BECOME A VICTIM. ALSO, the guy said that he was located in Illinois but he was using a local number, when I asked him about that he hung up. I also picked on his fake american name with a heavy indian accent. I'll go as far as purchasing a prepaid phone and will call them pretending to be a collector. I hate liars and scammers.

Call from alex watson at work and LA sheriff dept. asked for a badge number and empl. id wouldn't give it to me and told me i had no right to ask then when i said i had talked to LA county she hung up.  Mark Murphy and Officer lisa- scam

Phantom Debt Collectors From India Harass Americans, Demand Money

By BRIAN ROSS (@brianross) , CINDY GALLI and MATTHEW MOSK (@mattmosk)
June 7, 2012

Hundreds of thousands of cash-strapped Americans have been targeted by abusive debt collectors operating out of overseas call centers suspected of links to organized crime in India, law enforcement officials told ABC News.

The calls are part of a massive scam, one that appears to target struggling Americans -- especially those who have gone online to apply for payday loans. Armed with personal information from those pilfered applications, the threatening callers, who claim to be debt collectors poised to initiate legal action, have managed to pry loose millions of dollars from their victims -- even when the victims never owed money in the first place.

"This is what we call a phantom debt collection scam," said Jon Leibowitz, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. "It's a very pernicious and innovative new fraud."

Working through call centers in India, the commission estimates that the criminals have dialed at least 2.5 million calls, persuading already cash-strapped victims to send them more than $5 million. Some have reported receiving dozens of calls per hour. They are victims like Cindy Gervais, of New Orleans, who went online for a quick loan when her husband's car was hit by a driver who didn't have insurance.

Even though she paid the loan off, the so-called "phantom" debt collectors with Indian accents began calling to say she still owed money.

He more or less told me that if I didn't pay, they were going to have someone on my doorstep to arrest me," she told ABC News. "And that they were going to contact my place of business, and tell them what kind of person I am."

At first, she said she resisted. Then the calls became more frequent, and started to ring on her cell phone, and at the grocery distribution company where she had worked for 27 years.

"I was more or less was in panic mode because he told me there would be someone before noon at my place of business to arrest me and take me to jail," she said tearfully. "So I agreed to pay him."

After receiving scores of complaints, investigators with the FTC said they began tracking the calls, and following the payments. They alleged the payments led them to a California company run by an Indian-American named Kirit Patel, and that such scams would not be possible without American front men.

"I would say that all roads of this scam, or many of the roads of this scam, lead back to Mr. Patel," said the FTC's Leibowitz.

ABC News tracked Patel for weeks, from the suburbs of San Francisco to Austin, Texas.

Patel refused to talk. But his lawyer, Mark Ellis, said he believes it is far too early to pass judgment on his client. Ellis, a Sacramento-based attorney, told ABC News that Patel was hired for a nominal fee to set up an American shell company, and had no idea what the call centers in India were doing.

"I can tell you, he was as snookered by the people in India as anybody," Ellis said. "He's a 69-year-old man who is nearing his retirement who thought all he had to do was set up some corporations and everything was on the up and up. He's completely dismayed that he has become the lightning rod of this entire problem."

A close friend of Patel's also defended him in a brief interview at his home, saying Patel was not trying to defraud anyone -- he was just an unwitting, bit player in a larger scheme.

"If Mr. Patel was just a cog in the wheel he seems to have been a pretty big cog," Leibowitz said. "It is clear that Patel was integrally involved with this scam."

Leibowitz points to thousands of pages of financial and phone records gathered by the FTC and filed as part of a civil case brought against him in the U.S. District Court in Sacramento last month. When FTC lawyers sought to freeze his assets and prevent his business from continuing to operate, Patel responded by invoking his rights against self-incrimination. His lawyer told ABC News he has had to be careful in how he responds to the allegations in civil court "because there is a potential criminal action," but that Patel maintains the allegations against him are false.

