I received a call from this number at my work this morning.  He also did not speak good english.  I kept asking him to repeat himself.  His name was Curtis Jackson and he told me that tomorrow I will be suit for not paying back some payday loan from last year.  I ask him when was this done and any reference number, dates, and etc.  He could not answer.  He referred me to the finance person to give my debit card information to and he told me not to ask this person any questions only to give him my information so that the money can be debit from my account.  He told me he was not able to email me or fax me anything in writing.  What so scarey about this is that he had my name, address, bank, and the last 4 of my SSN.  Help!

I have gotten calls at work from this number for 2 days in a row now. There is a lot of background noise and the man did not speak very good English. He also told me that I am being sued for a payday loan that from 2008 that I didn't pay back. I did not take out a payday loan in 2008. He knew my address, where I bank, and the last 4 numbers of my social. Very scary. He told me that someone is going to come to my house tomorrow and pick me up for my court date. He said he didn't know where my court appearance was scheduled or anything. I called the Sheriff's Department and reported that a man had called me and told me that someone was coming to my house. Scared the crap out of me!! They told me that it was more than likely a phone scam and not to give them any information about myself. I think this man got my personal information from the Internet when I applied for a payday loan a few months ago. Be very careful!!!

I got the exact same message that i was being sued for a loan and that someone was going to pick me up, i argued with him for about an 1 hour and they kept threatening me with court appearance and a $5000 bill i would have to pay in court, i did not verify all the info they had but i told them that i would settle because i cannot afford to go to court, so i ended up speaking to i guess a supervisor who gave until friday to come up with the money and i said ok and hung up.  I checked my email  and did not see anything about a payday loan during the month i was told that i took the loan and then i called the number after hours to see if there was an answering machine instead i got an operator saying my call cannot be completed. i am going to say that this is a scam and the next if there will be a next time i try to get a payday loan the safest i think would be to use a prepaid card as your bank. I truly believe they got all this info from filling out an app for a payday loan.  Got to be more careful...

I got a call from the same number saying the same thing, except they also said they would pick my mom and dad up to bring to court as well because they were my references. I did apply for a payday loan, but never accepted it. I checked all my bank records and everything and there was no record of receiving a loan. I knew it must be a scam because a legitimate loan company would make attempts to receive payments before filing a law suit against you. It was the same Indian accent with a lot of background noise making it very difficult to hear. They said they were a law firm calling on behalf of payday. From the start I figured it was a scam.. and when they gave me the ultimatum of either settling by paying 1095.00 (when the supposed loan was 500.00) or coming to my house to bring me to court.. I said let them come. I told them I was not going to do anything unless I had proof of the charges in my hands. I told them that if this was true I would be ready and waiting with records of my bank account proving no such deposit was made into my account by "payday", and also that just in case I was going to file a complaint about the scam with the attorney general of my state. I have not received any further calls, and they were "supposed" to pick me up an hour ago... hmm I wonder if they got lost?

Oh, and maybe they might want to try scamming someone who did not just graduate from Cornell, with a concentration in law.

Contacted for the first time 7-2-09
The 3 numbers gathered from this nut (including 2 fax #'s & a caller ID record)
310-881-6971 Location: Mar Vista, CA  Carrier: Mci Worldcom
213-405-5039 Location: Los Angeles, CA  Carrier: Paetec Communications, Inc
& 415-200-0263 Location: San Francisco, CA   Carrier: T-Mobile Usa, Inc.

All numbers are unlisted. Indian male stating from a law firm said name is Shawn & this was a time sensitive issue. Haven't had a pay-day loan for 3 years! They had my recent employer which is spookey. Also said I owed $5k & would settle for 1K (or something like that-I stopped listening when he got irrational and belligerant. I feel so sorry for the weak folks that are going to buy into his crap. Fortunately, I have a lawyer. I sure am not going to bother her with this bologna until I get more info.

These people called me yesterday under the name of Robert Jones. Claimed I owed $500 for a payday loan I never recieved nor took out. When I claimed I would follow this up with my attorney, FTC, and my local police department, the man took on a different tone. He began telling me I could be his special friend and he would make all the calls stop if I would meet him for dinner. I hung up and he called a minimum of 15 more times in one hour. I filed a police reprt as well as *57 my phone to have his call marked everytime he calls. After researching this further, apparently these people change their numbers daily and have compromised our information from a website that you may have applied for a loan at. The law can not catch these people as the numbers change daily as well as their location is not here in the states but use our area codes as a hub. This is truly a scam as people do not get arrested for debt. There is an article recently posted about these people and the one thing it says is that a true company will NEVER threated arrest or a team of law people showing up at your door. If I can find the article, I will post it here.

These people change their number by one digit daily. You can find alot about them if you research various 415-200-02... numbers.

