more info about whom is calling you


from a times free press article

your personal information is stored at 1516 riverside drive in chattanooga tn

From the outside, the shared headquarters of Terenine, Area 203 and ACH Federal looks like a typical Chattanooga office building.

But those businesses are actually a front for an unlicensed Internet payday loan empire that consumer advocates say may not comply with a newly passed Tennessee law.

The Chattanooga entrepreneur who controls the businesses, Carey V. Brown, calls his payday business a ?shell corporation? set up overseas for ?lawsuit protection and tax reduction.?

Tennessee regulators say that the payday entities operated out of Chattanooga ? PayDayMax.com, MyCashNow.com and DiscountAdvances.com ? are not licensed to do business in the state, though a new Tennessee law says payday lenders aren?t supposed to operate in the state without a license.

The unlicensed payday companies claim on their websites to charge fees of $18.62 for a $100, two-week loan, though the state only allows lenders to charge a maximum of $15 on a $100 loan, according to the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions.

Former employees say the payday loans are made through an entity called Credit Payment Services, which operates as the mothership for more than 20 companies. Each company bills the others as customers for services that typically would be conducted in-house, former employees said.

?The only way we can look at that is to say they?re operating illegally if they don?t have their licensing and accreditation, and within time, somebody?s gonna knock on their door and shut the place down,? said Jim Winsett, president of the Chattanooga Better Business Bureau.

Regulators already are knocking.

The Federal Trade Commission this year launched an investigation into the group of companies to determine if there has been a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act. California, Oregon and New Hampshire issued cease-and-desist orders to the Internet companies during the year to stop what they say were illegal loans made in their states. The privately held payday lenders don?t reveal financial figures, but ex-employees say they generate hundreds of millions of dollars of loans per year.

The payday conglomerate essentially operates as one company, employing as many as 400 local employees and generating between $1 million and $2 million in daily loan revenue from payday loans, former employees say.

?Five hundred million dollars a year is probably a conservative estimate,? said Chris Christiansen, former director of infrastructure architecture and design for Terenine. ?They?re hitting that easy, especially around this time of year.?

SHELL COMPANIES

Terenine, Area 203 and ACH Federal publicly do business as server hosters, online marketers and direct-deposit processors, with a client list that includes the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, Precept Ministries and others.

Their ads use words like ?virtualization? and ?cloud computing,? and the companies sponsor technology-focused events and organizations.

But much of the work they do in Chattanooga supports payday lending.

From 2008 through 2010, the businesses made nearly 1.5 million loans to approximately 1.1 million unique clients, according to former operations manager Casey Lomber?s written testimony to the FTC.

The number of ?general notes? was 6.6 million, Lomber said, and ACH Federal told the newspaper in 2010 that it processed 300,000 transactions per month, with plans to expand to over a million by 2011.

Brown, the man behind the payday lenders and related businesses, is a former Rossville used-car dealer who began making online payday loans in 2001 through MyCashNow and Credit Payment Services.

Brown declined repeated requests for an interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

But he did testify about his companies in a 2005 civil deposition, and the Times Free Press interviewed more than a dozen associates and former and current employees to corroborate his account.

Brown said in the deposition that his PayDayMax.com, MyCashNow.com and DiscountAdvances.com were set up in Canada and Grenada to avoid lawsuits and pay less in taxes.

?I think it?s basically just a shell corporation,? Brown said in the deposition about MyCashNow.com. ?It had a legal office there in Grenada.?

PayDayMax.com is based in ?some other offshore tax-free country,? and Discount Advances.com is ?another shell corporation,? Brown said in response to questions in the deposition.

The company behind the offshore shell companies is Credit Payment Services, which Brown controls through a series of contracts set up a decade ago, he said.

Though it seems complicated, it?s not unusual for companies to go offshore to avoid regulations, said Allan Jones, owner of one of the nation?s biggest payday lenders, Cleveland, Tenn.-based Check Into Cash.

?If an online operator is unlicensed, then he or she may not be following applicable regulatory laws,? explained Jones, whose company is licensed to operate both Internet and retail store locations making payday loans. ?Those who operate offshore are able to avoid regulations.?

'AFFILIATE COMPANIES'

Though MyCashNow.com and related companies owned by Brown appear to be based offshore, Chattanooga is the actual physical location that houses most of the payday businesses? workers, split among two buildings on Amnicola Highway and one on Brainerd Road, former employees said.

