They said that I won a prize and they were wanting to send it to me from Facebook administration its money and they want to wire it to me at my bank what do I do ????

Got this call also asking for credit card information. Also with a strong Indian accent. Do not give out credit card info!!!!!

yah they keep calling me telling me there going to put me in jail  and ive got charges put on me # 7076669613 keep harassing me on my phone and now calling my employer telling my boss that im going to jail

I recd a very rude caller from India even though he said that he was from the state investigation department threatening me that If I didn't wire them money that my SS# and bank account number would not longer be valid and that I owed 8000.00.  They wanted the money wired to them to stop the above mentioned action against me.  They said that it was regarding a payday loan from Cash Now which I have never dealt with before.  These people are corrupt and trying to scam innocent people out of money they don't owe.  When I challenged the fact that they were calling from India they became very angry and called me retarted and discontinued the call.  Now when I try to call them back, they won't answer the phone.  These people need to scam their own people in their own company!!

Phantom Debt Collectors From India Harass Americans, Demand Money

By BRIAN ROSS (@brianross) , CINDY GALLI and MATTHEW MOSK (@mattmosk)
June 7, 2012

Hundreds of thousands of cash-strapped Americans have been targeted by abusive debt collectors operating out of overseas call centers suspected of links to organized crime in India, law enforcement officials told ABC News.

The calls are part of a massive scam, one that appears to target struggling Americans -- especially those who have gone online to apply for payday loans. Armed with personal information from those pilfered applications, the threatening callers, who claim to be debt collectors poised to initiate legal action, have managed to pry loose millions of dollars from their victims -- even when the victims never owed money in the first place.

"This is what we call a phantom debt collection scam," said Jon Leibowitz, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. "It's a very pernicious and innovative new fraud."

Working through call centers in India, the commission estimates that the criminals have dialed at least 2.5 million calls, persuading already cash-strapped victims to send them more than $5 million. Some have reported receiving dozens of calls per hour. They are victims like Cindy Gervais, of New Orleans, who went online for a quick loan when her husband's car was hit by a driver who didn't have insurance.

Even though she paid the loan off, the so-called "phantom" debt collectors with Indian accents began calling to say she still owed money.

He more or less told me that if I didn't pay, they were going to have someone on my doorstep to arrest me," she told ABC News. "And that they were going to contact my place of business, and tell them what kind of person I am."

At first, she said she resisted. Then the calls became more frequent, and started to ring on her cell phone, and at the grocery distribution company where she had worked for 27 years.

"I was more or less was in panic mode because he told me there would be someone before noon at my place of business to arrest me and take me to jail," she said tearfully. "So I agreed to pay him."

After receiving scores of complaints, investigators with the FTC said they began tracking the calls, and following the payments. They alleged the payments led them to a California company run by an Indian-American named Kirit Patel, and that such scams would not be possible without American front men.

"I would say that all roads of this scam, or many of the roads of this scam, lead back to Mr. Patel," said the FTC's Leibowitz.

ABC News tracked Patel for weeks, from the suburbs of San Francisco to Austin, Texas.

Patel refused to talk. But his lawyer, Mark Ellis, said he believes it is far too early to pass judgment on his client. Ellis, a Sacramento-based attorney, told ABC News that Patel was hired for a nominal fee to set up an American shell company, and had no idea what the call centers in India were doing.

"I can tell you, he was as snookered by the people in India as anybody," Ellis said. "He's a 69-year-old man who is nearing his retirement who thought all he had to do was set up some corporations and everything was on the up and up. He's completely dismayed that he has become the lightning rod of this entire problem."

A close friend of Patel's also defended him in a brief interview at his home, saying Patel was not trying to defraud anyone -- he was just an unwitting, bit player in a larger scheme.

"If Mr. Patel was just a cog in the wheel he seems to have been a pretty big cog," Leibowitz said. "It is clear that Patel was integrally involved with this scam."

Leibowitz points to thousands of pages of financial and phone records gathered by the FTC and filed as part of a civil case brought against him in the U.S. District Court in Sacramento last month. When FTC lawyers sought to freeze his assets and prevent his business from continuing to operate, Patel responded by invoking his rights against self-incrimination. His lawyer told ABC News he has had to be careful in how he responds to the allegations in civil court "because there is a potential criminal action," but that Patel maintains the allegations against him are false.

Federal investigators said the phantom debt collection operation that allegedly benefitted from Patel's assistance was one of several that all trace back to the same small town in Western India called Ahmedabad. Callers use technology to make it appear that the calls originate inside the U.S. Victims provided ABC News with recordings of dozens of the calls, and many of the thickly accented callers appear to be reading off a script.

"Subpoenas have been readied, and Monday morning you're going to be picked up from your home," one caller says on a victim's voicemail. "And you have children. Don't worry about your children. We have a childcare department to take care of the children."