I did get a call that I would be arrested because of a Payday Loan with a "Cash Connect" from the phone no. 1 415 233 4648 and 016 236 4575.  I didnt have a loan with this place.  They said I was to appear in the Superior Court of California, and to look for a subpoena in the mail.

I did believe them at first since they had the last 4 of my social.  Then I looked on the Internet and saw various scams.

Now they just keep calling for the money and won't stop [I'm going to lodge a complaint].    

Linda
10-16-09

happen to me to times now haven't paied them new is was a scam soon as they said my ref.'s would go to jail you can not be for real then they called from a cell phone and when I called back they gave the wrong name  told me the  money was put in my account  in jan. Funny didn't open that account till 2mo. After that just got a call today told them soon as they stared talking don't call my d*$e phone any more.

happen to me to times now haven't paied them new is was a scam soon as they said my ref.'s would go to jail you can not be for real then they called from a cell phone and when I called back they gave the wrong name  told me the  money was put in my account  in jan. Funny didn't open that account till 2mo. After that just got a call today told them soon as they stared talking don't call my d*$e phone any more.

happen to me to times now haven't paied them new is was a scam soon as they said my ref.'s would go to jail you can not be for real then they called from a cell phone and when I called back they gave the wrong name  told me the  money was put in my account  in jan. Funny didn't open that account till 2mo. After that just got a call today told them soon as they stared talking don't call my d*$e phone any more.

I got a call from this number at WORK this morning.  He didnt speak very good english.  I got out of him that there is a law suit claim against me and I need to give them my information.  When I told him I wouldnt give information over the phone and what kind did he need he told me I had to give him infomation because there was a law suit after me.  I asked him to fax me the information he needed and he told me he couldnt.  I expressed if you are a law firm you could.  I asked him for his number and that is how I got it.  Is this a real business.  It sounded like telemarketers in the backgound.  I cant afford to be suied and if so why?

This guy named Lance Martin with a heavy indian accent called the corporate office of my husbands employer and said this message is for (my husbands name)"you need to call me back immediately Your Life Depends on it " Right there says who ever this is isn't wrapped to tight! I have copies of this recorded message and reported this and filed complaints with the secret service, FBI, FTC, and my states attorney general's office.....I suggest everyone else contacted by this low life does the same. Do not give these people any of your information or confirm any information that they may have of yours and surely don't send them any money or listen to thier BS!

I have received numberous phone calls from this number from a Chris Martin that I have an online loan that has been sent to collections and I need to pay this outstanding amount back ASAP in order to not be arrested and brought to court.  I have looking at online loans but NEVER submitted any applications.  Today, they said it was the last call/last chance to get their help.  All sounded fishy and extreme.

These India people has called me twice today (SAME PERSON) but both times with a different name. Told me I was going to jail if I did not show up in court in California for a payday loan that I took out and never repaid. Mind you this was Friday evening and I live in Louisiana he was wanting me to fax him a paper stating I owe this amount of money. He told me if I did not pay this money today which was $1089.00 I was gonna be in jail. I asked for the court name he would not give it to me. I asked for the Payday loan name and number he would not give it to me. Just kept on saying if I didn't pay today I will be in jail. This is a huge scam and they change the number up everyday .. PEOPLE please beware and DONOT give out your info to these people!!

Here is that link :http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-415-200-0263

They have never called my cell phone, but have called my work phone twice.  Leaving no information exect that I needed to call some guy names Mike regarding my case.  Currently I have not been able to make any sort of contact.  The number just rings and rings.

they use the telephone numbers as 415-200-0262 or 0263.  They call with threatening calls about they are going to get me concerning a payday loan, I just hangup, but I will be calling the phone company and filing a report with anybody that will listen.  The nerve of them they are probably illegals over in our countrym because these numbers are out of San Francisco, CA.

They called and were rude and said I took out a payday loan in november. They tried every attempt to get info out of me.

someone called me today saying I took out a payday loan and some officers were goin to come to my house on monday to serve me or something. I really couldnt understand anything she said or even the person who left the message for that matter.

THank you s omuch for your help..

Just call a call saying his name was John (Yesterday it was Ryan).  Telling me I defaulted on a payday loan from National Advance Day for 350.00.  I will be expected to go to court over this.  I got the same phone call yesterday but it was for a payday loan called USACash or something like that. Anyway I told them today I was recording this message and he laughed.  I kept talking not letting him talk he told me he would see me in court.  He hung up.

They called me saying that I owe $851 for a loan in November, that I never received. If I didn't pay today, tomorrow I will be picked up by police and I will be charge over $8500.00 for fines b/c I did not pay the $851.00.

They called from a 941 area code number and unfortunately I was so mad that I did not get the whole number. But they did call back and said please call: 415-200-0263

a certain Jim Brown called my work # again, this time with a new number: 415-200-0263. other numbers used and based on caller ID: 213-291-1900, 201-234-4071, 818-338-5053, and +9419618518.