?We did a lot of stuff with payday loans,? said former Area 203 intern Brittany Jackson. ?That?s the main thing I worked with, and the largest business unit while I was there.?

Aaron Shelley, former director of engagement services for Terenine, said employees were encouraged to use the term ?affiliate companies? to describe the various entities owned or controlled by Brown.

The businesses invoice each other for services, just like any company does with its customers, even though they?re owned or controlled by the same man, Shelley said.

?All of the customers were referred to as affiliate companies because it was common ownership,? Shelley said.

Brown said in his 2005 deposition that he owned more than 20 such businesses, which he personally operates through contracts rather than a traditional ownership structure.

For instance, DiscountAdvances.com owns ?absolutely nothing,? Brown said, nor is it really owned by anyone.

?It?s a shell,? Brown said in the deposition. ?They?re in some third-world tax-free country, I don?t know which one.?

In fact, the site itself says it?s located in Canada, though its only physical presence in Canada is a drawer filled with legal documents, according to Brown?s deposition.

Even the payday mothership, Credit Payment Services, is yet another ?shell? corporation based in Nevada, created in 2001 along with MyCashNow.com, Brown said.

Most of the work happens inside Brown?s buildings on Amnicola Highway and Brainerd Road, where employees ostensibly hired to do marketing, Web hosting and advertising for Area 203, Terenine and ACH Federal find themselves working for Brown?s CPS, former employees said.

CHARITABLE CAUSES

The strategy is a means to an end: Payday revenues are used to support missionaries in their efforts to ?save souls? overseas, said Christiansen, the former Terenine engineer who helped set up many of the company?s operations.

Christiansen was lured to Terenine from a medical career at CeloNova Biosciences in 2008, at a time when he found himself wondering whether it was better to ?save lives or save souls,? he said.

?[Brown] personally has debated the pros and cons of what he does, versus of what he?s able to do with the money,? Christiansen said.

Bulletin boards at the Amnicola Highway building that houses Terenine, ACH Federal and Area 203 are covered with pictures of smiling children whom Brown has helped, and overflowing with postcards from overseas missionaries whom he supports with revenues from his payday sites, former employees said.

In fact, the overall company?s mission statement is ?to maximize the growth of the Kingdom by helping the least of these, through strategic giving from profitable business,? according to an email received from Brown during a prior investigation.

The goal is a reference to strengthening the biblical kingdom of God, said Terenine chief technology officer David Glenn in a mid-2011 interview.

At that time, the company counted Focus on the Family, Precept Ministries and the Dawson McAllister Association among its clients, a gold-plated evangelical client list that Glenn said helped attract like-minded employees to the company.

?We do give a good percentage of revenues from the company to charity,? Glenn said.

OVERSEAS MISSIONS

Brown?s overseas efforts aren?t limited to supporting missionaries, however.

Engineers route the majority of his payday loan Web traffic through a company in Bermuda called Woody Holdings, masking the location of the payday operations on Amnicola Highway in Chattanooga, said Byron DeLoach, former director of engineering at Terenine.

?They do go through Bermuda, but the servers are physically located in Chattanooga,? DeLoach said.

Sometimes, however, the company simply cuts out the middleman, Christiansen said.

?Whenever a big storm came through Bermuda, they?d show the weather map to the lawyers, and they?d give the OK to route the traffic directly to Chattanooga,? Christiansen said. ?When you?re pushing $2 million a day, it?s really just about not interrupting the volume.?

Former employees say Brown creates individual companies where a typical business would simply employ a human resources or accounting department, for example.

According to the former employees:

- Terenine has a state-of-the-art data center on Riverside Drive that exists to keep the money flowing.

- Area 203 specializes in lead generation, search engine optimization and analytics for the payday sites.

- ACH Federal, which is located in the same building as Area 203 and Terenine, handles the debit transactions that both deposit and withdraw cash directly from consumers? bank accounts.

- Scenic City Legal, three miles away on Amnicola Highway, handles the company?s legal work, including the lawsuits from governments and dissatisfied consumers.

- API Recruiting and Account Pros handle human resources and accounting tasks, respectively.

- Support Seven, located on Brainerd Road with another office in Costa Rica, is a call center for loan seekers as well as loan collection.

The arrangement arose in 2008 and 2009 when lawyers created Terenine, ACH Federal, Area 203 and the others from existing departments at CPS, creating ?affiliate companies,? Terenine President David Carney said in a 2011 interview with the Times Free Press.

