I received an email from Katherine Clark after posting my resume on Craigslist. She informed me that her husband needed  someone to drive him around 2 hours a day, twice a week. She asked for my name, address, & phone number so she could send me a check before her husband arrives.  I was suspicious so I asked for a phone number so that I could contact her for more information.

This guy called me twice because the first time I hung up on him. It was amazing the information he had on me but the address was completely incorrect. His name was Dimitri Blainis and he was representing some bank. I can't remember because I was so upset the first time he called I hung up on him. He called me right back and was abusive, arrogant, disrespectful, should I continue but he had far too much information on me.

I am calling the authorities his number is 646 926 5881.

Received a call from this number stating that they were from the NYC Police dpt. and they were calling me regarding a legal matter. when I asked them to verify my informaiton like my address, home number, etc....... they would not verify my info.

A lady named Pamela Jackson called and stated that she was with the department of ATF. Left a message stated that she would download the information into my file. Which would cause me to loose my job, home, and everthing. She stated that I needed to call her in order to solve this legal problem.

Pamela Jackson called me as well, the number on my caller ID was 0000000000.  On the message she left me she stated that she had legal action that was taken against me and that my SS # and DL # would be blocked unless my attorney contacted her.  When I called back the "supervisor" answered and Pam Jackson was "busy".  He was a male (foreigner) and was VERY rude.  He asked for the phone number that I was calling from and I refused to give it to him.  I asked him what company he was calling from and he wouldn't tell me. He called me a w***e and told me that he could tell by the way I talk that I'm a w***e!  I was in complete shock over this.  I asked if he was calling from overseas and he said he was in Arizona.  I could not believe the way he was talking to me.  I asked him if he really thought this was professional and he said he was a "stud"!  Outrageous!!! I told him that I googled the phone number and saw numerous complaints from other people and that I was contacting the FTC.  At this point he was still calling me names and I finally told him I was recording him and I was contacting the FBI and he hung up!  These people are definitely scammers!!!

THIS IS A SCAM. Scammers pretend to be law enforcement (police, sheriff, Feds, AG's Office, fake cop agencies with made-up names) and using bought/hacked loan application data to extort money for fictitious crimes or your personal ID.
The real DEA warns about fake-DEA extortion scams here http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/2010/denver111010.html
The real FBI warns about payday loan extortion scams here http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/paydayloanscam_120710
The real FDA warns about fake-FDA extortion scams here http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2009/ucm195814.htm
The real FDIC warns about fake-FDIC extortion scams here http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/specialalert/2010/sa10131.html
Report to the Internet Crime Complaint Center http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx , the Federal Communications Commission http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm , the Federal Trade Commission https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and your state AG, as appropriate.

This person has a thick Indian accent and identifies himself as Joe Brown. Asked for one of our employees and said that if the employee did not call back to this number he'd be arrested the next day.

Got a call from these guys in my office at Jackson Hewitt, Thick indian accent, Name Pam, and with Acs. Didnt give me any detail, but from the looks these people are scammers

I've been receiving these same phone calls over the last six/seven months.  They have a friend's name and say they're trying to get in touch with them because of a law suit.  The guy told me one time "I hope nothing bad happens".  What a jerk.  My son is a police officer so I gave him the information and he passed it along to homeland security.  What makes these people think they can come into this country and steal from us?  I hope they get caught and go to jail.

i got the same threating phone call at the beging of january from a guy named shawn black saying i owe 545 threaten my job ss card and everything i got scared and pay him 200 so far until i got my son involed and found out its a scame i also was getting other phone calls from other callers with differnt numbers and one who thought iwas another girl i also got one who said i was a peice of s*** and hung up on me so we need to do something about it im tierd of it and i want it to stop

Hello, I received four weird phone calls today from an Officer Jack Wilson about some legal case against me.  The number that I have on my cell phone is 000-000-0000 but what I find to be interesting is that Jack Wilson gave me a different number 646-926-7086.  Okay, I called that number 646-926-7086 and was told to leave a message but the mail box was full and that there was an error.  This Officer Jack Wilson left me to voice messages tell me to call him.  Well, I called and no one answered.  I am willing to work with them if this is legit but something in my spirit is saying this is a scam.  What's up with the accent? Is he from India?

