they scammed me out of more than $700...

This guy has called me twice at work oine day and then once the next day.  He has called at 6am.  He calls my home and cell at least 4 times a day.  He said his name is Alex Watson. I returned the call later in the evening and told him to cease and desist or I will file a lawsuit.  He will not tell me the name of his company any of the times he has called.

COMPLETE FRAUD NOW ALL WE HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IS ALL THE PERSONAL INFO THEY HAVE ON US.....I HAVE GOTTEN THESE EXACT CALLS...THEY USUALLY GET INFO FROM PAYDAY ADVANCE CO. OR RECENT LOANS U HAVE GOTTEN....DON"T LOSE SLEEP OVER THESE JACK***ES THEY USE A THROW AWAY PHONE FOR A WHILE TILL THEY GET MONEY AND THEN USE A DIFFERENT ONE WHEN THERE IS TO MUCH HEAT ON THEM...REPORT THIS IMMEDIATELY111

I have received two different voicemails from them today on my cell phone, didn't answer because I was at work. Couldn't understand much more than if I didn't respond to wish me luck in what was going to happen.

I received a phone call last month in November from Cyber Law Unit...  Now another call.  They are scammers.   I went to the police and filed a report.  I gave this guy the police station phone number and told him that he could reach me there, when he called me back for a second time.  I gave him the invesgators phone number.  right after he called me I called her to let her know that the guy is going to call you and ask for me.  I wounder if he did call???  He even called my job, asking for me by my wrong name.  stating that he was from my legal department from my job.  Don't you think that if he was from my job's legal department, wouldn't he use the correct name?????    Please if you do get a phone call, change your account numbers...  This guy will try to get money out of you, even without your permission..  He tried to get money from me, but my bank said nope..  Not Happening...  Also dealing with the the cops showing up..   Like I said I went down to file a report, if there were a warrent for my arrest, would I be writting right now about this...  Just remember if you do get a call, please change your account numbers...  He will try to get money...  Let your bank know.  they can put an alert on your account and file a report with their loss provention so if he does try, it will not go through.

I recieved a call from 0000 number this evening...since I didn't not reconize this odd number I did not answer.  The voicemail I got was bad.  He had a very very heavy accent, I could not understand a word he was saying.  I saved the voicemail, to listen to it later when I was somewhere quiet, and when I went to get the message it was gone, I don't know if it has something to do with the 0000 number or not. This page as given me alot of information cause I have recieved these calls from last year as well.  I called the fool back after my job called me to tell me that they called, and this fool was trying to tell me about a loan that I have not paid back and that they was coming to arrest me at my job and stuff.  I told them to come....I DARE THEM TOO!!!!! I asked for some type of documentation regarding this and he sd "You want documentation here....then hung up!!!! Yeah you call back I got something for ya!!

called me at 7:41 am stating a suit was filed against me I asked for the paperwork so % could send it to my attorney. He said he would speak to my attorney but he needed my social. I said absolutely not, I'd like the paperwork. I asked for his name which was Ricky Martin odd since he had a very heavy indian accent. I told him I was calling the police and he hung up on me.

No, they do not. The FBI is aware of this scam:

Extortion Scam Related to Delinquent Payday Loans

Washington, D.C.
December 07, 2010  FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691


? filed under: Press Release

The Internet Crime Complaint Center has received many complaints from victims of payday loan telephone collection scams. Callers claim the victim is delinquent in a payday loan and must repay the loan to avoid legal consequences. The callers purport to be representatives of the FBI, Federal Legislative Department, various law firms, or other legitimate-sounding agencies. They claim to be collecting debts for companies such as United Cash Advance, U.S. Cash Advance, U.S. Cash Net, and other Internet check-cashing services.

According to complaints received from the public, the callers have accurate data about victims, including Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, employer information, bank account numbers, and the names and telephone numbers of relatives and friends. How the fraudsters obtained the personal information varies, but in some cases victims have reported they completed online applications for other loans or credit cards before the calls started.

The fraudsters relentlessly call the victim?s home, cell phone, and place of employment. They refuse to provide any details about the alleged payday loans and become abusive when questioned. The callers have threatened victims with legal actions, arrests, and, in some cases, physical violence if they do not pay. In many cases, the callers harass victims? relatives, friends, and employers.

Some fraudsters have instructed victims to fax a statement agreeing to pay a certain amount, on a specific date, via a pre-paid Visa card. The statement further declares the victim will never dispute the debt.