?We really started as a department within a family of businesses a couple of years ago,? Carney said. ?Prior to 2010, [Terenine] was more of an IT department that was focused on providing services to affiliated businesses.?

BEYOND PAYDAY LENDING

The push for business beyond Brown?s Internet payday loans hasn?t fared well, according to employees who quit or were fired.

His companies started quickly out of the gate in 2010 with a marketing and PR blitz, even allowing photographers into the server room.

The two most visible of Brown?s companies, Terenine and Area 203, joined local business groups such as the Chattanooga Technology Council and participated in events like the Devlink technology conference. Area 203 sponsored the 48-hour launch, an event to spur startup businesses in Chattanooga, and did marketing work for clients like the Crash Pad, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and LifeKraze.

But even with the Chamber and other clients, Brown?s companies weren?t pulling in enough outside business. Area 203 made up the difference on its online client list by posting the names of other Brown affiliate companies such as Terenine, ACH Federal and API Recruiting.

API Recruiting, in turn, lists ACH Federal, Area 203, Firma 8, Kingdom Site, Support Seven and Terenine as its clients.

Though Brown spent millions of dollars and hired hundreds of workers, former employees say that about 90 percent of his revenue still comes from payday loans, and that a high rate of turnover has led to a loss of clients.

?They only had two or three outside clients when I left,? said Christiansen, who resigned from Terenine in May.

DeLoach said that during his tenure, the company tried to ?do the payday stuff and they were doing external clients as well,? but Brown was dropping nonpayday clients ?pretty fast.?

?I think they had one when I left,? said DeLoach, who left in September.

The problem was that feeding the beast ? the payday loan business ? remained the active priority, even trumping outside clients, they said.

?The original goal wasn?t to sell to external companies, it was to work for CPS ? even though nobody wanted to talk about what that was,? said Shelley, the former director of engagement services for Terenine.

Despite the limited number of nonpayday clients that Brown?s companies service, a few of his businesses are ringing up staggering revenue growth.

Area 203 had sales of ?nearly $46 million in 2010,? the company reported in a news release issued in January, after it ran a social media campaign to encourage tourism in Guatemala and opened a since-closed office there.

J.Ed. Marston, director of marketing and communications for the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, said at the time the Chamber hired Area 203 he had no indication that a payday business was behind the marketing group.

?I don?t have any direct knowledge of any of those things,? he said.

BROWN?S SIDE

During the 2005 civil suit, Brown argued that by installing a computer overseas, he wasn?t technically operating in the United States and subject to lending rules, since the payday lending decisions were being made by a computer on a Caribbean island tax haven instead of by a human being.

?And frankly, the servers make a lot of the decisions,? he said.

Brown said because the company wasn?t seeking out customers, but instead allowing customers to come to his payday websites, he is further insulated from the legal hurdles that licensed operators like Check Into Cash face.

?If the customers are seeking us out trying to do business with us, that?s our right,? Brown said. ?But if we?re ? we can?t specifically target a specific state that has lower allowable fees than what we charge.?

Some of his websites claim not to lend to consumers in Tennessee, Georgia and a handful of other states, though customer complaints received by the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs show that some of Brown?s loans still get through.

Tennessee state Rep. Charles Sargent, R-Franklin, who is chairman of the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee and sponsored a law in 2011 to tighten rules on payday lenders, said that Brown?s methods could be illegal.

?If they?re not registered, it would be illegal, so you could shut them down,? Sargent said. ?They?d be doing it illegally.?

He acknowledged that setting up shell companies overseas can make investigations more difficult, even if the companies are physically located in the state.

?The problem with a company that looks like it?s overseas is we would have to have some way of tracking them down so we can tell who?s good and who?s bad,? Sargent said.

DATA TRAILS

Though Brown?s payday sites are legally located in foreign countries, not much happens overseas, he said in his 2005 deposition.

?Literally all that happens in Bermuda is that data is transferred through IP traffic,? said Shelley. ?There must be a lot of companies that do it, because there is nothing else attractive about Bermuda to make it a data center. It?s an island that gets destroyed by storms over and over again.?

The overseas entities, insofar as they exist, are contractually run through CPS, which handles tasks that include ?marketing, handling phone calls, taking applications, approving and denying loans, fraud verification, accounts receivable,? Brown said in 2005.

CPS is registered in Nevada, according to the Nevada secretary of state.