I received a call on my cell phone from (646) 926-7086 at 11:09 a.m. on 02/10/11 threatening me that my Social Security and Driver's License was in jeopardy and I must call Pam Jackson from ACS immediately.  If I didn't I would suffer severe consequences and my Social Security Number and DL would be frozen and I would receive 65 points on my license.  What a scam!!!!!!  This isn't the first time I have received threatening phone calls from different people with mid-eastern accents and fraudelent phone numbers.  I have kept a log of them and the time that they called.  I have contacted the State Attorney General, FTC, Local Police and FBI and reported this criminal activity that is victimizing U.S. citizens.  Our government must put a stop to this invasion of privacy.  I am sure this is off-shore criminals that are threatening the U.S.  They have repeatedly called my at work which is illegal in my state.  Also, you cannot go to jail/prison for not paying a debt in my state.  They do not have any jurisdiction whatsoever to threaten us and we must stand up for everyone who has been a victim of this crime!!!!!  It is so scary if an elderly person would get these calls, because they would pay them and perhaps lose their savings.  It has happen and we must protect the elderly, too.  I hope that these people would read these complaints and now that we are not STUPID and will not pay what they request.  Please beware of these idiots and send them back to their own country!!!!!

I just received this exact same phone call. I let the call go to voicemail since it came up as all 0's on the caller id. I am not going to be calling them back now after reading all of this information.

Take note, that I had to ask him for his number because on my caller ID it comes up as 000000000000

This is a total scam. a person with a heavy indian accent called me severl times in one hour and said that i owed 500 dollars and a legal battled was being brought against me for a payday loan I did not pay. He gave me the last four digits of my social and new my email address....He then told me that they would put me behind bars after I told him that this was a scam. He asked for 500.5 dollars. Please do not fall for this..............

These idiots committed fraud claiming to be the FTC, police officers and amongst other agencies that are government connected.  They are using american names, however the english is so broken I found myself constanly say repeat what you said.  What is so scary for me is they have my personal information. This alone should alert our government to stop computerizing every little thing. Its HACKABLE.  The names I was given were Officer David Young, James Wilson and Dennis .  Oh yes, here is another number they used to call me from 973-929 2279.  I guess I ticked one of them off bad enough for them to slip up.

These people have been trying to collect a debt that i no longer owe, claiming to be from ACS. Thick East Indian accent, different names, all belligerent.  They have harassed me and my friends at home and at work.

I have received several, that is an understatement, tooo many calls from this j***off. Every time he calls, it is always from a different number. He tells me that the matter is time sensitive and that I or my attorney should contact him immediately. He has even called me at work and it got to a point where I simply laughed in his ear. At which time the tone of the phone call changed to him feeling stupid for making the call, and he hung up on me. Guess what happened next, you got it, I started calling him. LOL I have been told that charges were being filed against me, and I told him to send me some legal documentation in reference to this. Of course I have yet to receive any, but the phone calls keep coming. He has even had some other person call me pretending to be a supervisor, and with both of them on the phone, and me laughing hysterically, I told them both to get a life and hung up. I have saved every number they have called from, and I put them under this one name so when they call it will go directly to my voicemail, and their messages are immediately deleted.I am too busy to play with children, and I sure won't was my time with simple adults. Signed: Laughing All The Way To The Delete Button

I would like to know if they have a phone number where I would be able to speak directly with someone. This idiot calls me all the time, so much that I put all of the numbers he calls from in a special file on my cell phone, and whenever he calls it goes directly to voicemail, so I never receive any calls. But I understand what all of you are saying, it is truly annoying.

I got the call form the phone #000000000 and returned the call at 646-926-7086, he said he was officer peter jones with fbi and there was a federal case against me for a loan, i asked what loan, i haven't received any monies, he said tell in court i will be arrested today or tomorow, I asked to speak to the supv. he stated i am the supv. don't call me back your going to jail.   i tried to call back and got the 000000000000000000 phone # this is all bogis

I am so glad that I found this site.  My husband has been receiving threatening phone calls from some place called INTERNATIONAL, from some guy with an Indian accent claiming that they have my husband drivers license number and SSN #.  I guess this is suppose to be some kind of scare tactic to get him to pay into some BS scam by acting as a bill collector.  This particular person calls constantly, hanging up after saying whatever bull crap they have to say and then calling right back with more BS.   I believe this person is the same one mentioned by others of you on here, only now they are using a different bogus company name and other numbers.    (646)448-0336 and(760)978-9553.   I've noted from previous comments the (646) area code and the heavy Indian accent,  how coincidental is that?  BEWARE!!!!!!

I just recieved a call like this from Danny Dawn supervisor i guess from tony prince. Saying i have an outstanding balance i told them i never recieved loan from computer. filled out for one but never recieved one how long have these people been doing this.. I need to know asap.. They said there gonna put me in jail for what.

