I got a call on my voicemail from a man with a thick,heavy middle eastern accent stating his name is Michael Johnson and if I didn't return his call legal action would be brought against me with 3 pending charges. I called him back and he was very rude stating that if I didn't pay a minimum of $500 that I would be arrested that afternoon on my job. I panicked and told him that I didn't owe anything and then he proceed to say that my license,social security,bank and credit cards would all be blacked list plus I would be arrested and brought to court for legal action pending 3 charges. He gave me an hour to go to a 7-eleven to purchase a green dot money pack card and put the money on it. I was petrified and I felt in my heart it was a scam because I owe nothing and I'm currently a victim of Identity Theft. I will contact the FTC again first thing Monday to file a new complaint to go along with my Identity Theft case. I feel so relieved to have been able to have read everyone's comments and know its truly a scam and that the news have done a report on it.

I got a call on my job today from two men Allen Cooper (#415-952-5532) who left a message & I spoke with a Tom Copper (#779-552-5253) supposedly working for the Federal Credit Investigation Bureau stating I have credit cards & a cash advance for $300 unpaid using the last four of my social security from Feb 2012 (no such)!!! He also informed me this is a criminal violation, check fraud, etc (language barrier) which could be settled in or out of court & asked how would I like to pursue out of court by paying $496 now or receive a letter in the mail to go to court which fees could be up to $3800? My response to him was give me the # of the SO CALLED cash advance I had received $ from because somebody gonna straighten me I'm not agreeing to pay a D** thing I didn't receive!! He then gave me a bogus # 786-484-7047 who I called but to only get a voicemail of a guy who barely speaks english!! They have continued to call my phone thereafter back to back which I was not in a location to discuss but TRUST when they call again they will get the MF BUSINESS!!!

I recently keep giting a phone call from this #415-952-5532 this happens to be a person named divid he is treatening me and my family this needs to stop Im trying to put a law suit aginst these people

This number called my home and cell phone. The man had a very thick Indian accent. He referred to himself as Officer Lewis Carter and told me I needed to call him back about criminal charges under my name and social security number. He also said if you don't return my call I feel sorry for you for the actions that are going to be taken against you. It didn't sound like a recording, but more like a voice disguise of some sort. I called back and no one answered, then I called back again and it was like someone picked up but no one said anything they just listened.

Got a call from these ppl on my voice mail from an Allen cooper ..a middle eastern man answers with some law office name..I asked to speak to Mr cooper..and he asked for my # and when I gave it to him he starts in with the are 3 legal actions against me ..and say don't interrupt him when he is done speaking he would answer any of my questions...he states that I had taken a payday loan out and and that since I hadn't made a withdrawal they attempted to reclaim their money and it wasn't there so I had stolen it..and blah,blah,blah..so when I asked when this deposit was made and what account # they had put the money in and that I never asked for a loan he swore at me and Hung up...so I go to my bank get 90 days worth of deposits and withdrawels and sure enough nothing out of order everything was as I thought..no big deposit and no withdrawal of said $$ ...so I call that # again and he swares at me again when I tell him I have records saying he is full of it..and then hang up..scam!!!!!

http://oag.ca.gov/consumers/general

Does anyone know the number of the REAL states attorneys office in California? I think they might like some of this information...

Debt collectors may not use threats of physical force or violence in collecting debts. They may not threaten criminal prosecution for non-payment of the debt. They may not threaten to tell uninvolved third persons about your debt in an effort to humiliate or embarrass you. They cannot use obscene or profane language when contacting you to collect debts. When a debt collector contacts you, he or she must correctly identify who they are, the purpose of the contact and the fact that it is an effort to collect a debt. Debt collectors cannot lie to you about who they are, who they work for or why they?re calling you. If they are not an attorney, they cannot represent to you that they are an attorney. Similarly, they cannot misrepresent to you that they are police officers, FBI officers, or sheriffs. They cannot cause a phone to ring continuously or repeatedly to harass you, and may not call you too frequently or at odd hours to harass you. Debt collectors generally can only call you between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., unless you give them permission to call at some other time. With limited exceptions, debt collectors cannot contact your employer concerning the debt. With limited exceptions, debt collectors cannot call your family members about the debt.

I have been receiving theses phone calls for the last two days. The person who calls me has such a heavy east indian accent (I could smell the curry from my phone) that I thought he was an employee from a demanding, jet high profile variaty store midnight shift clerk. I explained that with this heavy accent (I grew up in a multy ethnic area of town that makes Babel Tower feel like mama's home) there is no way he would be taken seriously in the western hemisphere. He got mad despite of his threads, such as do what I say or you will be behind bars by tomorrow. I still do not know what the phone calls are all about untill I found your complaints in this page. He mentioned some numbers and date of birth and some kind of legal action against me for what I could understand. I started coarsing at him and the other sentence I heard was "Watch your language sir". I called back and some guy, he called himself "Attorney Mark" (this time with a milder accent) answered the phone. I asked him to refrain from calling me and if he wanted to be taken serious, as real attorney, to stablish contacts in writing not sending his unemployed illegal recently arrived desprate to get a job in today's economy relative to make himself look like a recruiter for a terrorist organization calling people from a list he got in the black market. I am reporting this number to the FCRA and Attorney's office and I also encourage whoever receive this call to do so

they keep calling sacm!!!!