Brown incorporated CPS through a company called Silver Shield Services, which claims on its website to offer ?protection from lawsuits, government creditors and state taxes through Nevada?s incorporation-friendly laws.?

Also registered through Silver Shield are: Area 203, Credit Protection Depot, ACH Federal, Collateralized Investment Services Limited Partnership, 3806 Amnicola LLC, Terenine and Support Seven.

For $600, Silver Shield Services sets up ?everything that you need to prove that you are in fact operating in the state of Nevada,? according to its website.

Former federal prosecutor Gary Humble said that ?there are unresolved questions? about why a company would go through the effort to set up such an elaborate series of international entities.

?If I were doing the investigation, I?d want to know why, what legitimate reasons are there for conducting those transactions overseas,? said Humble, who was not speaking specifically about Brown?s companies.

However, stashing a router on an island doesn?t necessarily get around U.S. laws, according to Uriah King, vice president of state policy for the Center for Responsible Lending, a consumer advocacy group.

?Many lenders argue that because it?s over the Internet, the law doesn?t apply, but the Internet doesn?t bequeath magical status on the loan,? King said.

Ira Rheingold, executive director for the National Association of Consumer Advocates, said most Bermuda Internet businesses are set up to dodge taxes or U.S. laws.

?It?s all about avoiding liability and avoiding U.S. law or state law, as the case may be,? Rheingold said.

And Brown is ?very good at finding tax holes,? Shelley said.

THE LAW

The Federal Trade Commission this year initiated an investigation into Brown?s companies ?to determine whether certain unnamed creditors may be engaged in violation of the Truth in Lending Act ... and whether they may be engaged in unfair or deceptive acts and practices.?

But an FTC spokesman said no public charges have been filed against Brown or any of his companies, and regulators wouldn?t comment on the status of any investigation.

The state of Tennessee won?t say whether it is investigating Brown.

?At this time, we can say that we are investigating some possible unlicensed activity in this state,? said Neil MacDonald, spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions.

That department regulates 10,262 financial entities. Only in May was the agency handed the responsibility of regulating and licensing Internet payday lenders, MacDonald said.

?Since that time, we have started a process of determining what entities might be engaging in Internet payday lending without being licensed,? he said. ?We cannot comment on specific investigations.?

WHO IS CAREY BROWN?

Brown is no stranger to investigations.

His move to portray his business as an overseas interest was itself a response to an ongoing class-action lawsuit against five cash advance stores that he owned in 2001, he said in the deposition.

?I already have a class-action suit going against my brick-and-mortar stores,? Brown said at the time. ?It was just a matter of time before they come after the Internet business, too.?

Former employees describe Brown, who shuns publicity, as a kindhearted and generous man, who was a leading citizen in Rossville.

There he ran Happy Motors, a buy-here, pay-here dealership famous for a 15-foot-high, bright yellow chicken that he then called ?the second most famous chicken in Georgia? after the Big Chicken in Marietta, Ga.

As a sign of his status in the community, he was selected for a development study in 2005 to revitalize the downtown area, including the old Peerless Woolen Mill.

Brown?s chicken was used for directions to get people around Rossville, he said, ?and it took 20 people to get it on top of the building and get it in place.?

Though that was years ago, his employees still call his payday business ?the chicken? in honor of the long-gone mascot, Shelley said, if only because they don?t know what else to call CPS.

Brown?s goal, however, isn?t earthly riches and glory.

?He?d walk away from the business tomorrow if he could find a better way of saving souls,? Christiansen said.

The hardship of running such a complicated business and the expense of dodging regulators is worth it if it supports Brown?s work building the kingdom, Christiansen said.

?What?s a soul worth?? Christiansen asked. ?Do the ends justify the means??

San Pablo de Heredia
Calle San Antonio, del Bar Cunninghan, 200 este y 100 norte
San Jose, Costa Rica
1-866-513-0374

Got a call from a man named Tony Hernandez saying that my wife needs to pay for a cash advance that she got back in may of 2009 for 1,500.00 and that if we did not pay that she was going to the big house. we asked for information about the company she supposedly got the cash advance from and they would not give it they keep calling every morning before 8:00 a.m. and we are tired of getting these phone calls

These people scammed me out of abour 1400 dollars before I figured out what was going on, once I started demanding information the number they were calling me from which is 530-869-2812 was no longer connected, my advice is to really do your homework and contact a laywer if you are really concerned it might be ligitamte!