"You will be behind bars for six months," said another caller. "And once you go behind bars, you will lose your job. Once you are behind the bars, you won't get a single drop of water."

William Peerce Howard, a Tampa attorney who represents victims of harassment from debt collectors, said it takes an especially twisted criminal to use threats and coercion to pry money from someone who is already struggling financially

"These guys really are the most visible villains in America today," he said. "They make a living scaring people."

Mark Merola, of Florida, said he just panicked when the caller told him he might be arrested at the deli where he works in a Florida retirement community.

"I was nervous. I didn't want to embarrass myself, my family," he said. He used his debit card to pay the collector $576.

Afterwards, he says he realized "how stupid I was."

"It just happened so fast," he said. "I got scared."

Leibowitz said he hopes with more attention, future potential targets of the scam will recognize red flags before they turn over any money.

If callers say they are from the police, consumers should know that law enforcement officers do not collect debt for private parties. If the caller is speaking with a thick Indian accent, but calls themselves by a names such as Officer Mike Johnson, that should be a tip off. And if they're calling 40 times in two hours, that's another red flag. "Legitimate debt collectors, legitimate pay day lenders don't do those sorts of things," he said.

Merola said he would like to see anyone involved in the scam prosecuted aggressively.

"There's no place in society for these people," he said.

I receive a call today asking if I was Debora, he told me that I owe their client money that I fell to pay back and that I either pay the money or someone will be at my door to lock me up.  I told him to send whomever you want to my house they may need help leaving from there.  These people think that because they mention the law or because they mention lawyer or jail, you will jump at their command. I told them don' t call my phone anymore try your scam on someone that will listen to the s_ _ t. I going to the sheriff dept tomorrow to file a report due to them having my work # and ssn#

Same thing happen tome today

Thanks you all for the scam reports! They need to be taken down.

The FBI is investigating this because their is a front man living here in America (who is from India) - The money initially goes to him in his American account and then he feeds the money to his "operators" who are located in India.

ABC News link: http://gma.yahoo.com/phantom-debt-collectors- ... topstories.html

Report them to the FBI because it's still under investigation and there has been lawsuits filed against the indian guy who is living here in America.

To file with the FBI: https://tips.fbi.gov/

To file with the FTC: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

They're still working on this case, but since the front man lives here in America and ABC went to his house and all the money initially goes to his account, this might be just the loophole that the FBI will need to get these folks stopped

Now they're calling me from a new number, 805-876-5159. When I picked up the phone and said "Hello" they instantly said "I'm calling to speak with Amy xxx(my last name)." Then I confirmed my name is Amy. Then they instantly went on to claim "I'm calling because I'm an officer of the law". I stated "ok, how may I help you". Then he stated with his heavy indian accent that he is an "officer of the law and works on behalf of a law firm". I instantly interrupted him and stated that "an officer of the law works at the police department & the FBI. Officers of the law don't work at law offices making phone calls to people about debts that they owe". Then he said "Excuse me". I repeated myself and stated once again, "an officer of the law doesn't work at law firms personally making phone calls to people who may or may not owe a debt, A officer of the law works at police departments or FBI offices" Then this guy with a heavy indian accent instantly hung up on me, lol! This is crazy. They are such scam artists and liars. I guess they must've got wind of it after all the reports I filed against their other number being "707-666-9613" I originally called Telekenex & then filed with the phone company their with, I filed with the FTC & I filed with the FBI.gov. - I called to check on the FBI report and apparently these folks in India have been going around doing this with other phone numbers scamming people. To submit a complaint/tip to the FBI about these fraudsters go to https://tips.fbi.gov/ and when you file your report online and be descriptive about what occurred between you and the scammer who called you.

Apparently the FBI is working on this and the direct link on their website to the "payday loan scam" is http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/paydayloanscam_120710/

If you want to call their field office is in DC at (202) 324-3691

They are calling this an extortion scam related to people who applied for payday loans.

Report any calls you get to the FBI because, although the us government can't "stop" them, with enough reports they can do more eventually and can work with other goverments to work toward eventually getting an effective resolution in place.

Kushwaha

If a Indian accented man (little boy) calls u from this number do not be worried because it is a scam they only come over here to cause trouble. And for the man (little boy) that called me i retraced this number and if u call me again me and my attorney will see u in court so go ahead call me... And thank you Telekenex for your time and tellin me about this ridiculous scam.

I too keep getting calls from this idiot.  I have the telephone number and will submit to Attorney General's Office and they can take it from here.  These guys are a HUGE scam and threaten to send someone out to arrest me.  These people are scammers and need to be stopped immediately.