This number and other numbers from the california area have been harrassing me since monday.  They called me yesterday and said that if i do not get a green dot prepaid card from CVS and pay 499.99 then I would get arrested.  They said that someone from the police department would come to my place of employment and investigate and arrest me.  They then said that if i did not pay then they would make sure that everything under my name would get black listed.  They said that my licence would be suspended and that my credit card and debit card would be suspended for 6 months.  I panicked and bought the prepaid card.  Shortly after I paid them, they called back and said that they could not accept the 499.99 and that i now owed them 945.00 and that I had an hour to pay.  I was still panicking.  Deep down i had a feeling that it was a scam but i did not want to lose my job.  I then spoke to my aunt, uncle, and mom about it and they said I should ask them to speak to a manager.  When i asked "Kevin Peterson" if I could speak to a manager he got very mad and began to scream at me in a strong indian accent and then hung up on me.  He called back and said that he faxed my bank and DMV and my bank account was going to be suspended for 6 months.  I then got a call from what i thought was TD bank.  It was two different people both with very broken english.  They said that it was suspended for 6 months.  Their names were Stephanie Brown and Jason O'Connor.  I immediatly drove to my bank and spoke to the bank manager. She said that there was no record of this and she was going to investigate further.  They are still calling me and harassing me.  But I now know that it is a scam.   Everyone beware.  

Here are all of the numbers they called me off of.

951-888-6579
951-248-6579
760-483-3761
415-952-5532

they just call me today too! i did pick up either. the said they need to talk to me it's of importants.

I have recieved several calls from this #  a man calling himself officer peter something i couldn't understand him due to a very heavy india accent he tells me i'm gonna be arrested at my home if i don't pay 459.00 for a loan i ("never") recieved, he then proceeded to cus me and tell me to just pay thr F-ing money so i told him i would be waiting for the police he then told me to F-off then hung up, so i started calling them and they would pick up and hang up, lol nice try guys but i've done my research and this is a scam and has been reported. Although there are some out there who actually fall for this, you should always try to research the information before you ever pay anything over the phone, also most dept collectors send some form of mail stating who they are and the situation. Please do not become a vitim of this scam, call and report them.

This person keeps calling all times of the morning saying I owe money and they need to speak to me or my legal represenator regarding a debt I owe, this is harrassment.

I have received many calls just one right after the other from this number telling me his name is Mike Simmons and that there were criminal actions going to be taken against me if I did not return the call and also that if I did not return the call they would call my employeer. I could not understand much more and the backgroud was VERY loud and when I would call the number back I would get nothing except a beep like it was answering machine so I left a message and hope they could tell I was not very happy. The bad part about the whole thing is they called my cell phone knew my name and my social security number but when I would answer the call they would just hang up but when I would let it go to voice mail they would leave a message. Does not make sense at all esp. since they also called numerous times on a Saturday. I just hope they get caught whoever and whatever they are trying to do.

I received a call today, Saturday August, 22, 2012, from a man who identified himself as attorney Damien or Damon Marshall. Not sure of the spelling. He said I defaulted on a loan, and that I was going to be arrested if I didn't pay $455.33. He said I needed to go to a Walmart and buy a Green Dot Pak card and load the card. After that he instructed me to scratch off the back of the card, and call him back. He told me to call him back on phone number 415-935-6189. I was given an hour to do this or he said I'd be arrested. I went to my bank immediately. I also contacted the company I had taken out the loan with back in August. I was told that this was a scam. I was set up on a monthly pay plan, and my account was in good standing. They referred to this as a scam, and I was also told not to answer any phone calls from this individual. When I didn't pay him, I got a call from 911. I was told that it was the police and they wanted to know where I was because they were going to arrest me. I informed him that I was reporting this as a scam and that I'd already contacted my bank as well as the company I took out the loan with back in August. The attorney said that the loan was with Advance America USA. I looked up the phone number 415-935-6189, and there are numerous reports of the same kind of activity happening with this man who calls himself attorney Damien or Damon Marshall. I'm not sure of the spelling of his name that he uses. Just be aware of this activity and be smart. It is a scam.

This is a criminal extortion ring operating out of India. ABC News released an investigative report on it in June. The FTC has indicted one of its ringleaders for criminal fraud:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/phantom-debt-co ... 16512428&page=1

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/08/bgm.shtmReply !