These are local offices in my city that this guy is associated with and here is there web page they have an office in every state

http://www.advancecash.info/Pembroke_Pines_FL_Cash_Advance


I get the same phone call here at work everyday and I did not apply for a cash advance so but I have done some internet searching and this is where they scam stems from, also the gut says he calls my home and my cell and he never does only calls me at work andhe is getting me in a lot of trouble



PEMBROKE PINES CASH ADVANCE COMPANIES Advance America
8260 Pines Boulevard
Pembroke Pines FL, 33024
954-433-8562  ADVANCE AMERICA
8260 Pines Blvd
Pembroke Pines FL, 33024
954-433-8562

Internet payday scams this company belongs to all of these internet payday companies


Internet
?Americash Advance
?CashNet 500
?CashNet USA
?Loan By Phone
?My Cash Now
?My Payday Loan
?National Payday
?Paycheck Today
?Payday OK
?Payday1
?Personal Cash Advance
?Think Cash
?We Give Loans

Fake Debt Collectors and Collection Tactics

If consumers did not have enough to worry about having to deal with rising credit card interest rates, late fees and over-limit fees, zombie debt, and fervent bill collectors, now we have to worry about collectors calling about fake debt.

While many legitimate collection agencies follow the FDCPA, there are some collectors out there that are only running a scam operation and will be quick to use threats and scare tactics to get you to pay up quick. Their scams turn up in mailboxes, on the internet and through the telephone every day. Some collectors pose as national banks, government agencies (FBI, CIA), or even popular celebrity stars to gain personal information. These phony collectors may threaten to repossess your house, issue a warrant for your arrest, or even garnish your pay check, all of which are against the FDCPA rules. Some of which are even laughable (for example, there is no debtor?s prison in the United States).

Fake debt scammers rely on the fear and lack of knowledge about debt collection laws within the population. They also figure that a certain percentage of their calls will be received by individuals who may be carrying debt on credit cards anyway and may be susceptible to intimidation. When collectors use misleading statements and fail to provide identification, they are breaking the law. Never pay money to a possible thief. Keep cool when you hear from collectors to avoid this collection abuse.

Many times, people who took out payday loans online in the past are most susceptible. If you took a payday loan, be aware scammers may have access to your Social Security number and other personal information, and keep your guard up against such tactics.

Ironically, real "deadbeats" probably wouldn't fall for these scammers, since they have no intention of repaying their creditors anyway. But upright citizens may doubt themselves, thinking they've forgotten to pay a bill. Many times, the sums involved tend to be fairly small, so some people may be tempted to just pay the "bill" and "get it over with."

Ways to Protect Yourself Against Debt Collection Scams

Review your credit report frequently to find inaccuracies.
Be aware of your current creditors and how much you owe.
Ask creditors for identification before you provide any information over the telephone.
Reporting Fake Debt Collectors

If you ever receive a call from anyone identifying himself as a debt collector, the law requires that the debt collector provide you with identification, and that the debt collector refrain from making misleading and threatening statements.

You can report any problems you have to your state Attorney General?s office www.naag.org and the Federal Trade Commission www.ftc.gov. Many states have their own debt collection laws that are different from the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Your Attorney General?s office can help you determine your rights under your state?s law.

http://www.internetautoguide.com/credit-cente ... on-tactics.html

i have been receiving 3-4 phone calls a day from michael smith telling me ad things would happen to me if i did not return his phone calls. i have no idea what this is all about.i never took out a pay day loan nor do i owe money to anyone. has anybody reported this to homeland security ? arn't these calls considered terroristic threats?  (sorry about the spelling)

I have receive numerous call from 559-869-4164 at my 90 year old grandmothers house for someone who doesnt even live there.  My grandmother is in a senior citizen home and receives about 2 calls a day.  She gets very upset because the guy on the phone tells her that he is sending the FBI over and she is going to be arrested, then I get a call from my 90 year old grandmother crying that someone is coming to arrest her.  These call have to stop!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE SOMEONE ADVISE ME ON WHAT I CAN DO

Calls from
Michael Smith
Eric Mathews
Julian (something)
The numbers they called from were
810-676-161
875-820-6274
Recall # 559-869-4164

I also received a call from this company on Thanksgiving, the morning
after, that following Saturday and then again this morning. At the same time they were leaving messages on my work phone requesting that I return the call ASAP the caller was Michael Smith, when I called back I spoke with another man with a strong accent named Chris Smith, who explained that I defaulted on an on line loan they knew my banking information, my e-mail, and my work number .. Chris how ever didn?t know who Michael Smith was but brushed that off..