They been calling my job all day while I was out at a conference. When I got in the office a few minutes ago my colleagues were all looking at me like they were suspicious of me. I asked what was going on and one by one my co-workers were telling me that someone had been calling all day claiming to be from law enforcement that if I didn't call them back they would have me taken to jail. I called the number that the office receptionist took down, which was 707-666-9613" and a guy with a heavy indian voice answered the phone saying that I needed to furnish my debit card info. and pay $700 to avoid legal action. I asked them who they were and who do I owe $700 to. Instead of answering me like a professional debt collector, the guy repeated in a heavy indian accent "You better sign this form I will fax to you and fill out your debit information to pay us the $700 you owe or you go to prison" His english was very broken and it didn't seem legit so I looked up their phone number and saw all these fraud postings. I told my colleagues about it and told them that they must've bought my name and contact info. from some source other than me because I had no idea who they were and they can verify the creditor I owe the debt to. Anyway, my boss realized that these people must've gotten my name and contact info. from some sort of list and they're going around pretending to be law enforcement to scam money out of people. After this had been happening all day, my boss was ready to fire me thinking I was up to no good. Anyway, I'm glad I did my research on this number because in an economy like this I cannot afford to lose my job over crazy scam artists making threats about me to my colleagues like this.

Telekenex support department is 888-469-5100 and you can select Option 2.  I opened a "support ticket" informing this phone service provider that the number "707-666-9613" has over 4,000 scam/fraud warnings against them online. Additionally, I informed Telekenex of the conversation I had with the someone claiming to be named "Mark Smith" with a heavy indian accent threatening to throw me in jail if I don't send them money and how they have my social, full name, place of work and contact #'s and won't stop calling me with the aforementioned threats in an attempt to defraud me of my hard earned money. I spoke to a woman by the name of Donna and she said she's going to have her legal department look into it. She also stated how she has gotten other calls today regarding this same situation. Please call 888-469-5100, option 2 and ask for "Donna" and inform her of what these scum bags are doing so they can know that shut down the number.

Thanks for the info. and advice. I took your advice and called, but I think you put a "typ-o" on the contact #, but no worries. I googled Telekenex and their support department is 888-469-5100 and you can select Option 2.  I opened a "support ticket" informing this phone service provider that the number "707-666-9613" has over 4,000 scam/fraud warnings against them online. Additionally, I informed Telekenex of the conversation I had with the someone claiming to be named "Mark Smith" with a heavy indian accent threatening to throw me in jail if I don't send them money and how they have my social, full name, place of work and contact #'s and won't stop calling me with the aforementioned threats in an attempt to defraud me of my hard earned money. I spoke to a woman by the name of Donna and she said she's going to have her legal department look into it. She also stated how she has gotten other calls today regarding this same situation. Anyone getting fraudulant calls, please call 888-469-5100, option 2 and ask for "Donna" and inform her of what these scum bags are doing so they can know that shut down the number. Donna's Direct number is 415-287-1104

I get a call every week or so from someone who has an indian accent and they always say their name is some form of American name, like John Smith, Mark Smith, etc. After the first time, I automatically figured it was a scam because I had already paid off my debts after 15 grueling years of being in debt, so I knew instantly it was a scam because I never got not one letter in the mail and their first call to me was to automatically threaten a lawsuit against me after 5 seconds of talking to me. First of all, a legitimate debt collector would be able to reference the specific debt you owe. These scammers are "vague" when it comes to explaining the evidence for the debt you owe while being very specific about reading out loud how they know your personal information such as social, birth date, place of employment, etc. If they know all that and are a legitamate debt that I owe, they would be able to be specific about the debt such as the date I received the loan, the creditor's name that I owe the money to, the specific amount that I borrowed, and how I received it. If they can tell me the creditors name, the specific amount that I owe and the date I received it, I can then confirm whether or not I owe the debt. However, they give no specific details surrounding the debt that I owe other than the fact that they "need" me to send them $500 in order to avoid legal action. What bull crap. Now they're calling me from the contact # 707-666-9613.

At this point in time, whenever I get one of these calls, once I hear the indian accent I instantly ask them to hold for a few seconds and then when I return to the phone I state to them out loud "According to federal law, I have to inform you that this phone call is being recorded so that I can use this as evidence with the FBI case that I working on filing against you all for financial fraud. Furthermore, since I'm not a law enforcement officer, I have to inform you that while we're on the phone, your location is being traced. To start off, I will need to know your full name, your position with your company, your company name, the name of the creditor that you're representing, the..." Usually I hear dead silence after I tell them the call is being recorded and sometimes they don't hang up until after I inform them that the phone call is being traced, lol! One time they tried to talk over me but I just kept my composure and they didn't hang up until I started to inform them that by federal law, a debt collector is required to furnish the name of the creditor and evidence of the debt owed.

