These people are really NUTS! SCAM 100% I let them know a piece of my mind!!!!

Is NO attorney in California by that name

If anyone would like to call the REAL Mark Johnson Att. Here's his number 310.312.4279 Also he's not located at the address specified. Just drop him a line and let him know that some scumbag is using his name for fraudulent purposes

There's no Adam Garcia listed as an attorney in California Also the address looks bogus checked the area and there are only little mom & pop operations there

I got a call at work saying that i was to call "Adam Garcia Attorney at Law" gave a phone number and said to call now that i was going to be arrested for this money.I yelled back and said i dont owe no one i dont have any loans.He said that he wasnt repeating his self no more,dang i couldnt understand half of what he said.This is CRAZY....

called repeatedly saying I must call asap...I dont have any payday loans there nuts

This idiot called me again. Claims to be Alan Carter, same heavy accent as before. Come to find out, after doing some research on the internet, the Federal Trade Commission has an ongoing investigation from these people who claim to be debt collectors and get your debit card info and steal money out of your account. These are fake debt collector calls from india who try to pose as law enforcement officials. These people's scheme involved more than 2.7 milion calls to at least 600,000 different phone numbers. Over the last 2 years these scammers fraudulently collected more than 5.2 million dollars from consumers, many who were strapped for cash and thought this money was being applied to pay day loans they took out. Other name the guy goes by is a Mike Johnson. Now they even have woman scammers calling but they all have heavy accents. Don't fall for their schemes. Report any calls to the FTC on their website.

Court Halts Alleged Fake Debt Collector Calls from India, Grants FTC Request to Stop Defendants Who Posed as Law Enforcers
California-based Defendant Ran Phantom Debt Collection Scheme from His Home, FTC Alleges

In response to charges from the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. district court has halted an operation that the agency alleges collected phantom payday loan debts that consumers either didn't owe to the defendants or didn't owe at all. The defendants' scheme involved more than 2.7 million calls to at least 600,000 different phone numbers nationwide, according to the FTC. In less than two years, they fraudulently collected more than $5.2 million from consumers, many of whom were strapped for cash and thought the money they were paying would be applied to loans they owed, according to FTC documents filed with the court.

The court order temporarily stops the illegal conduct and freezes the operation?s assets while the FTC moves ahead with the court proceedings and seeks refunds for consumers.

As part of its continuing crackdown on scams that target consumers in financial distress, the agency charged Tracy, California-based Kirit Patel and two companies he controls with violating the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Often pretending to be American law enforcement agents such as "Officer Mike Johnson" or representatives of fake government agencies like the "Federal Crime Unit of the Department of Justice," callers from India who were working with the defendants would harass consumers with back-to-back calls, according to the FTC. One consumer reported that the caller threatened to have her children taken away if she did not pay, according to court documents.

Another consumer told the FTC, ?The callers threatened me and claimed they would arrest me if I didn?t pay them the alleged debt. One of the callers even contacted my neighbors and told me he was watching my house. The callers had a lot of . . . personal information about me, including my work address. One caller told me, ?We just saw you walk into your office building,? and then listed my office address. Another caller told me there were 55 warrants out for my arrest. Sometimes my caller ID would indicate that the call was from the FBI. Because the callers knew so much about me, I believed they were police officers or FBI agents. The calls scared me and I was often shaking when I hung up the phone."

In difficult economic times, consumers may turn to high-interest, short-term payday loans between paychecks. The FTC alleges that information submitted by consumers who applied for these loans online found its way into the defendants? hands.  Because the callers had this information ? which often included Social Security or bank account numbers ? and because many of the victims already were in a tenuous financial situation, they often believed that they owed the defendants the money, according to the FTC. In some cases, when consumers made the allegedly bogus payments, they had nothing left over to cover legitimate expenses: Two mothers reported that they could not buy Christmas presents for their families after making payments on the phony debts.

The defendants typically demanded several hundred dollars and, in violation of federal law, routinely used obscene language and threatened to sue or have consumers arrested, according to the FTC?s complaint. They also threatened to tell the victims? employers, relatives, and neighbors about the bogus debt, and sometimes followed through on these threats, the FTC alleged.

Once victims were pressured into paying, the callers instructed them to use a pre-paid debit card such as a Wal-Mart MoneyCard, another debit card, a credit card, or Western Union so the money could be deposited into one of the defendants? merchant processing accounts, the FTC alleged. Even after victims made a payment, the harassing calls often continued, forcing them to change their phone numbers, or close their credit cards or bank accounts in an effort to get the calls to stop, according to documents filed with the court.

The FTC alleged that of the $5.2 million the defendants collected, almost $1 million was returned or charged back by their merchant processor, resulting in consumer injury totaling more than $4.2 million.

The complaint alleges that the defendants violated the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by:

   misrepresenting that they had the authority to collect on supposedly delinquent loans that consumers owed, they were a law enforcement authority or were affiliated with a government agency, and that consumers would be arrested, imprisoned, or sued; and
   using obscene or profane language, and calling consumers repeatedly with the intent to annoy, abuse, or harass them.