I was told that I was being prosecuted for not paying the loan back in full and I was being charged with three different felonies, capital theft, check fraud, and I can not remember the third charge as I was so alarmed by the first two.

Sad to say I had defaulted on a loan I received due to my fiancé being laid off I was unable to make the last two payments and had been promising to make arrangements. The loan company was Fast Wire Cash this company said it was Instant Cash .. I thought they had released my information to their legal department and I wanted to get this resolved so I asked if I could call them back on my lunch hour.

When calling back I spoke with another gentlemen with a strong accent this persons name was Julian something and he was very rude he would not connect me to the gentlemen I'd spoken with that morning or the gentlemen that left the messages over the weekend .. Julian preceded to talk to me rough telling me the local authorities would be in contact with me because I wasn?t serious about replaying the loan. I asked for the balance they had and how this could be resolved I was placed on hold but I could here talking in the background I dismissed it to a bad connection

When Julian came back to the line he explained that I now owed $1289 and I had 30 minutes to try a letter explaining that I had no intention on defaulting on my loan; nor was it my intent to defrauded this company and not repay my loan in full. I was asked to include my SSN# my credit card number or the credit card number of the person who would be making the payment for me with the exact way their name prints on the CC. In addition to that they asked that I get he letter notarized before faxing it.

I typed a letter but I left out my SS# and included the names of all three men that I spoke with and that I didn?t intend to default on my loan and I would like to work out a payment arrangement to repay the loan over a course of time with proof of the interest they say I have accrued since my Feb loan and the official information of my loan.

I then agreed to replay the loan in bi weekly payments of $40 for 16 months once I received proper paperwork. I provided a CC# from a prepaid CC I received in the mail from Sprint a while back .. I received a call from an Eric Mathews claiming to be Julian?s assistant demanding a call back ASAP. I then received a call back from Julian asking me was the letter a joke and did I really expect him to take that letter to the judge .. He went on to say he was going to contact my employer and forward my file over to their investigative team to process for criminal action so I better get ready to go to jail and then he hung up on me.

I called back and got an ?attorney Francis? who I attempted to get my file and or account information from and the name and number of their local rep and information on what they were actually prosecuting me for and I was transferred to Julian who told me to sit back an wait for the sepia to come to me and they wanted nothing else to do with me unless I would be sending them $500 today and the balance of $500 next Monday I asked what my balance was and he got quiet and then yelled I?m doing you a favor say it now yes or no are you sending $500 today . I said no and he yelled you are an idiot and your going to jail.

The numbers they called from were
810-676-161
875-820-6274
Recall # 559-869-4164

Even though I was calling CA from Wisconsin they were on Eastern time because when I mentioned I would e calling on my lunch hour they proceeded to call me saying I was late calling them back. . Then the Eric person actually called me from a local number he was on Central time .. Not one time did they mention Pacific time even though I was calling into a CA number ?   I must SAY warn anyone you think may be in need of a loan or may have fallen into my situation and almost sent these people money .. If I had the money today being ignorant to this scam I would have sent them the money out of fear .. When I got home and told my fiancé he explained to me that these people are full of it and to google their numbers .. Which brought me to this page

my girlfriend got the same call on thanksgiving morning they called her and then left this number for a call back using same names claiming she had borrowed money from an online loan company and they had an "affadavit stating this" .  They knew her email address which makes me wonder if somehow it is related to a spammer.  559 pre fix is a cell phone in Fresno california area.

I have been receiving these exact calls at home, on my cell and at my workplace since July 11th.

I have contacted my local police because my identity was stolen, they also took money from my checking account under bogus company names.

I contacted the Federal Trade Commission as well as the FBI.

They have called these numbers and have left messages as well as talked to these idiots and I am still getting the calls.

I do not understand why these people cannot be arrested.  I am told they are too transient and use throw away phones.

The police told me to have my workplace tell them I no longer work there which they have done but I am still getting calls there and they are harassing the secretaries.

Perhaps a group of us need to do something because it seems like as individual complaints we are getting no where.

WALLINGFORD, CT, August 07, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Better Business Bureau is warning consumers about would-be debt collectors who call "payday" loan holders, threatening arrest if they don't pay immediately.