Just received 2 calls at my job from 415-952-5532. It was a male with a thick Indian accent stating that he was calling from the states attorneys office of California. He asked if I had a lawyer and he needed me to call back the Attorney their Damien Marshall. I asked his name he said that it was Shawn Marshall. I had already read on line about this type of call, therefore i was expecting it. I applied for an online loan and every since then I have received all types of calls and or emails. I told him that I knew about their scam and I didn't need to call any one. I hung up, well at-least I thought so, When I tried to pick up my phone to call the number back, "Shawn" was still on the line. I asked d him to hang up and clear my line. He did. Then I called back "Damien Marshall" picked up, I asked him for his name again, he said "idiot don't you already have my name. Then he proceeded to say "You got it" and call me all kinds of dumb bi****s and other rude, and vulgar names. I just laughed and said I'll be that, but I got  you and your scam. He abruptly hung up.

My question is how can we stop these guys and their calls? What legal rights do we have in this situation. I want to zapp it to them!!!!!

Just got a call from a woman with the strongest India accent saying I had three criminal charges pending against me. She told me to call this number immediately (415) 952-5532 and speak to her senior lawyer Damon Marshall who was handleing the case! I had applied for a payday loan on line about 2 weeks ago and then did not accept the funds cause I got tons of offers from other companies on line and went about unscribeing from each and every one of the companies. Took me three days to unscribe from of all the e-mails from those companies! Pain in the butt! Thank god for the internet cause I plugged in the name Damon Marshall attonery and this showed up! I gained at least 100 more gray hairs and just about had a heart attack because of that call of criminal charges against me! Couldn't figure out what charges could possibly be against me! Until I read the statements you all wrote (Thank You)! All I can say is NEVER APPLY FOR A LOAN ON LINE!!!   THANK YOU AGAIN PEOPLE FOR YOUR STATEMENTS!!!Caller: unkown
Call Type: Prank Call

This is an extortion scam originating from India and directly related to your online payday loan application. ABC News did an investigative report in June. Here it is in its entirety:

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=2L

got a call from this number stating that if i disregarded the call all he could do was wish me good luck on legal matters against me. what is this?? the man had a strong middle eastern accent i could barely make out what he was saying. should i be worried? i read other comments and i did apply for a payday advance loan but is this related to that?

I just experienced the same situation today that Scott experienced earlier. I'm very concerned if they're getting the last 4 numbers of our social security numbers, and wondering if this is something we have to worry about as far as identity fraud goes.

This company called my cell phone 10 times within 4 minutes.  I could not understand all he was saying.  I did make out something about criminal charges in my name and social security number.  I told him if that was the case then the local authorities would be getting in touch with me.  The call came up as San Francisco North Bay Area.

Please read my comment I just posted.  

Once I told them that I knew it was a scam and to not call me anymore, I have not heard anything more from them.  Too bizarre.

I kept receiving a call from some Middle Eastern sounding woman and couldn't understand a word she said besides her name, Leeza, and she said, "I cannot be responsible for the legal outcomes if you do not contact us immediately!".  Total sham and scam.  When I called back, some guy answered and said he was an attorney. He then proceeded to tell me he was from Cash Advance USA and was filing a lawsuit for interstate banking fraud, theft and some other crap.  When I laughed at him, he asked why and I told him because it was a scam.  He then began to cuss me out calling me a M-Fer, SOB, and said things like, "give me our f-ing money now SOB!" etc etc.  This is a scam!!!
These people got our numbers from us having applied for a payday loan online. Unfortunately, it is one of those things where you have to be aware of the hazards and make sure not to get scammed.  
I have contacted Cash Advance USA as well as my state's Attorney General. The problem is these people are located outside of the USA and is/would be hard to locate them and prosecute them.

This number has called me several  days in a row to tell me that there is a lawsuit under my ss#. When i tried to call the m back I didn"t get an answer and there was no answering service. This is really a bother. does anyone know how to stop this I have all three messages that were left and they called me at 7:30 in the morning.

Iv gotten quite a few called from these  ppl
From two different numbers.   Said something aaouyt leagal actions. I told him that we. My attorneys and I know who he is and that they will be contacting. Him and yto stop calling me . He tried to loop me in by  telling me he had my social securitiy n number and I said no that's not  mine . He sounded confused and surprised.

So some guy Louis calls me from 415-952-5532 to tell me that if I don't pay $843.43 by today that they are going to send the local authorities to arrest me at my job! I tried to call them back to speak to a manager and get more information but there isn't even a answering machine. They said they where calling from Cash Advance however Cash Advance is a lender locator not a lender. Therefore how could I have a payday loan with them? I spoke with Cash Advance 800-590-0078 and they told me the same thing I am hoping this is at least a scam and there is no warrant for my arrest even though they stole my idenity

The calling started on Saturday September 8th. An Eastern I ndian guy calls and say I owe money I am going to Jail. When I speak to them on Monday they give me another number to call and another guy posses as an DA. They are fake, I called two sheriff departments on this matter. These guys are criminals they have my information so if they call you they have yours as well. Put an alert on your credit reports.. I hope they catch these guys and prosecute them to the fullest.

This is a criminal extortion ring operating out of India. ABC News released an investigative report on it in June. The FTC has indicted one of its ringleaders for criminal fraud:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/phantom-debt-co ... 16512428&page=1

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/08/bgm.shtm