I RECEIVED THE SAME CALL FROM THE SAME NUMBER FROM AN "ALEX WILLIAMS WHO HAD A THICK INDIAN ACCENT.  HE SAID HE WAS A LAW OFFICER AND THAT I HAD NOT PAID BACK A LOAN THAT I NEVER TOOK OUR.  HE KNEW MY EMAIL ADDRESS, MY COMPLETE SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, AND PEOPLE I KNEW FROM OVER 3 YEARS AGO.  HE ALSO STATED HE HAD MY IP ADDRESS AND ALL KINDS OF "TECHNICAL INFORMATION" AND WAS BEING CHARGED WITH "INTER FRAUD" AMONG OTHERS.  HE GAVE ME STERN DIRECTION ON WHER TO  MAIL PAYMENTS AND REQUESTED I SEND A WRITTEN NOTICE OF PERMISSION TO DEDUCT MONEYS FRROM MY ACCOUNT VIA A DEBIT CARD NUMBER (AS WELL AS ALL MY CARD INFO) AND TO FAX A COPY OF MY PHOTO ID.  HE CLAIMED TO BE WORKING FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF LAW AND INVESTIGATION AND WHEN ASKED TO SPEAK TO A SUPERVISOR I EITHER GOT HIMSELF AGAIN OR ANOTHER MAN WITH THE SAME ACCENT.  I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT THIS IS LEGAL AND WORST OF ALL, HE HAD ALL MY IMPORTANT INFO AND THREATENED TO DAMAGE MY CREDIT.  PEOPLE, SOMETHING MUST BE DONE.  ANYBODY THAT WANTS INFO OR HELP MAY CONTACT ME AT MIKE_THE_DRIVER@HOTMAIL.COM OR PHONE 602-486-3132.  SOMETHING MUST BE DONE.  BE ADVISED I CRANK CALLED THEM AFTER LEARNING THEY WERE FAKE AND THEY SHOUTED MANY OBSENITIES AT ME.  THESE GUYS CANT BE FOR REAL AND THEY MUST BE STOPPED.  THE QUALITY OF PEOPLE'S LIVES ARE AT STAKE AND I AM PREPARED TO TEAM UP WITH ANYONE WHO SHARES THE SAME PASSION FOR STOPPING THESE DISHONEST PEOPLE

I RECEIVED THE SAME CALL FROM THE SAME NUMBER FROM AN "ALEX WILLIAMS WHO HAD A THICK INDIAN ACCENT.  HE SAID HE WAS A LAW OFFICER AND THAT I HAD NOT PAID BACK A LOAN THAT I NEVER TOOK OUR.  HE KNEW MY EMAIL ADDRESS, MY COMPLETE SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, AND PEOPLE I KNEW FROM OVER 3 YEARS AGO.  HE ALSO STATED HE HAD MY IP ADDRESS AND ALL KINDS OF "TECHNICAL INFORMATION" AND WAS BEING CHARGED WITH "INTER FRAUD" AMONG OTHERS.  HE GAVE ME STERN DIRECTION ON WHER TO  MAIL PAYMENTS AND REQUESTED I SEND A WRITTEN NOTICE OF PERMISSION TO DEDUCT MONEYS FRROM MY ACCOUNT VIA A DEBIT CARD NUMBER (AS WELL AS ALL MY CARD INFO) AND TO FAX A COPY OF MY PHOTO ID.  HE CLAIMED TO BE WORKING FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF LAW AND INVESTIGATION AND WHEN ASKED TO SPEAK TO A SUPERVISOR I EITHER GOT HIMSELF AGAIN OR ANOTHER MAN WITH THE SAME ACCENT.  I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT THIS IS LEGAL AND WORST OF ALL, HE HAD ALL MY IMPORTANT INFO AND THREATENED TO DAMAGE MY CREDIT.  PEOPLE, SOMETHING MUST BE DONE.  ANYBODY THAT WANTS INFO OR HELP MAY CONTACT ME AT MIKE_THE_DRIVER@HOTMAIL.COM OR PHONE 602-486-3132.  SOMETHING MUST BE DONE.  BE ADVISED I CRANK CALLED THEM AFTER LEARNING THEY WERE FAKE AND THEY SHOUTED MANY OBSENITIES AT ME.  THESE GUYS CANT BE FOR REAL AND THEY MUST BE STOPPED.  THE QUALITY OF PEOPLE'S LIVES ARE AT STAKE AND I AM PREPARED TO TEAM UP WITH ANYONE WHO SHARES THE SAME PASSION FOR STOPPING THESE DISHONEST PEOPLEReply !