A payday loan, also known as a paycheck advance, is a short-term cash advance intended to cover expenses until the holder's next payday.

The callers claim they are lawyers with the "Financial Accountability Association" or the "Federal Legislation of Unsecured Loans," and they are armed with stolen personal information from their victims, indicating a major security breach of unknown origin. The names used by the scammers may change with time.

According to Connecticut Better Business Bureau President, Paulette Scarpetti, payday loan holders appear to be particularly at risk.

"Because the scammers have so much information about potential victims, BBB is concerned that this may be the result of a data breach. Thousands of people may have had their personal information compromised."

Reports received by Better Business Bureau and posted online explain the con artists threaten the loan holders of defaulting and claim they are being sued. The imposters threaten the loan holders with imminent arrest and extradition to California to stand trial, unless they immediately wire $1000 or provide bank account or credit card information.

Connecticut Better Business Bureau has advice for consumers who receive suspicious telephone calls about an outstanding debt:

-Don't be bullied into immediate action. Ask the debt collector to provide official documentation that substantiates the debt.
-Do not provide or confirm any bank account, credit card or other personal information over the telephone until you confirm the legitimacy of the call.
-If you believe a debt collector is trying to scam you, file an abuse complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) online at www. ftc.gov, or by telephone at (202) 326-2222. Also file a complaint with your Better Business Bureau at http://www.bbb.org or by telephone at 203-269-2700, ext. 2.

About Better Business Bureau CT

Founded in 1912, BBB is an unbiased non-profit organization that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. BBB offers objective advice and a wide range of education on topics affecting marketplace trust. BBB also offers complaint and dispute resolution support for consumers and businesses. Today, 128 BBBs serve communities across the U.S. and Canada, evaluating and monitoring more than three million local and national businesses and charities. For more advice on finding companies and businesses, start your search with trust at http://www.bbb.org

http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release ... mers-111431.php

Am receiving calls at work-calls are threating to call them back or else. Call originates from 973-482-3624 but leaves message to call back at 559-869-4164.  Caller's name is Sam Jones.  No specific information is given about the 'situation' however they say if I chose to disregard the call all they can say is good luck with the issue.

When I called them they would not give me the name of their company and became very hostile on the phone. When I asked for my case number they preceded to give me this bogus number 74-CRS945. They gave me 3 different names. First name was Kevin Peterson who he claimed was Dave Cooper's supervsior, then gave me the name Sam Jones. When I asked for documentation they repeatedly told me I would be served at my job...when in fact I am unemployed right now. These men have very heavy "Indian" accents and while talking on the phone there is constant background noise. I have the voicemails saved from these idiots making threats against me. Other numbers associated with these idiots are 415-691-4111 and this number 810-676-161. I live in Texas and these people are all over the internet as known scammers. They give me the same story as well, threats with jail, FBI, court in California, and subpoena.

When I called them they would not give me the name of their company and became very hostile on the phone. When I asked for my case number they preceded to give me this bogus number 74-CRS945. They gave me 3 different names. First name was Kevin Peterson who he claimed was Dave Cooper's supervsior, then gave me the name Sam Jones. When I asked for documentation they repeatedly told me I would be served at my job...when in fact I am unemployed right now. These men have very heavy "Indian" accents and while talking on the phone there is constant background noise. I have the voicemails saved from these idiots making threats against me. Other numbers associated with these idiots are 415-691-4111 and this number 810-676-161. I live in Texas and these people are all over the internet as known scammers.

same as above numerous calls from 559-869-4164 stating i owe money to them and i dont.

My client is being harrassed by this group too! The man who calls says he is an attorney named Rox Murphy. He won't tell her the name of the company he works for. He tells her all sorts of lies, that the FBI are going to come after her, that she will go to jail, etc. I would love any info on the company as well. The fax # they gave me is 1-888-691-3164.

A client is being harassed by a creditor blatantly violating the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.  
This number (1-559-869-4164) was given as a call back number - to contact "Sam Jones" of the collection agency.  When I tried calling, mentioning that I am an attorney representing someone they have been harassing - they hung up on me (surprise, surprise).  

These collectors are threatening to arrest my client, come to her work,  and are verbally abusive (using vulgarities), calling over and over in a small amount of time.  They have also contacted my client's family members about the debt (which by the way, is not a true debt owed by my client).  All of their practices are violations of the FDCPA.

I want to sue them for these FDCPA violations! Does anyone have their address? Or further information on them.