Got a call from this number too, didnt answer, and no message was left. Weird

Got multiple calls from this number. The two times I did answer it was static-y and jumbled and I couldn't understand any words at all. From the tone of it though it did sound like some sort of sales call or survey.

I got a call from these ppl twice. 1st time i didnt answer and they left a msg but i didnt check it. they called again for the 2nd time a few mins ago I picked up. a guy with a middle eastern acient named Marc Green asked me to verify my SSN. I asked him y and he said he works for a finincial Law Dept and he has a case against my name and SSN. Then he asked me to verify my SSN again and he knew the last 4 digits of my SS. I still did not asnwer him instead I asked him why he was calling me. He said I had been soliciting money online thur my employer and they knew where I worked. I told him that this information was NOT correct and that they have the wrong person. Marc then said he was going to transfer me to his manager. Another guy came on the line (it seemed like he handed him the phone no signed of the phone called being transferred) and he said the same things as Marc and told me that I will need a lawyer because I am being sued. I told him that this information wasnt true and he replied then I guess we will see you in court. So at this point I was upset and asked him was this some kind of scam.... Yes I did... and he said no. Then I asked well when are you going to send me something in the mail saying that Im being sued and he tells me that I committed and crime and I do not deserve anything in the mail. CAN U BELIEVE THE NERVE OF THESE PPL!!!! I asked him for his name and his companies named but he was hesitant to give it to me. Then he told me his name was Chris and I had to ask for his last name!!!! so he finally said Chris Roberson (probably fake) and that he works for Morgan & Assoc. in Cali. and then I heard some strange noise in the background and Chris says I gotta go and hangs up on me. I just checked my voicemail and the msg they left yesterday was very forceful and they gave me a number to call them back and i googled it and found this site. I know this is a scam and these ppl are fake but its very unsettling knowing that anyone can get your personal information like that. Something needs to be done!!!!

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I also got a call from this number, Marc is thw guy that called and he says im being sued also... he had my last 4 # ss and my email address.. it was very hard to heard him cause of his accient  and the noise in the background. I ask how did they gave my cell number and i was told not worry about that and that i need to give my information to them RIGHT NOW..... i told thwm to go f off and stop calling.... but they still call...dont know aht to do

Someone called me from this number, but left no message. not sure who it is?

ive spent the whole day calling them back plus i had all my fb friends call them and ask if they would like to pet my dog....poor guy said he was shutting the number down......i feel so sorry for him. Guess he messed with the wrong person this time!

Well I haven't heard from Mr. Garcia in about two weeks.  Now I have an officer Allen calling from Federal Legal law officers.  Same oh crap.  I screamed at the top of my lungs in the phone the second time the called.  The third time they called I told him I new it was a scam and that he has been reported.  Needless, to say the nut job called again today.  I wish they could shut them down.

I have these same people calling me.  Last time they called it was a Jose Garcia this time I can't even make the guys name out.  He said the exact same thing.  I called the operator to get his business and of course they are not listed.  The reason I am posting this to your message is because they are using a new number it is 512-600-6497.  Thank you for all the information you have shared it really put my mind to ease.

Hi Joe,

I called them back and left a threatening message telling them to never ever call me again and that I had reported them.  Well I got another call today, however, this time the land line was located in Austin, Texas.  I called the operator and were told that there was no business listed for this number.  The guy was middle eastern and use a different name.    The number they were calling from was 512-600-6497...

do not call on this no.......... this is a scam calling friom india                in bomby

dont call on this no ...............this persone calling from india .............n    collect mony USA persone .....this is a scam ..........

The person who's name is Marc. Is selling 20 coachella tickets through craigslist. "Watch out"
This is a copy of the listing.

COACHELLA GENERAL ADMISSION
Date: 2011-01-27, 11:39AM

20 tickets, this is WIHTOUT the shuttle pass. Super good deal considering they are sold out, buy them now and resell them in a month for triple. these will go fast, NO emails, phone calls only!
714 333 2439 ask for Marc.



Location: Orange County
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Original URL: http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/tix/2183363350.html

Thank you so much for the post, I was scared to death.  I have been sick and didn't know what in the world he was talking about.  I tried to call him back today and let him know he has been reported to law enforcement  However, I got no answer.  He even called my brother at work who just so happens to work for a large law firm here.  So Mr. Jose Garcia better not be calling me again....

super useful, these guys are a bunch of f****.  i'm gunna spend some time harassing them with some buddies.

Thank you for your post... it was very helpful

Got a call at my office saying I took out a loan and did not pay it back.  Stated that I owed 405.00 and needed it paid now.  They threatened to call my supervisors, they had a heavy middle eastern accent and said that they were going to take me to court in Annihiem county court.  They said I had not paid the account for 1 yr under the Payday advance.  They used the scam of I shut down my checking and i deliberately stopped paying.  I got wise when they asked me about what an ACh was and that I shut my account down in Feb 10.  I told them to send me an email to get this resolved and I would call them back in the in the morning.  I called the 714-333-2439 when i got home and got no answer, went on line and fond this out.

This number called and claimed to b a cop. Its a fraud and u can notget arrested.

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

caller threatened me stating i borrowed money over the internet and did not pay it back. never did borrow any money. Had personal information on me. Quite uncomfortable this call. Foreign accent. Bad reception. Sounded like 2 freakin idiots that need to get a real job.

I found out what this number is. Appararenty a friend of mine used me as a reference on a account of some kind and they are calling me to find out where he is living . It is nothing but a recovery company acting like a legal company. These guys are totally rude. Dont answer the phone.

Got a call from this number and dude who called had a distinct middle eastern accent..called number back,dude said his name was jose Garcia..hung up called back dude said his name was Matt Johnson calling from superior court in Anaheim Cali @ 4pm on thanksgiving eve?!?!? Really?!?!!! Come on!!

I received a call from this number claiming to be from the Financial Law Department.  The man told me that there is a legal case against my name and social security number.  DO NOT CALL THEM!  It is a complete hoax!

Repeated calls, all hours, if no answer, never a message.  Everytime we block the call, they call using another number.  Who is this?

I received a call from this number too.  They didn't leave a message.  When I called I called it back they answered, "Hello, this is Mark with DISH promotions."  I assume they are selling DISH satellite.