We just got a call from this scammer alex williams who also told us he was going to send the police to our doorstep unless we faxed over our credit card information. Clearly a scam but he would not stop calling us back....he called like 12 times. I finally gave the phone to someoone to pretend they were the local police and said we had tracked them down and would notify the local burea of investigation. The man said you do what you want, and then said we will find you. They need to be stopped. They kept saying that we cud do that we wanted because they know they cannot be caught....

Called my work, claimed to be a Paralegal Law Officer!! I believe this is a federal crime, posing as a law agent. He is a bill collector posing as a legal entity to extort money.

I received a call from "Officer" Denzil Anderson from 720-251-8274 and it was an unpublished number in Colorado. I will be contacting the FBI and my local sheriff and also getting in touch with my local tv news station to get the word out. Thank you all for the info and I am so sorry we have all fallen victim to this!

By the way....we are located in rural Missouri

My boyfriend received two threatening messages from this number from a Mike Walter and that he was with Dept of Law and Investigation.  He stated that the call is about a time sensitive nature and that my boyfriend must call right away.  He had a very strong Indian accent and was hard to understand.  We had to laugh though when he said that my boyfriend would be in big, big trouble if he didn't call back.  I did a reverse look up on the number and it came up as an unpublished landline in Albany, New York.  Huge red flag to me!!!!  I am glad that I found this information so that I can report it to the "real" police officers.  Thanks everyone for your information!!!!  Huge help!!!!

YOU START BY REPORTING THEM - TELLING THEM YOU HAVE DONE SO AND KNOW THEY ARE A SCAM.  THEY WILL KEEP CALLING FOR A WHILE - BUT WILL EVENTUALLY STOP.


If you are targeted by these criminals, be sure to report them to all the following federal and state law enforcement agencies (most of which you can do online or over the phone):
1.    The U.S. Secret Service is responsible for protecting the country's financial infrastructure and payment systems from international and domestic threats. Call or write your local Secret Service field office to alert them to the details of this attempted extortion. The addresses and phone numbers for the local Secret Service field offices are listed at http://www.secretservice.gov/field_offices.shtml or in your phone book.
2.    Alert the FBI at https://tips.fbi.gov Be sure to tell the FBI that you are being targeted by extortionists over the phone. And if the crooks claim to be law enforcement or lawyers, officers of the court or bankers, be sure to include that information in your report.
3.    File a complaint with your local police. Most police departments will take a report over the phone.  Be sure to tell them that you're being targeted by an extortionist and give them all the details.
4.    File a complaint your state's attorney general, the contact information for whom is at www.wvago.gov
5.    File a complaint online with The Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en

If these crooks call back, promise them nothing, pay them nothing and tell them nothing other than that you know they're a scam and that you've reported them to law enforcement. (And be sure to report them to all the agencies above each time they call you.)



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


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

I have received 3 calls from an Officer Robert Brown from Law Investigations regarding a personal matter that has my name on it.

The number that was left on my voice mail was: 585-295-1247.  On the caller ID, it showed 7.

I received a call and a voice mail asking me to call this number back  and speak to an Officer Mike Walter and that he was with Dept of Law and Investigation that the call is about a time sensitive nature and I must call right away.I tried because it was after work and only got a voice mail recording with the voice mail box full so i started researching. I am glad I did not get to talk to these people. They have called my home twice and my work once all three times leaving a voice mail. The caller Id shows only Unknown 1010 or 1011. I think that there is a law in Florida against spoofing caller IDs and that companies will be prosecuted.

Hi. The same thing happened to me this afternoon!! I checked my messages on my lunch break and there was one from an Officer Jonathan Loy with the Department of Law. Naturally upon hearing this I freaked out. I called back and nobody answered and I was told I couldn't leave a message b/c the box was full. Immediately, the number called back coming up on my cell phone as 1010. A man with a thick Indian accent by the name of Denzil Anderson proceeded to read me the riot act saying that I could be arrested and taken to court for a faulty pay day loan. He knew my social security number, place of employment, bank account number and address. He then told me I needed to send money via debit or credit card and that I needed a payment authorization form, and he told me verbatim what I should write in this letter. I needed to have the letter notarized and a copy of my driver's license faxed to him at the following number:717-312-8980. I hung up confused and went home to research the number. I am glad that I read all your posts before taking action. Since this afternoon, he has called back twice saying he was waiting for my fax and money. The first message was from the same man with an Indian accent. The second message was from the same man (Jonathan Loy) but this time had a deeper voice and an Australian accent saying I had to send it by 6:00pm. How do you get these people to stop calling?????