LINKS FOR FILING COMPLAINTS ARE BELOW

FILE WITH ALL AGENCIES AND WHEN HE CALLS BACK - SAY YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SCAM AND FILED COMPLAINTS.  THEY'LL STOP CALLING.

YOU HAVE TO FILE COMPLAINTS EACH TIME THEY CALL AND DO IT IMMEDIATELY.  They change the numbers so quickly if you wait - no one can track the most recent number

It's a debt collection 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, 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):

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.


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.


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.


File a complaint your state's attorney general, the contact information for whom is at www.wvago.gov


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
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-909-8245
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-499-9983

they may also be an outsourced debt collector in India that have access to the credit bureaus and are pulling our data from there.

because they are also making this same claim to people who have never applied for payday loan

try reading the rather extensive post with all the links to the various law enforcement agencies - its posted all over 800notes

that is a lame question! YOU FOUND THIS COMPLAINT BOARD after all -
A quick internet search on debt collector scams is all it takes as its all over 800notes, internet websites and news -

YOU FILE COMPLAINTS TO THE LINKS BELOW

It's a debt collection 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, 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):

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.


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.


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.


File a complaint your state's attorney general, the contact information for whom is at www.wvago.gov


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
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-909-8245
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-499-9983

Says he is working for a law firm "Crime Monitoring Center"  to collect on a defaulted payday loan.  Is very antagonistic and will continue to call back. He admitted that he was in India, when he was asked if he was in a call center in Mumbai.

SCAM  - ALL OVER INTERNET AND NEWS FOR SOMETIME NOW!  

Below are links for filing formal complaints - FILE THEM NOW - DON'T WAIT
The phone numbers they use change almost daily - so you have to get those complaints filed while the numbers still work!  

when they call back tell you know all about the scam and have filed these complaints - they will not stop calling until YOU DO

Attorney General Darrell McGraw took the extraordinary step today of warning the public about a band of scam artists making threats to consumers who allegedly obtained Internet payday loans in West Virginia and across the nation. The consumers they threaten never obtained a loan at all or paid it off years ago.

Internet payday loans are short-term loans or cash advances, usually for 14 days, made over the Internet via interactive web sites and secured by an agreement authorizing debits of the loan and all fees owed from the consumer?s checking account. These loans typically charge interest rates ranging from 600-800 APR and are unlawful in West Virginia.

The scam artists, who speak English with a foreign accent, call themselves ?U.S. National Bank,? ?Federal Investigation Bureau,? ?United Legal Processing? and numerous other phony names. They refuse to disclose real names and addresses and are believed to be operating ?off the grid? from homes, automobiles, or from off shore locations or foreign countries, including India. Since the scammers have kept themselves purposely well hidden, thus far no law enforcement agencies have succeeded in locating or shutting them down.

The scammers typically pose as law enforcement officers, investigators, lawyers, and bankers and threaten consumers that they will be arrested for ?bank fraud? or other fictitious crimes unless money is wired immediately. They simultaneously scare and confuse consumers by using meaningless legalese gobbledygook phrases such as, ?We are downloading warrants against you? or ?We are filing an affidavit against you.? Consumers who don?t immediately fall for the scam are warned, ?Only God can help you now.?

The scammers almost always call consumers at work several times a day, and tell their supervisors, ?Your employee has committed fraud and is about to be arrested.? Such threats have proven unsettling even to the most savvy consumers and employers who suspect the calls are fraudulent.

Attorney General McGraw stated, ?Ordinarily my office protects consumers from fraudulent activities by seeking injunctions in court. But legal action cannot be taken until the scam artists can be located. Even then, it is unlikely that the persons behind the fraudulent calls and extortionist threats would obey a court order. In this case, the consumer?s best defense is to be armed with the knowledge of the scam so that all demands for money can be resisted, despite the false but scarey threats of arrest.?

McGraw added, ?Because the fraudsters make a special point of calling consumers repeatedly at work, employers must understand that the consumers are innocent victims of a criminal enterprise and cannot stop the calls from coming. I also wish to assure the citizens of West Virginia that my office will continue to do everything possible to locate and shut down the outlaw debt collectors.?

More information about this fraudulent debt collection scheme is available at the Attorney General?s website, www.wvago.gov/internetloanscam. Any consumers who have been threatened by these persons or wish to file a complaint about another consumer matter may do so by calling the Consumer Protection Hot Line, 1-800-368-8808, or by obtaining a complaint form from the Attorney General?s web site.

It's a debt collection 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, 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):

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.


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.


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.


File a complaint your state's attorney general, the contact information for whom is at www.wvago.gov


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
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-909-8245
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-499-9983

They are still calling me, who do I get them to stop calling ??
 They keep useing different numbers...  Im going to call the police about this matter does any one else.. have a solution to stop this SCAM