For more information about how to handle callers who claim to be debt collectors, see

Who?s Calling? That Debt Collector Could Be a Fake.

The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint was 4-0. The FTC filed the complaint and request for a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on April 3, 2012.  On April 5, 2012, the court granted the FTC?s request.  

The FTC would like to thank the Better Business Bureau for its assistance in this case.

NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has reason to believe that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The complaint is not a finding or ruling that the defendant has actually violated the law.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).  The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.  The FTC?s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.  Like the FTC on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

MEDIA CONTACT:
   Betsy Lordan
   Office of Public Affairs
   202-326-3707
STAFF CONTACT:
   Sarah Schroeder, Lisa Rosenthal, and Kerry O?Brien
   FTC Western Region, San Francisco
   415-848-5100

(FTC File No. 1123215)
(Broadway GM NR)

omg this scared me. i just recieved a call from them. i thought i really owed a payday loan for $300. and i was gonna get arrested and get taken to jail :(. i found it odd thou that the number is in califorina and its not even business hours yet.

man has called my cellphone for the lastweek two or three times aday claiming i owe him or his company thousands they refuse to talk to my wife when she answers ...

JUST RECEIVED A CALL FROM THIS # STATING THERE IS A LAW SUIT PENDING AGAINST ME, HAD SOME OF MY INFO, BUT MOST DID NOT MATCH -- VERY OBVIOUSLY A SCAM!!!!

So, I just received a call on my company issued work phone. Not only did they leave the message for the wrong person, The guy clearly stated that his name was John Carter but had a very strong Middle Eastern accent. In addition, after he stated that it was imperative that "Michael" call right away, and that his attorney was ready to go forward with an arrest. Then he actually said, "I will pray for you and God Bless!"

You can't be arrested for non-payment of a loan.

This person called and wanted my attorneys information because a law suit has been filed against my ss#. I told him to find it himself. I think his name was Mark Johnson.

got same phone call from 323 761 9109 at work and 323 345 1343 on my cell guy named frank johnson saying he is from angel marshal law firm with a indian accent.i called my attorney and she is going to handle it and call attorney generals office.

my husband has been getting calls from this number at his work. we reported it to the FTC and to the attorney general, and I called the number back and informed them we knew it was a fraud and to never contact us again, and they have still kept calling both his work, his cell, and now my cell. reporting them for harassment doesn't seem to work, and blocking them wont work because they call from multiple 323 numbers. when i called again today, the guy i spoke with threatened me, saying that if i keep being rude he's going to start calling even more than they are. this is ridiculous.

the storyline they give us is pretty much word for word whats been said above, we owe $480 to usa cash advance, they are an attorney's office with an affidavit to collect the debt, police are coming to his work to arrest him, one hour to pay, yada yada. and everyone we've spoken with has had a middle eastern accent.

Man with a heavy accent claiming he is an officer who is going to send someone to my place of work to have me arrested or to my home address. Claims a complaint has been filed against my name and he stated the last 4 digits of my soc sec number. Think it's a scam artist who stole my identity when I applied for pay day loans over the internet. They won't leave me alone and are harrassing me.

I am very glad that this post is here, Just had a call from this towel-head supposedly representing Cash Advance USA, and I need to call Mark Johnson Attorney At Law, He was threatening me with the payday loan i supposedly owe money on that I never recieved, They are sending the swat team, a-team and national guard to get me....  First thought was that someone stole my info and used it.  He called from 323-345-1343 and said I needed to speak to Mark Johnson Attorney and to call 323-761-9109.  Wow..  These people need stopped.

This man, Mark Johnson, Mark Brown and finally Mark Cotham has been calling me at work and on my cell talking about I owe for a payday loan, he has a lot of my information such as ss#, work # and my cell, he states that the police is coming to my job and arrest me, this has me really scared, because I know that it is the same person. He need's to be stoped.

All of them are saying the same thing. They will download the documents from the internet and have subpoena me and have me arrested, suspend my license, etc. Does someone out there reported this call or did something and had them stop.

I got the same calls. I called the loan place they say I'm in good standing. I really do not know.

Just received the above harrassment.  How did these people get my information.    Mine was att. Mark Johnson.

I just got the same threatening messages. Oh my God! What a nightmare. Atty. Adam Garcia with address 101 7th St. LA, CA 90026 speaking in behalf of Cash Advance USA.

They are calling me too. It is most likely a scam. I am unaware as to how they recieved so much of my information. They had my social and my phone number, and address. They were threatening to arrest me. You Need to notify your Attorney General's Office and Let them know of this harrassment asap !!

these people are a NIGHTMARE. the same people as 323-345-1343. they call my elderly mother at ALL hours! 4:30 AM, 6:30 AM, and then they just scream about paycheck loans. they are out of their minds and this is abuse. can't the government do something about shutting this type of harrassing business down??