I received a call from a officer Austion jones and he left the number 585-295-1247 and said it was of the up most important that I get back to him a law matter and if I didn't call him back only god could help me.  He stated that I was in trouble and owed a lot of money and that he was trying to help me out....  I tried to call back, but I looked up this number and seen that other people were getting the same call....  How can I stop them calls at my job.....

i recieved more than one phone call from this number 585-295-1247 from a officer denzil anderson demanding i pay for a payday loan that was out on my bank account that has not been active for 2 years or more i contacated my local sherriffs office and i called a check cashing loan places and they adives me to do a credit check and if it was not on there than it is not real and the officer advised the same info and you can also google the phone number and you will get all kinds of info and you might just be more shocked on what you read these people need to be stopped asap!!!!!!!! i also done a reverse phone number check and the number is out of rochester new york this is the name of the place the number shows  Invest. Goldk also the Phone Issuing Location:
Paetec Communications, Inc. - Ny
Rochester, NY  14604 and now when i call the number it goes to a voicemail right away and imagine the box is full and you cant leave a message

Consumer Alert: Attorney General warns Kansans of debt collection scam

January 29, 2010 -- Attorney General Steve Six is cautioning Kansas consumers about telephone calls from apparent fake debt collectors who are impersonating law enforcement officers in an effort to extort money from consumers.   Consumers are warned to not submit payments to these fraudulent debt collectors.

When calling, the scammers most often state they are attempting to collect a debt related to an internet payday loan obtained by the consumer, but which the consumer never repaid.  Consumers state they have never obtained such a loan or paid off the loan years ago.  The scam artists have most recently identified themselves as ACS, National Affidavit Processing Department and United Financial Crime Division, but may use additional phony names.  It appears the phone numbers used by the scammers are ?spoofed? numbers, so that the number appearing on a consumer?s caller ID is not the actual number of where the call originated. It appears the calls in question may be originating from outside the United States.

When questioned, the individual calling refuses to disclose the full name or address of the collection agency they claim to represent.  These scammers have been able to provide consumers with identifying information, such as the consumer?s social security number, home address, e-mail address, names of family members and the consumer?s computer IP address.  Since the callers are able to provide valid personal information, consumers may become confused and believe they are being contacted in regard to a legitimate debt.

If the initial debt collection scam is unsuccessful, consumers have been re-contacted months later with the scammers posing as law enforcement officers or officers of the court.  Typically, the consumer is threatened with arrest for fraud or some other fictitious crime unless the consumer agrees to immediately wire money via Western Union.  The fictitious officers strive to frighten and confuse consumers into compliance by using legal sounding terms such as ?We?re filing an affidavit against you? or by stating a lawsuit has been or is in the process of being filed against the consumer.

A hallmark of each scam has been calling consumers repeatedly at their place of employment.  This scam hit home when an employee of the Kansas Attorney General?s Office was repeatedly called both on her cell phone and at work.  Despite the employee?s repeated verbal disputes, the caller refused to provide any identifying information to allow her to send a written dispute. The scammer also continued to call her numerous times a day regarding a payday loan she denied obtaining. Two months later, she was again contacted by telephone by an individual identifying himself as an ?officer?.

?I denied owing the debt and refused to pay without being provided validation of the debt. I was then told, ?If that?s the case, I will have local law enforcement come to your place of business and drag you out kicking and screaming?,? stated the employee.

?It is important for consumers to know their rights under the law,? Attorney General Six said. ?If a consumer is receiving calls from a debt collection company and believe it is a scam, I encourage them to contact our office immediately.?

Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), collectors are required to send consumers a written notice within five days of the initial contact.  The notification should contain  information such as the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed and a statement informing the consumer they have thirty days to contact the debtor in writing to dispute the debt or request validation of the debt. In addition, legitimate debt collectors are prohibited by the FDCPA from making false or misleading representations, such as the consumer has committed a crime, implying nonpayment will result in the consumer?s arrest, or using the threat of violence.

More information is available on the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf.