Federal investigators said the phantom debt collection operation that allegedly benefitted from Patel's assistance was one of several that all trace back to the same small town in Western India called Ahmedabad. Callers use technology to make it appear that the calls originate inside the U.S. Victims provided ABC News with recordings of dozens of the calls, and many of the thickly accented callers appear to be reading off a script.

"Subpoenas have been readied, and Monday morning you're going to be picked up from your home," one caller says on a victim's voicemail. "And you have children. Don't worry about your children. We have a childcare department to take care of the children."

"You will be behind bars for six months," said another caller. "And once you go behind bars, you will lose your job. Once you are behind the bars, you won't get a single drop of water."

William Peerce Howard, a Tampa attorney who represents victims of harassment from debt collectors, said it takes an especially twisted criminal to use threats and coercion to pry money from someone who is already struggling financially

"These guys really are the most visible villains in America today," he said. "They make a living scaring people."

Mark Merola, of Florida, said he just panicked when the caller told him he might be arrested at the deli where he works in a Florida retirement community.

"I was nervous. I didn't want to embarrass myself, my family," he said. He used his debit card to pay the collector $576.

Afterwards, he says he realized "how stupid I was."

"It just happened so fast," he said. "I got scared."

Leibowitz said he hopes with more attention, future potential targets of the scam will recognize red flags before they turn over any money.

If callers say they are from the police, consumers should know that law enforcement officers do not collect debt for private parties. If the caller is speaking with a thick Indian accent, but calls themselves by a names such as Officer Mike Johnson, that should be a tip off. And if they're calling 40 times in two hours, that's another red flag. "Legitimate debt collectors, legitimate pay day lenders don't do those sorts of things," he said.

Merola said he would like to see anyone involved in the scam prosecuted aggressively.

"There's no place in society for these people," he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/phantom-debt-co ... 16512428&page=2

received call from alex watson yelling at me about all the same things as well.  then an "officer" from LA county sherriffs dept. called me at 310-742-5736 i called the county office they don't know who he is so i asked him for his badge number and his employee id and he hung up on me.

I received this phone call today from a Alex Watson!!! He called my work also saying that I would be arrested tomorrow and put in jail for a default on a payday loan!!! I was like WHAT!!!! and yes he was also very rude, he yelled at me. So I tried to call him back and he wouldn't answer the phone! Who are these people and what can we do about it? He has proceeded to call my work again 3 more times but I didn't answer my phone. But this phone number is 707 508-4204, but the same person by the name of Alex Watson.

call him*

this dude just called me and left me a message saying that if my attorney did not call me it would all unfold on me!! we seriously need to join together to stop this scammer!!

I recieved a call from this ALEX WATSON (213)261-6456  as well he told  me that I owed money and the police is coming to my job on monday to arrest me and I will be in jail for six months. He was very rude to me on the phone when I asked for information on who was suing me he kept saying talk to the police when they come to arrest me. How can I report this guy he has my social and all!!

Got phone call today from Alex Watson Attorney at Law. He told me i had to call back immediatly so i did. The first couple of times I called back and tried to leave a message, his voice mail was full. How convenient. Finally talk to so called Alex Watson, with a funny accent, and he told me i would be arrested tomorrow from my place of work. Scared the C**P out of me. Asked him what was it regarding. He told me it was an unpaid debt to an online loan company. I told him didnt know a thing about this. He acted like i was lying at first then he said he would investigate and drop the charges. Dont think this is the end of this but now Im alot more informed of this ridiculouse scam. Thanks.

This phone number called me at work and have my social number and cell phone number. Please investigate.

Got a call at 8:55am this morning from 213-261-5790. Let it go to voicemail since I didn?t recognize the number.  A man with what sounded like an Indian accent left the following message...?This message is intended for [my name]. [My name], the very second you receive this message, I need you or your retained attorney of record to return the call.  The issue is extremely time sensitive.  My name is David Miller and the hotline to my division is 213-261-5790. I repeat 213-261-5790. Don?t disregard this message and do return the call.  Now [my name], if you don?t return the call and we don?t hear from your attorney either, the only thing I can do is wish you good luck as the situation unfolds on you.  Goodbye.?  When I called the number back it went strait to voicemail for ?Alex Windsor?...the mailbox was full.  I admit, it freaked me out. I?ve never had any sort of legal difficulty or had cause to retain an attorney. A few weeks ago, I did look into cash advance services, but didn?t move forward with it.  That?s probably how they got my number.  BEWARE...those service say your info is confidential but one or more of them is obviously selling their contact lists to this SCAMMER. I?m so glad I looked up the name and number of the caller online and found this message board. I have AT&T Smart Limits on my cell phone so I?m going to block the number.