I get a call every week or so from someone who an indian accent and they always say their name is some form of American name, like John Smith, Mark Smith, etc. After the first time, I automatically figured it was a scam because I had already paid off my debts after 15 grueling years of being in debt, so I knew instantly it was a scam because I never got not one letter in the mail and their first call to me was to automatically threaten a lawsuit against me after 5 seconds of talking to me. First of all, a legitimate debt collector would be able to reference the specific debt you owe. These scammers are "vague" when it comes to explaining the evidence for the debt you owe while being very specific about reading out loud how they know your personal information such as social, birth date, place of employment, etc. If they know all that and are a legitamate debt that I owe, they would be able to be specific about the debt such as the date I received the loan, the creditor's name that I owe the money to, the specific amount that I borrowed, and how I received it. If they can tell me the creditors name, the specific amount that I owe and the date I received it, I can then confirm whether or not I owe the debt. However, they give no specific details surrounding the debt that I owe other than the fact that they "need" me to send them $500 in order to avoid legal action. What bull crap. Now they're calling me from the contact # 707-666-9613.

At this point in time, whenever I get one of these calls, once I hear the indian accent I instantly ask them to hold for a few seconds and then when I return to the phone I state to them out loud "According to federal law, I have to inform you that this phone call is being recorded so that I can use this as evidence with the FBI case that I working on filing against you all for financial fraud. Furthermore, since I'm not a law enforcement officer, I have to inform you that while we're on the phone, your location is being traced. To start off, I will need to know your full name, your position with your company, your company name, the name of the creditor that you're representing, the..." Usually I hear dead silence after I tell them the call is being recorded and sometimes they don't hang up until after I inform them that the phone call is being traced, lol! One time they tried to talk over me but I just kept my composure and they didn't hang up until I started to inform them that by federal law, a debt collector is required to furnish the name of the creditor and evidence of the debt owed.

They have called me like 10 times...they don't stop, a***oles Told me the same story, 3 criminal counts against me, the even said they would send someone to my house...lololololololol...really? My two German Shepards would love company.....hehehe

These people that are calling are using a business that provides numbers for any one or company looking for a local number.  I called the service provider and let them know what was happening maybe to have them pull the number so if you want to do the same and file a complaint the information is down below.

CF COMMUNICATIONS, LLC DBA TELEKENEX - CA  (415) 289-1104

Last I checked, the US cannot *tell* another country what to do.

These dumb a***s called me saying that he was from the California State Attorneys Office and there was 3 criminal charges pending in my name and SSI number, I asked what location of the State Attorneys office he was calling me from he said New York.  What a freaking dumb a**.  Really?  Why and no one in government done nothing to stop India from calling and doing this?  I have contacted several office in government and get the same run around.  This is Bull.

It's always some one from India with a heave accent, such bull I always have fun with the moron that calls and the result is they hang up on me.

Phone call keep continue harassing me and threading me that he gonna arrested me if I don't pay . What a low life ppl .

He make me sign damn paper and fax him and $200 dollar but after my husband investigated them its scam . Call the cop and report this scam .

they keep callng me and threatening me and wont give me any info on this so called money I owe for Bank of America said I have to pay them first then they will send me documents lmao yeah right, I called and reported them to Bank of America who by the way said they have no ideal who I am so how can I owe them money and these folks are getting the info on line if u ever applied regardless if u got it or not, all a scam and full of crap. I cuzzed them out and said i would sue them if they call again, lets see how long that works lmao
and they used mutlti numbers, same man with heavy indian accent

Received a call from these same people and what a scam I just act like I do not understand them and it pisses them off lol..

I was called a 7/13/2012. About 3 Hours ago they called me. This is the 3rd time they have called me. The first time they told me that I took out a payday loan, and that I got the deposit in my checking account, verified my information, but where they messed up was that they told me it would need to be settled in court, and I could end up doing 5 days in Jail for it, or I could pay them a penalty fee to settle the whole thing and the charges would be dropped. Here is what they were telling me I must pay. $8000.00!!!!! Um NOO First off I had no cash advance made, 2nd I never got a deposit they claimed I gotten because I had not taken out any advance. WOW.. 2nd time they called I was just barely waking up. Same voice telling me I was being investigated Before I let them finish I verified it was the same people and told them they were full of s***. The third time today I verified it was them again, and they couldn't even tell me what charges I was facing, but wanted to only give me a number to contact to settle it. I HUNG UP. SCAM!!!!

received a phone call on 07/13/2012 just a few minutes ago (7:30pm) in Mi.saying I have 3 law suites aganist me and when I told them to prove to me that I do they said it dont work that way so I told them to @#$%$#@off and hung up .been scamed to many times

They called and said I was charged with theft over some payday loan. They obviously stole my information online. They said I could resolve the 3 felony charges over the phone by paying them now. I told them I would speak to an attorney about the matter and they immediately hung up on me. Obviously a scam. I think I will call them back a million times lol.