To register a complaint with the Kansas Attorney General?s Consumer Protection Division, call 1(800) 432-2310 or visit www.ksag.org.

http://www.ksag.org/page/consumer-alert-attor ... collection-scam

I received numerous calls from Officer Robert Brown, who has an Asian accent.  He states that he is calling from the Department of Law Enforcement and leaves the following number to call back.
585-295-1247 and 1-866-860-4509.  He has used all of the language mentioned by others and demands that I call or face serious legal consequences.  He call three to four times a day at the office and several times at my home.  They call until 9:30pm.  What can we do to stop this?

just recieved a call from offericer robert brown. he had an accent which sounded foreign maybe from india. he was threating and advised me to call my attorney. i appreciate reading the info from this site and i to have had my mind put at ease. thank you! i hope this post will help some one else.

Has called the last two days.....leaving threatening messages

Thanks for having this info available.  A friend called me today about a phone call she got and I put her mind at ease thanks to this info!

LONG RUNNING AND KNOWN SCAM - ALL OVER INTERNET AND NEWS

Fake Debt Collectors ? Terrorizing Consumers

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5621205&page=1


MORE ON FAKE DEBT COLLECTORS
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-904-425-9141
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/call4action/17285785/detail.html
http://www.800helpfla.com/newsletter/2008/092008.html

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/01/ks_debt_collection.html   latest release of information on this scam

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's a debt collection scam. And all their threats are false and illegal.
This is a very active group of scammers, many of whom are calling from India (and probably other countries) and are in cahoots with a group of American pay day loan scammers. They attempt to extort money from consumers with a myriad of false and illegal threats, and alternately pose as debt collectors, federal and state law enforcement officers, lawyers and bankers. Their trademark is to use meaningless legalese gobblygook phrases like "We are downloading warrants against you" or "We are filing an affidavit against you." Another trademark phrase is to threaten the consumer with something like this ridiculous phrase: "If you don't pay then only God can help you."
Typical of many financial scams of this variety, they usually demand payment via Western Union or MoneyGram or credit card. They use any number of phony names such as US National Bank, Federal Investigation Bureau, US Legal Investigation Bureau, Hopkins Law Office, United Legal Processing, Morgan Associates, United Pay Services, National Processing, White Collar Crime Unit and many more.  These criminals also use many phone numbers from many area codes; they're probably using caller-id spoofing software and/or VoIP to disguise their real location.
The main thing to remember is that anytime someone calls you demanding money to prevent your arrest, or demanding your lawyer's name so they can sue you, it is ALWAYS a scam. No debt collector (let alone criminals posing as debt collectors) has the authority to have anyone arrested for anything. (And it's illegal to them to threaten such a thing.) And since these foreign dirtbags routinely impersonate law enforcement, it's also important to remember that American law enforcement officers aren't in the business of debt collection.  (Debt is a civil, not a criminal, matter.)
The bottom line is, these are criminals trying to steal your money.
A consumer posting a complaint about these same scammers at http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-718-831-7157 notes that 718-831-7157 is associated with an India-based "outsourcing" telephone bank.  Though a reverse search on WhitePages.com shows that 718-831-7157 is an unlisted land line in New York City, information on Debtbuyers.Com shows that that number is used by India-based Intellisourze. (Source: http://www.debtbuyers.com/debtbuyers.asp ) My guess is that it's a VoIP phone number.
This is another piece of the puzzle that fits in perfectly with other information about this scam. There are some reports on 800Notes that have suggested that the crooks behind this offshore scam are also the crooks behind the notorious Bass/Ellis Crosby & Assoc./States Predisposition scams in Florida and Georgia. The interesting thing is that the number of complaints on here about the US National Bank/US Legal Investigation/Federal Investigation scam skyrocketed *after* April 7, 2008 when Florida obtained a $1.3 million judgment against Ted Ellis Crosby, shutdown his operations and barred him from ever conducting debt collections in Florida (Read http://myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsrel ... 5257424005858A6 ) There's certainly a good chance that the crooks placing these calls from India are doing so on behalf of the American crooks behind the Crosby/Bass/States Predisposition scams.
Here's the contact information for the phone bank in India:
IntellisOurzE BPO
701, Sapphier, Nr. Cargo Motors,
C.G. Road Navrangpura,
Ahmedabad - 9. (Guj.) INDIA.
E-Mail: info@intellisourze.com
Website: www.intellisourze.com
A check on the domain name "intellisourze.com" shows that the website and name registration was created on May 8, just one month *after* the Crosby scams were shut down in Florida:
Domain Name: INTELLISOURZE.COM
Registrant:  Pragra Infratech Pvt. Limited.
Email:  ankur.ranpariya@pragra.com  
908, Aksaht Tower, Nr. ICICI Bank
Opp. Rajpath Club, S.G. Highway
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India 380054
Tel. +91.7926871353
Creation Date: 08-May-2008
Expiration Date: 08-May-2009
Domain servers in listed order: ns5.znetindia.com ns4.znetindia.com
(Source: http://whois.domaintools.com/intellisourze.com )
Though scam calls from these crooks have been going on long before May 8, the frequency of complaints about these calls increased considerably after Crosby was shut down in early April.
This is conjecture, but appearances suggest that Crosby and company were originally running a two-pronged payday loan scam operation -- with some calls being made from Jacksonville, Florida and other calls being made from a phone bank in India (and possibly other countries); then, after the Florida Attorney General shut down the Crosby scams in Florida, the Crosby crooks transferred most of their scam efforts to the India phone bank.