This j***off keeps calling my job alleging i owe some loan i never took out,secondly they threaten people because there real tough behind a phone i wish my husband wrapped his his hands around his neck and takes the life out of the b*****d,they call my job,i work for the dmv,thats state,so i reported the issue to my boss and now there tracing the threatning calls back to its source,jokes on you a***oles! jerkoffs!

Believe it or not, I just received a called from (213)261-5790 with the same message that I had borrowed from Cash Advance on-line and they have gotten judgment against me and now have taken out a warrant to have me arrested.  If I don't pay the police office would be at my job tomorrow morning to arrest me.  The funny thing is, I do not work and secondly, I have not taken out a loan.  I told them they would have to prove that I received a loan by showing the amount posted in my account.  We got into an argument and he hung up.  I am glad to see that I am not the only one in this situation.  Thanks for the input.  This easy my mind to know that this is a scam.  I was beginning to check my account to see if I had borrowed some money and just forgot it.

These people just called me today. They are using a different number now. 213-262-5790. They said i took out a loan from cash advance. Which i never did. When i asked how much was assumed to have been borrowed the man said police were coming. SCAM

Well folks, "Alex Watson" is at it again.  Apparently he just can't seem to get the message that more and more people are wising up to this scam and his b/s.  First, his "supposed" "paralegal" called me and gave me "Alex Watson"'s phone number.  So, like an idiot, I called "Alex Watson".  Told him that I already had an attorney who was helping me "straighten out" all of my credit issues and that I was well aware of debt collection legal processes here in Virginia.  He hung up after I finished explaining that in Virginia they can only issue a Civil Warrant of Debt.  So, then I called the number back, and he answered and started saying b/s like, "you're a porn star" and other b/s like that.  Not only that, but when I spoke to his "paralegal' who sounded suspiciously like "Alex Watson", he said I needed to learn how to speak.  REALLY??  Someone with a foreign accent is going to call people here in the good ole US of A and tell them they need to learn how to speak??  Sorry, but I was born here in Virginia!  As a matter of fact, I'm like 5th generation here in the States, and speak English very clearly and am very clearly understood by everyone.  Should anyone else get a call from "Alex Watson", tell him he really needs to get a life and that too many people are now turned on to his b/s!

I just got a call from an attorney Named alex watson sayin that I owed money.. I dont even have a bank account.

These people are crazy,unprofessional are they so stupid to think people are going to pay them back money they never got the Indian man is really over the top he called me a porn star LOL!! Very immature .

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

This dude called me yesterday with the same thing telling me that there was a warrant out for my arrest if I didnt pay back some bs loan. the name on the number is alex watson and the name this idiot left me on my phone at home and at work is jack martin. 213-261-3424. There really is an attorney named alex watson here in california, and I called him. He knew right away what I was calling about. this is a scam. What i dont like however is this a** wipe told me MY social security number!!! I made a report with the fbi here in ca.

This idiot also called me from this Ph. # 876-521-4867 .  This # is a landline in Kingston Jamaica, provided by Centennial Digital Jamaica.  He also called from a Los Angeles # 213-261-5790.  Maybe he'll leave enough clues and we or some agency can nail his dead a**.

THIS NUMBER CALLED ME AS WELL TODAY HE YELLED AND CALLED ME A N****R AND SAID THAT IF I DON'T PAY THERE COMING TO MY JOB TOMMAROW TO GO TO JAIL FOR THE NEXT 6 MOUTHS THIS DUDE IS F****NG CRAZY