If you receive these calls, do not follow the caller?s instructions. Rather, you should:

Notify your banking institutions.
Contact the three major credit bureaus and request an alert be put on your file.
Contact your local law enforcement agencies if you feel you are in immediate danger.
File a complaint at www.IC3.gov.
Tips to avoid becoming a victim of this scam:

Never give your Social Security number?or personal information of any kind?over the telephone or online unless you initiate the contact.
Be suspicious of any e-mail with urgent requests for personal financial information. The e-mail may include upsetting or exciting but false statements to get you to react immediately.
Avoid filling out forms in e-mail messages that request personal information.
Ensure that your browser is up-to-date and security patches have been applied.
Check your bank, credit, and debit card statements regularly to make sure that there are no unauthorized transactions. If anything looks suspicious, contact your bank and all card issuers.
When you contact companies, use numbers provided on the back of cards or statements.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/paydayloanscam_120710

I received a call today from this number I was shocked & scared. I didnt know what to do because I know I didn`t receive any money but I did apply for a loan. I am relieved to know Im not the only one. But do they really try & sue or do you receive any papers in the mail.

I got the same phone call today from 5624551022, i have never seen nor heard of this number before. I googled the number and it said it was from California.  The guy had a very thick accent I had to play the message a few times and I still don't understand what he said. When i tried to call back i got a busy signal so I tried again and i got their voice mail which said it can no longer take any phone calls or messages any longer.  I asked my uncle whose a cop what to do and he said ignore it they most likely want my social numbers and credit cards or anything along those lines.  I hope these people get caught and get all the fines to keep them from calling and harassing any one again.

They just called me and almost had me sending a fax in stating that I would agree to pay it off and I really know I did not take out a loan as they say I did in 2009, but after reading what you all had to say I am so glad I did not, thanks to you all for the most needed and appreciated information you have provided, I will call and change my phone number so I won't get these upsetting phone calls. I wish all the best. But they getting new #'s this one is 052-797-815 this not even a real phone number, WoW!

Do not call me, I made contact to States Att. They know who you are

received the same type of message today and finally got thru   very rude and i called my bank to make sure nothing was going on with my checking account and then called the local police station who told me this is some sort of scam

received a call at home and at work  could not understand this man said i owed money that i never got or asked for said i needed an attorney    call the number back and honestly got a recording with an extenision number consisting of at least 12 numbers.  finally got ahold of a man and he said that they
were coming the next day to arrest me   called my local police office and they told me that it is a scam

OMG, I'm so glad I looked up the number.  I got the exact same message.  Happy to hear it's a hoax.

I got a call from a Stephen Nixon - 858-244-0530 (hotline to his division)

"if you don't return the call or I don't hear from your attorney the only thing I can do is wish you good luck on the situation imposed on you. Good luck and god blass"

Well, thanks for wishing me luck :) I appreciate it! buh bye now...

I received a voice mail from the same bunch, similar to all of the above and then some. Caller stated that either myself or my duly appointed attorney must return the call urgently. Called back, when I insisted on being told his firm name and address the first time, he hit some sort of screeching tone that clearly could cause hearing damage if you listened long enough. I called back again, same person then told me that they were filing a lawsuit against me, and that he would call me "a thousand times a day" starting Monday.  No demands yet, but clearly that is coming next.  Very abusive, very threatening tone. No number found on my caller ID, only voice mail.

Got a call tonight but couldn't understand hardly a thing he said except he wanted to talk to my "attorney of record." Called the number back to find out what on earth it was about but the "mailbox" to the voicemail is full.

This is a scam.

I was so scared. They said they were coming to my job on monday to arrest me and bring me back to calfornia to face trial.

This is a scam

This number (562-455-1022) called my cell left voice message to call Ricky Thompson and the same number called my work,but when I tried calling this number it was busy. The message on my phone and job was to call them or they can only wish me luck.How can I stop these people from calling me or my job I really need my job and don't need this

No, not a Nigerian scam. Very think INDIAN accent.

I got the exact same call ....telling me to call back or have my attorney call back, and that if not, he can "only wish me good luck as the situation unfolds on me"....

Called back but line is busy

Leave me alone people!

I also receive a voicemail from the same num 5624551023 from a dude with a thick accent telling me of the same thing. He said they will get the police at my work on Monday and they will flee me to California for persecution. I asked for their address he gave me 1365 chula vista dr irvine ca 92602.