I kept on getting the same call with the same message from the same guy (heavy indian accent). He told me his name was officer David Young from New York and told me I had to pay a fine of $410 or be sued by a loan company for $6,000. I called him on his bluff and asked him to send me some type of authentic documentation so I could show it to JAG. He said fine and hung up quickly. I have not recieved anything through mail or e-mail for the last week now. This just proves that these scam artists are getting smarter and sneakier. Please be careful.

Guys - all i can say is thanks. I just received the same calls today (646 926 7086 - Alex Cooper was the "name" given). I thought it was very strange that the could not tell me the date the money was depositted into my bank accout. After two hours of going through bank statements for the last 24 months I figured it was a scam but your previous posts have put my mind at ease. Now all to do is to stop the calls.

they called me also with the same script that they were investigating something because i took out a cash advance loan and it was 21 days late ... first off i never took out a loan i did look into getting one and thats probably were they got my info from those companys either sold me information or they were the scam artist thereselves. Anywho they had all my info when they first call they verfied my last 4 digits of my social and i believe he told me the whole number and my liscense number and address and i was like yess but i  should have known better though.. oh and i forgot to mention they also had my bank account information. I just closed my bank account because its not no telling what there about to do with all of that info..and im calling the social security office and someone else someone told me to call. They told me that i took out a loan from cash advance i remember filling out info from them so thats why at first i thought it was okay but then i thought about it..sooo i have this coool android phone that has fake caller id because when i was calling back to get more info they wouldnt answer so i changed my id number and they picked up and i said im so and so calling from cash advance and i also have a agent on the lines whose doing a federal investigating and also tracing the call to see where your located and this phone call is also recorded..and he sounded kinda scared and said umm hmm and said what then hung up

These people keep calling and saying i owe money on past payday loan that was long paid off. When i ask for some type of receipt or info email or texted they threaten me with a lawsuit or jail.

Received call at 7:30.  Thick accent (Indian?) asking for someone (unknown person name) to call them back at this number. Caller ID showed: 00000000000

He also gave a social security number (not mine). I have had these same calls before but from a different location / number. I suppose it's some group of scam artist. The other time it was traced to some stolen loan company records and my funds have been on hold and my home and personal items will be taken away due to a credit card. How did they get my number at work?

Kudos to "Sam" for giving the most intelligent and informative posts on this scam. READ, Bookmark and use as needed:

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-631-456-4041/2

I have been receiving phone calls from this group since late April / early May of 2010.  There is a good chance that they also attempted to contact me roughly two years ago before I entered into Chapter 7 Bankruptcy protection, as I faintly remember hearing the same script more or less.

As others have stated, the callers are difficult to understand.  Generally speaking their command of the English language is quite poor and their accents are hard to follow. At times they will get certain words or phrases mixed up.  It would be funny if it wasn't for the fact that they had:

a) Your SSN
b) Your home address
c) Your work address
d) Your banking info
e) Names, numbers and potentially the addresses of "references"
f) A complete and total lack of ethics and a basic understanding of the FDCPA.  

I have personally filed reports with the following agencies, often with limited (if any) success:

Local Police
my state's Attorney General's office
FTC
FBI
Secret Service

Generally the local police won't be able to help much.  The callers are using a combination of prepaid cell phones and VoIP, making them difficult to trace.  Also at their disposal are various spoofing tactics being implemented to catch people off guard - meaning the number that appears on your Caller ID isn't the number that is calling you for starters.  Without gaining a subpoena for the billing information for the numbers in question, the local police won't be able to get very far.  

My state's Attorney General's office couldn't offer much assistance either.  I received a form letter in the mail that my complaint was received and I would be contacted if they needed additional info.  It was more or less the same information I obtained from the FTC.  They each advised me not to give the individuals over the phone any account information or to authorize payment.  That's just common sense, though.

I never got anything from the FBI, either.  There is a good chance that since I haven't suffered a monetary loss that my concerns are low on the totem pole.  I hate to say this, but that is truly the case. Unless you were in the hole for a $1,000 (or more) you aren't going to get much more than "sorry to hear about your situation, change your phone number and move on".  I seemed to get some activity from the Secret Service.  I spoke with agent Doug Zloto. (Google him, referencing threads like these plus his name and you'll find his number also)  He seemed to care a bit more than the average person, but after giving him access to my Google Voice account, there has been no further activity from him that I'm aware of.