If you are targeted by these criminals, be sure to report them to all the following federal and state law enforcement agencies (most of which you can do online or over the phone):
1.    The U.S. Secret Service is responsible for protecting the country's financial infrastructure and payment systems from international and domestic threats. Call or write your local Secret Service field office to alert them to the details of this attempted extortion. The addresses and phone numbers for the local Secret Service field offices are listed at http://www.secretservice.gov/field_offices.shtml or in your phone book.
2.    Alert the FBI at https://tips.fbi.gov Be sure to tell the FBI that you are being targeted by extortionists over the phone. And if the crooks claim to be law enforcement or lawyers, officers of the court or bankers, be sure to include that information in your report.
3.    File a complaint with your local police. Most police departments will take a report over the phone.  Be sure to tell them that you're being targeted by an extortionist and give them all the details.
4.    File a complaint your state's attorney general, the contact information for whom is at www.wvago.gov
5.    File a complaint online with The Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en
If these crooks call back, promise them nothing, pay them nothing and tell them nothing other than that you know they're a scam and that you've reported them to law enforcement. (And be sure to report them to all the agencies above each time they call you.)

By the way, here's just a small sample of numbers used by this particular group of scammers. Read the reports and you'll see the same pattern time and again -- phony organization names, thick foreign accents, and oddly worded threats that are so melodramatic and ridiculous that it's laughable:

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-925-262-1327
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-678-954-6346
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-341-4004
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-856-831-0640
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-949-743-1140
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-410-505-8128
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-917-464-2534
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-210-858-6602
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-775-2121
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-949-743-1156
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-245-1402
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-245-0922
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-723-5572
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-904-425-2863
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-718-831-7157
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-904-425-2857
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-858-244-0444
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-954-678-9724
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-610-571-3252
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-909-8245
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-499-9983


Scam alert: Bogus debt collectors
By Leslie McFadden ? Bankrate.com
Monday, Aug. 3
Posted 2 p.m.
Bankrate reporter Leslie McFadden contributed this entry.
This scam isn't technically about credit cards, but it is scary enough to post a warning. The Better Business Bureau issued an alert today saying consumers across the country are getting phone calls from bogus debt collectors claiming default on a payday loan. Of course, the consumer needs to pay a large fee to avoid arrest -- as much as $1,000.
The caller poses as a lawyer, and may threaten extradition to face trial if the consumer doesn't pay up immediately.
What makes these calls alarming -- and perhaps convincing -- is that the perpetrators reference the consumer's personal information, such as the person's Social Security number, driver's license number, previous bank account numbers, home address -- even personal references.
"The amount of information they have is really troubling," says BBB spokeswoman Alison Southwick. She adds that the amount of data points to a possible security breach.
Spread the word to your friends and family: Don't give out personal or financial information to an unknown caller. Scammers can spoof Caller ID to display different numbers, so trust your instincts over technology.
The BBB offers these tips:
?    Ask the debt collector to provide official documentation which substantiates the debt.
?    Do not provide or confirm any bank account, credit card or other personal information over the phone until you have confirmed the legitimacy of the call.
?    File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission online if the caller is abusive, uses threats or otherwise violates federal telemarketing laws or the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
?    File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau online if you believe a debt collector is trying to scam you.

I just recvd the same call stating his name was James Obrian calling from NY Law Investigators office and that he was a Police offcicer with the Law Investigations regarding fraud.

He is really a bill collector using threatening tones.