Yup I got the same voicemail same number. And it goes straight to voicemail. I'm thinkin these nuts are actually real but after seeing this hell no. I'm going to sign up for google voice and see em on a loop

The same thing happedend to me the only thing is that his name was alex .

For at least the last four years, possibly longer, a group has been calling former payday loan applicants advising them that they have defrauded a bank and are now being sued for non-payment of a loan.  The callers will claim to be calling on behalf of an attorney's office (name varies), the Dept. of Law and Investigation, ACS, or other similar combinations below:

United Legal Processing Division
Midline Marketing
Crime Monitoring Services
Monetary Crime Division
U.S. National Bank
Attorney General?s Office (usually in California)
American Legal Services
Affidavit Consolidation Services (ACS)

You will be threatened with arrest, a costly trial and possibly worse.  In no shape, way or form can you be arrested for non-payment on a consumer debt.  Do not believe these threats, as they are without merit and cannot be carried out in the manner they allege.  

Who are they?

In the past when pressed by law enforcement for an address, the callers have provided the following information:

David Morgan and Associates
Morgan & Associates
Morgan Associates
954-727-8481
1155 Northwest 85th Street
Wintergarden, Florida  33150
(Address is likely invalid)

The collector's MO matches a once legit collections agency called Ellis Crosby & Associates.  Here are some links on them:

http://www.budhibbs.com/collectorpages/ellis_crosby_and_associates.htm
http://www.budhibbs.com/collectorpages/EllisCrosbyJudgment.pdf

They have been previously fined over $1.3 million for various violations.  They have been known to use phone banks in India to make their calls, which more or less coincides with the difficult to understand accent many of us detect when we are contacted.  

The last time this group went by any "official" name was back in 2008:

Ellis Crosby & Associates / Douglas & Morgan Associates
4494 Southside Boulevard Suite #200
Jacksonville Florida 32216
Phone:  800-928-3536 / (904) 928-3536
(Address is likely invalid)

There are NUMEROUS consumer alerts out against this group of individuals:

Florida:
http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/061107/met_176207561.shtml

Kansas:  
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/01/ks_debt_collection.html

Colorado:  
http://www.coloradoattorneygeneral.gov/press/ ... lls_likely_orig

Rhode Island:  
http://www.collectionscreditrisk.com/news/rho ... -3002135-1.html

West Virginia:
http://www.wvago.gov/internetloanscam.cfm

Missouri:
On July 15th, 2010 a Public Awareness Bulletin was sent out by Missouri Information Analysis Center.  

"..received reports from individuals in Ohio and Illinois reference suspicious telephone calls they received. In both instances, the callers are reporting that a voicemail is received from a man, with a Middle Eastern accent, identifying himself as an officer working with the Financial Crimes Unit.  The message indicates that the reason for the call concerns a loan made by the receiver or someone in the receiver's family. The voicemail requests that a return call be made and a telephone number is provided. When a return call is made, the caller is asked to provide personal identifying information such as their date of birth and social security number.

Reports indicate that the calls are frequent and persistent and that they even threaten arrest or legal action if information or money is not provided. It appears that the individuals making these calls may have access to some records connecting individuals and their relatives.  Missouri does not have a Financial Crimes Unit and all indications are that this is a fictitious agency. If you receive a similar phone call, please be advised that it is a scam and please contact your local law enforcement agency or the Missouri Information Analysis Center at 866-362-6422."

Bottom line:

Do not supply the callers with any additional information.  Inform them you have reported them to law enforcement and hang up.  If you haven't already, go ahead and report the calls to local law enforcement, your state's Attorney General and beyond.  Look up the local Secret Service branch's information in your area and get in contact with an agent there.  

If you ever applied for a cash advance online, your information is out there.  
Possible sources for the breach of your privacy are:

* The scammers obtained your information from Teletrack - a reporting agency used by many cash advance lenders to determine their risk lending to you.  The service is able to tell cash advance lenders if you have existing loans with other companies, for example.  Many state laws prohibit borrowers from having more than two cash advances out at the same time.

* The scammers created their own fake payday loan application site.  People looking for a cash advance went to the site and applied, thus freely providing the scammers with their information for malicious use at a later time.  

* The scammers were able to get into the database(s) of cash advance lenders - probable targets being Sonic Payday and Cashnet USA.  


How to protect yourself:

* Inform your employer.  You are likely getting calls at home and/or at work, so make sure your employer is aware the calls are part of a scam and to not take them seriously.  Advise the callers that they are no longer allowed to call you at work.  If they continue to call, document the date and time of the calls you received.  Save voice mails left if at all possible.  

