415-329-0352
CA, US
nlunsford
nlunsford
2012-08-14 23:41:45
Unknown
My husband received a call from this same number today. The man had a very strong Indian accent and told him his name is Alex Watson and that my husband was going to be arrested at his job the next day and is going to be in jail for 6 months!! We called our local police station who told us that my husband has no warrants and that they cannot call and threaten a person to be arrested. I called the number back and the man told me that they did not speak to third parties and then hung up. I called back again and he said What the hell do you want now? I said I would like to know why you keep threatening my husband. He said f**k you, you c*** sucking b***h!! He hung up on me again and now when I call noone answers!!
Jay
Jay
2012-08-14 13:48:47
Unknown
Gotten a few calls first time for this number. All asking for Ninento, an all having a Chineese American accent. One came through asking me if i wanted a $100 loan. Told him that was a stupid amouint for a loan and he hung up on me. Kept telling them all to quit calling me and I've gotten at least 20 coming from 3 different states now, California, Rode Island, an Flordia.
Paul Sorice
Paul Sorice
2012-08-10 20:09:29
Unknown
A Mike Clark calls, sounds like a recorded message telling me to call or have my attorney of record call when you call back the number it never conects. Pure harrasment.
Barbara
Barbara
2012-08-10 19:06:06
Unknown
Got a call today and guy named alex call said if i didnt call back today id suffer with the evenrs that would unfold. I called back and a woman answered said they were an investigation service that i owed a loan and that they were having me arrested. When i questioned what loan and where she hung up on me. The area code out of california i called highway patrol and they traced the number to sanfransisco.  Im over 2000 miles away from there. Going to turn this in to attorney generals office a.d whoever else i need to. It has to stop. Be very careful out there folks. A bunch of scammers out there
Unknow
Unknow
2012-08-10 19:04:58
Unknown
I just got a call from some guy calling from 415--329-0352 who said he is a paralegal and told me to call the same number he was calling from.  He said I have a lawsuit against me but couldnt give any further details. Im glad I looked him up I was nervous for no reason. He's a phony and fake!
KIM D>
KIM D>
2012-08-10 17:20:21
Debt Collector
This Man ALEX call me at my place of work and read me my social security number and i asked what it was regaurding he told me to shut my mouth, he told me that the police were coming to my place of business to come arrest me. I asked why he had all of my information and he told me to listen to him. I am going to the police station today to file a report.
buddah
buddah
2012-08-09 20:32:53
Unknown
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
jimmy
jimmy
2012-08-09 20:27:18
Unknown
this guy with wieirded accent call me and i dont understand what he say but it make me mad! then he call again and threaten me with jail and i get scared now
Duke
Duke
2012-08-09 20:10:15
Unknown
guy called several times saying to pay up or else ....says he was micheal clark ....

says I better get the attorney to call him right away...  or else I suffer the penalty
Laytroya
Laytroya
2012-08-09 19:26:33
Debt Collector
Got a call didnt answer. They left a message got me to call hacker. So I did. The son of bi*** file me that I would be arrested tommorrow. And that they was going to call my job. Said i had  3 charges on me. Good pico I say,  because I Dont old wbu money, they said we will see and Hung up. I call back, back, and back..These Dam scammers.
Natalia
Natalia
2012-08-09 18:57:47
Unknown
Got a call from this a**hole and did not pick up then I got another one ad it was a women trying to talk like terminator(lol.. Have to laugh at this Jerks).  So I decided to call back and told him who the hell was he and he got upset and told me don't call back the cops are going to arrest you tomorrow. I was like for what I don't owe you nothing.  He just hung up on me.  SCAMMERSSSS!! Trying to scam people so called Alex Watson but his accent is middle eastern.
Sherri Whitlock
Sherri Whitlock
2012-08-09 18:20:08
Unknown
I received a call from 415 329 0352 stating that I owed a payday loan and was being arrested tomorrow on my job.  When I told them I did not have any payday loan and asked for information reference it they wouldn't give my any and said I just have to let it all unfold tomorrow.  He was very vulgar and had a heavy accent.  He said his name was Alex Watson.
MJ
MJ
2012-08-09 18:12:22
Unknown
I got the same call as everyone else AT WORK!!!!!! The guy left a message. This bothered me so much that I called back. The name on my voicemail said Micheal Clark. The person who answered the phone said he was Alex Watson.  I then said "Well, Alex Watson, what company do you work for?" He became crazy and started yelling at me asking how I had gotten his name. I told him that he was the one that told me. I told him that he is breaking the law because you don't get arrested for owing a debt. He then said to F*^% off and have a great F*&^ing day, you c0$& sucking ni&&er and hung up. This made me even more angry and I called back. He said that he was going to report me to the police for harassment. I told him to go ahead and do that and I will do the same. I also repeated that he is NOT to call me at work. He said thats fine I will call your job all day!!!  I haven't heard back from him.
Scam
Scam
2012-08-09 17:49:34
Unknown
I just got a call from this number said they needed to speak to my husband or his attorney and his name was hollis Johnson !!!! Plz be careful people
jg
jg
2012-08-09 02:31:55
Unknown
Where was his band of merry men,ie the rest of the scammers??!!
kendra b
kendra b
2012-08-09 02:17:50
Unknown
I received the same call said that they where from legal affairs. His name was robin hood
Christopher c
Christopher c
2012-08-08 23:25:15
Unknown
Got a call from this number today at work and was told there were 3 charges against me and he needed me to call back and speak with Alex. When I did he said that the sheriff would let me know the charges when the arrest me tomorrow. He ended up telling me it was for a payday loan that was returned NSF and rather then pursue me for the money they would take me to court and have me arrested. Checked out the California law about that and turns out that he's breaking the law by threatening jail. Called them back and he was very rude telling me he already told me what was going to happen. So I proceeded to letm know good luck with that as CA law prohibits them from using the criminal system against me, the best they could do would be civil. Thick foreign accent. They should get the laws straight before they try to threaten jail for civil matters. Don't even think I got a loan from them either. Big scum and scam.
Mike M
Mike M
2012-08-08 22:00:59
Unknown
I also received a call from this number (AT WORK!!!) today. At first, I was quite upset, as I'm sure all of you were. Then I came home and did a quick Google search of Alex Watson, which is the name of the 'Attorney' he needed me to call immediately. This was one of the first pages that came up. Turns out this guy is trying to scam anybody he can. Thank God for Google!!
Gailynne Sam
Gailynne Sam
2012-08-08 21:50:57
Unknown
Just received a message with a man with a very thick accent and common American name.
bettylynn dorman
bettylynn dorman
2012-08-08 18:52:43
Unknown
Yes I got a call as well with this number the location of this corte madera, california big scam
sally
sally
2012-08-08 00:20:00
Debt Collector
They did the same thing to my friend and also went to the trouble of calling her new boos
kristine
kristine
2012-08-07 23:27:12
Unknown
The same thing happened to my son today. When i called the number back he was very graphic and vulgar. So glad you posted that here.
Stephanie
Stephanie
2012-08-07 22:56:34
Unknown
I got a call from this number at work! He said his name was Alex Watson (he had a thick accent) he was from an attonerys office. Hey said I owed debt and someone is suing me. Hey said I would be arrested tomorrow at work if I didn't make payment. I called the police and the policy contact the number and they were very billgerant to the cops. They kept calling me at work. This number is a total scam looking to STEAL money from people! Do not give ANY of your information!
1-814-334-1010 1-877-897-3244 1-817-800-3535
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