Debt collector/

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

i got the same type phone calls - sounds like they are reading from a script!   Someone has got to put a stop to this -  I spoke with a legal firm who told me they are calling hundreds of people every day and getting rich.   They threaten you with law suits, jail, losing your job - they scare people into believing they are at fault.

BEEN THERE LESLEY - Have received calls from this number and an alternate number - same deal with me.  I contacted a legal firm and as soon as I mentioned what was going on they confirmed it is a scam.  Foreigners are hacking payday loan sites because they are very insecure - get all your information - then threaten you with jail etc.   I was advised by the legal firm what to tell them if they call again.  Under no circumstances do you send them money etc.   IT IS DEFINITELY A SCAM.  They are calling hundreds of people every day with this scam.  There are hundreds of phone numbers out there that they are using to call from.  Don't let any one tell you you don't know what you are talking about!

You are so stupid.

been getting the same calls the last few days... saying i took a payday loan out way back when.. and didnt pay it back so they are sueing me.. if i dont pay the 500.00 by monday i will owe them over 8000 and they said i would lose my job because of this... i have 3 voice messages from them saved on my cell phone.. by 2 different people stated the samething.. they say they are from an attorneys office.. and what not.. so when i was talking to them i said i need some info from them for my Attorney as i do have one. and they kepted telling me to have him call wouldnt give no info.. the name that calls is joe hoffmen

u mind yourself get it who are u to say me this and they never took any money from me instead they helped me thats wat i ment to say there did you get that and i believe u have not been to highschool thats the reason u cannot understand what i wrote and my name right its better if you first go back and learn something and then come back and speak to me did you get that Mr. Who so ever you are first have the balls to say your name and then speak to me you mannerless person.
And i dont know who that Saint is.

Hey "mitchelle" are yo trying to spell "michelle" or "mitchell" either way you are wrong - you people are so obvious with yor fake posts - you don't write english any better than you speak it. Go back to whatever third world pit you crawled out of and scam your own people!
To anyone on this thread - read the post by "the saint" - it has all the information you need about these dirtbag scammers!!
Do not pay them a cent - they cannot do the things they threaten to do - report all call to your state attorney genral and on www.ic3.gov.  Also - post any calls you get and the names and number they use on this and other sites to warn people.

Ronald Who so ever u are i dont know but i know these guys r not fraud. they are very helpfull i spoke to them i told them about my problems and they helped me out they are very kind n generous. when you are wrong u tend to blame others for that and thats wat you are dong with them. Get it you are guilty thats why you are blaming them this is very wrong you should just not do this. Ok plz for GOD Sake plzz.

i just recieved a call at my job stating the same thing.. Saying i need to send over copies of my drivers licence and a hand written letter.. These people who are calling have american names but with a thick indian accent.. And they say they are calling from the US attorney office, but in the back round it sounds like they are at a calling center. The do not act or speak professional. What law office has ever called a client stating that they need to fax over personal information if your the one who is being accused of false aqusations.. This is some bull sh*t if you ask me..

I WASNT GOING TO GIVE THEM A DIME BUT THE CALLS ARE ANNOYING THEY NEED TO STOP

I HAVE THAT NUMBER CALLING ME TOO ABOUT HOW I NEED TO PAY THEM MONEY AND THAT IF I DONT ILL GO TO JAIL THEY CALLED ME TODAY WITCH IS NOV 9TH 2010 THEIR NUMBER IS347-566-4186 WITCH IS A NEW YORK NUMBER

I have been getting these calls at work and at home for about a month and the keep wishing me good luck i have not taken out any loans this has to be a scam

Omg I got the same call and same message saying good luck! Oh well I guess I'm going to jail on Monday so they say!

I just got the same call as you did.  Is this a scam or what?

i got the same call yesterday saying i owed a huge amount of money i also called the cops i thought this was a scam cause they did not speak good english i just wish i knew how to get these calls to stop if anyone has any tips let me know

Evidently she did not if other people are getting calls too.

The name of the man who called me was named Bruce Walker. He had a very thick accent and told me if I did not call him back the very second I got the voice mail that he wished me "good luck as the situation unfolds on you"...who talks like that?

These f****rs just called me... I called the cops

Lesley you must have done this that's why you say'n all this..Coz about payday loans we all take it very often so we cannot run away and when they try to help us we say that they are frauds or scams which they are not.They just doing their job.

I was also targeted by these crooks. I don't know when or how they got all my information, they had the last 4 digits of my ssn they also had my dob, my address and place of employment. They stated that I fraudly wired 428.62 in my bank account, and than I was being charged with four counts of fraud transactions. They ask me to fax them a letter including a copy of my driver licence and my 16 digit number of my visa card and also my cvs number in the back with my first and last name signed. At the bottem. Fax #206 309 3380 attn don, lynn

The name of the man that called me was Norman Harvey

This number called saying I owed 686.40 and if I didn't pay them by tomorrow I would be arrested and thrown in jail and they would arrest me at my job so I would loose my job also. they had all my information age, DOB, last 4 numbers of SSN, place of employment and drivers license number home phone and cell number. They said they were with 'Attorney at Law Office' in New York, said I had taken out a   we-advance payday loan but couldn't tell me the amount date or balance. I have records of every loan I have ever taken out and this is not one of them.They wanted me to fax them a photo copy of my drivers license and my MC information including the 3 digit security numbers on the back, they also wanted me to hand write a letter saying I was responsible for this debt of 686.40 and make it attention to Don Lynn, they also said I had to pay them 300.00 tomorrow, and the balance on the 3rd of November. I have not ever heard of this company and have never heard of a law office called Attorney at Law new york city, the fax number is 2063093380.
thank you for reading this e-mail
Lesley Berry