* Change your number(s).  For some this may not be an option, for others a one-time number change can be done free of charge.

Be advised - any references you listed on your payday loan application will be contacted.  Let those people know that this is a scam, and they can disregard.

* Use Google Voice.  Google Voice is a great replacement voice mail system for just about any phone number you use.  Messages can be transcribed and voice mail recordings can be saved as mp3 files.  

Pro Tip - call the scammers with a Google Voice number before turning off your old phone numbers.  Make sure when you call you identify yourself so they can start up their script.  At any point after they have your information pulled up just hang up.  They will then start religiously calling your Google Voice number.  At this point, you are free to change your regular phone number(s) and enjoy not having these people ever call you again.  (And laugh at the fact these people are basically talking to a brick wall several times a day)

The scammers change their numbers frequently.  Law enforcement used to think it was because the callers ran out of minutes on their prepaid wireless accounts or they were shuttered due to fraud, but now they understand it's simply to evade detection by savvy consumers online.  With the proliferation of VoIP, it's even easier for the crooks to stay a couple of steps ahead of law enforcement.  Below is just a sampling of the 30+ numbers that have been used in recent memory.

1-201-244-7722
1-209-349-7382
1-209-797-2212
1-212-500-0839
1-213-256-0408
1-213-995-3039
1-281-763-0433
1-347-289-3902
1-347-844-6817
1-347-844-6831
1-424-354-4270
1-516-232-8905
1-516-232-8935
1-518-212-0219
1-561-300-8018
1-561-210-4185
1-626-200-4646
1-631-456-4041
1-646-274-1143
1-646-810-8635
1-650-241-4604
1-707-401-4056
1-707-633-2789
1-708-401-0535
1-716-442-2824
1-717-862-4080
1-718-705-8669
1-760-514-0132
1-760-563-5384
1-772-318-4938
1-850-201-1111
1-858-777-1977
1-859-908-2281
1-866-860-4509
1-877-226-7488
1-888-706-7463
1-888-771-9249
1-888-785-4479
1-909-327-4870

So can they really do anything to you?

It's not a simple yes or no answer.  Logic dictates that, if they really wanted to take you for a ride and drain your bank accounts, they already would have.  

So, why haven't they?  

Authorization.  

Why do you think you are being called so much?  Perhaps it is because they like the sound of your voice?  No, they have to have your authorization to take any form of payment from you, period.  The callers know their audience, and that audience is typically a bunch of people that have applied for payday loans in the past.  Most of those people they call couldn't afford an attorney if they wanted one, and are so used to receiving collections calls that so long as they sound like a real collector, they will likely be perceived as one.

Furthermore, they don't even really want to talk to your attorney - that just sounds official and scary enough.  A real attorney would take the callers to task and write them off as two-bit con artists.  The callers need you, in writing, to authorize payment against the fictitious debt they claim you owe.  Go ahead, ask them for proof you owe the debt - more commonly known as verification of debt.  See what they say.  A phone authorization carries very little weight, so if they have something signed by you on file, you are done for - and the callers know that.  That authorization is the only thing these callers are doing by the book, and for good reason.  If they just went all willy nilly and made an ACH debit from your checking account, without your written approval, you could in turn report the transaction as fraudulent to your financial institution.  In about 7-10 business days, you would get the funds returned to your account.  Then the scammers would be up against a bank and their team of lawyers and investigators.  

Bottom line:

If you haven't paid the callers a dime, don't.  If you planned on paying them to shut them up, just don't.  Remember - you are not being contacted by a legally licensed, ethically owned and operated collector.  Read up on the FDCPA - http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf - and know your rights.

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-646-274-1143/3

I just received a call at my place of work from 1-562-455-1022 someone saying that they were from a Bank Office/ Legal Dept and then something not understandable....I have filed a complaint with local ag office and the FTA do the same.....

wow, i am totally creeped out right now.  i am wondering how this person has received my information.  i thought this was legit until i googled the number...same thing, i could barely understand the message because the accent was so thick, it's an accent i have never before heard.  this is really eerie and feels like a major violation.

I got 2 phone calls today form this strong accent guy saying his name is John Williams, ths first phne call he told me to return his call at 858-244-0530-- according to reverse phone lookup, this is a number in San Diego, about 4 hours later this same guy calls me again and leaves the exact same message word for word only this time he wants me to call him back at 562-455-1022-- which is supposedly in Norwalk Connecticut.