In the meantime I changed the wireless number the fraudsters had access to, they have no direct way to get a hold of me.  (Calls at work have ceased for some reason)  That in turn resulted in my "references" getting phone calls from the crooks.  Here is a word of caution for women that have been getting these calls - don't say anything and just hang up.  The callers are quite abusive towards women callers.  Why?  Possibly the culture.  If they are Indian / Pakistani, women are second class citizens there.  You will be treated like garbage.  This happened to a family member when she was trying her best to be extremely nice over the phone.  

The callers currently attempt to reach me through the female family member and an unused Google Voice number that they managed to find of mine.  I keep the Google Voice number open because, well, I can't delete it yet.  So, about every day, 4-5 times a day for the last week, I get voice messages from them.  It's usually just two full messages though - the other calls are broken up with static or they are attempts to read the script until the callers then screw up.  Really, they are that adamant on getting the script 100% that they will hang up mid-sentence and call back 30 seconds later.  

At this point it's a stalemate with these people.  

1) While they have the lion's share of information on us, they can't really do anything with this information.  

Why?  Think about it.

If they were to ever take funds out of your account without authorization, it's fraud and worse (for them) it is traceable.  That's why they won't do anything with your information, contrary to threats they make.  The money from your account has to go somewhere, and either your bank or a law enforcement agency can determine where the money was routed.  As a bank customer you are protected - you'd get the stolen money back in your account after 7-10 business days and the bank would be temporarily out the funds deducted from your account while they conducted their investigation.  The bank, along with law enforcement, would track down the fraudsters and apprehend them.  The fraudsters do not want to incur the wrath of a bank, just extort money out of you.  Remember that.    

Your authorization would absolve the bank from any and all liability, leaving you holding the bag.  Never give them authorization for anything - for all you know the call is recorded.  

2) We have no information on them.

Seriously, this has been going on at least since 2008, possibly longer than that based on some accounts. (6 years??? Holy crap!)  You would think someone would have slipped up by now.  Sadly, they haven't.  We can continue to grow our own intel on them and compile lists of aliases and phone numbers used, along with paraphrases of scripts used in order to educate other victims.  I'm actually putting together a site now in the meantime where I'll host audio files and lists of previous numbers used.  800notes.com is great, but no two calls are exactly the same.  It would be nice to have a site dedicated to the scam and how it works.

So that's where I am with these calls.  I have suffered no monetary loss, though I have been harassed both at home and at work.  They threaten me with arrest and other "fun" things in order to get me convinced I have to pay them.  My friends and family have been targeted and local and federal law enforcement agencies haven't been able to put a stop to things.  So, it is what it is.  I am out a wireless phone number I had for roughly six years, which is terrible since I was using that line when looking for a new job.  

Whenever I'm bored I spoof my number using Google Voice and return the calls.  I've called them the poster children for birth control, etc.  Basically a lot of nasty things that I'm sure the moderators here wouldn't appreciate me repeating - bottom line nothing nice.  I always like to close saying their parents must be real proud knowing their sons weren't man enough to get real jobs.  That usually gets a decent response.  

Way I see it - they can't do anything to me. (Despite a threat yesterday that my life would be f'ed up)  They can threaten all they want but my credit is frozen and my bank information has changed.  I've changed the only number they could really access me directly on and I've instructed my employer and family to not answer the calls.  I just call and harass them now when I find a few extra seconds.  What's the worst they can do to me?  Charge me with harassment?  

Nope, then they would have to identify themselves.

Oh, and don't bother contacting Cashnet USA about the calls.  Their "fraud" department could honestly care less.  Their "investigation" is merely a means of buerocratic CYA.  I would even be surprised at this point if actual law enforcement is involved in any shape, way or form at this time.  

There is a good chance that the information these crooks have on us was obtained from Cashnet USA - either from a database leak or from a collector that was once authorized by Cashnet to call on delinquent customers.  The other chance is they have access to Teletrack, and pulled all of our information off of there.

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

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.

PS--The FBI sent out a Press Release on this scam just last week:

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 just received a call  01-04-2011 from 646-926-7086 Tony Prince with the same bull...They actually started calling about a year ago for my daughter who started to get a loan on-line but decided not to. Same story they want money or she would be in jail in a few days and also how I should pay it for her. I was told I would have bad karma if I did not..I told them hold on and I would mail them some money. They wanted to give me the information to send the money and I laughed and hanged up. Not born yesterday....They are very aggressive once you can actually understand what they are saying. Losers......

I too just received a message from this 646-926-7086. They get your information if your tried to get a loan online. These companies sale your information. That's why they have your license number social security and everything. This needs to stop because they called my work trying to threaten that they will let my employer know and everything. There needs to be some type of investigation to shop this. FBI, CIA someone!