This is a criminal extortion scam operating out of India. They are making the calls utilizing VOIP and the names of legitimate firms to make it appear the calls are originating from within the US. There is NO "company" or "debt" and you will NOT be arrested. They are harvesting and/or buying consumers' personal identifying information from unscrupulous websites like the one you filled out an application with, and you need to do whatever you can to protect yourself. This includes: Notifying the FTC: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/, placing fraud alerts with all three credit bureaus, notifying your bank and employer and letting these criminals know you are aware they are attempting to extort money for a non-existent debt and have alerted the authorities.

ABC News released an investigative report on this scam in June. The FTC has indicted one of its ringleaders for criminal fraud:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/phantom-debt-co ... 16512428&page=1

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/08/bgm.shtm

I also just got a Email from these fools! If they think for a second I am crazy enough to pay them a dime they are crazy! I have never nor would i ever take a pay day loan. It's a scam

I just got this email from a guy named anthony Gibbs saying he's a legal attorney with cashnet USA saying if I don't get back to them they will put me in jail and what not but there is no number. Has this happen to anyone else?

The area code is Colorado Springs, CO. I called him back and he said he worked for the FBI, then I questioned that, THEN he says he works for the attorney generals office, THEN he said without knowing my name I have 3 counts of check fraud. It's BS, it's fake, report them to the FTC they will stop.

This same guy keeps calling me and I send him to the voicemail everytime. I don't understand how he got my number and true enough, I've had payday loans before, but I believe they may have gotten my information through a third party deal. I need to know how to report them as well and I've also never received anything in the mail. He keeps telling me on my voicemail not to disregard his message and that I'll be sorry if I did. At first he told me there was a lawsuit against me or something like that. I'm going to call back to see if I can get some results. This doesn't make any since. I mean really, make your money the LEGAL way! Sheesh!

What do I do with these phone calls? who should I contact? everything I have read has been happening to me from this same number all day today, well all morning so far.
Do I report the number? how do I get them to stop? I realize a change of number may have to happen, but I feel so stupid because I have no idea what to do.

I also have been recieving calls from this person with a heavy indian accent telling me that i owe money that i know i dont and wont stop calling very rude how do i get them to stop calling i know this a scam because they they wont send me proof the bad part is that they know my cell number am considering reporting them to the local police.

The area code is Colorado Springs, CO. I called him back and he said he worked for the FBI, then I questioned that, THEN he says he works for the attorney generals office, THEN busted told me that he is  sheriff officer...They are nothing but a piece of s*** mother f****r'sssss ...
    They are f****ng scammer nothing else if they legimate  then why don't they sent documentation
as per FDCA ( Fair Debt Collection Act ) chp 9 section 19 they need to sent something in Mailing address
ask for documentation if not  then report  to Attorney General, local secret service field agent and Local Police Station regarding extortion ......  don't pay any money without having document and just say f*** offff.....

The guy that calls has a very hard to understand accent with broken English. He has left messages to the level of harrasment! I have received over 25 calls and 9 messages in one day, with messages staying he is a attorney and law enforcement personal. Threatening legal action, and jail, etc. if you answer or call them half the time no one speaks. Last time I called and reached them they said there was a lawsuit against me and he was a attorney in Colorado, Springs. The guy speaks English so poorly that he cannot possibly represent any legitimate law firm in this country.  No one in their right mind would have him manning the phones.  It has to be a scam. Foreign accent, said they were in California (haha). Sure it is a scam.  I reported to the Better Business Bureau and the FTC.  Everyone should report them.

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
The Department of Law and Investigation (F****ng Scammers...)
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.
1-719-219-8444
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.

SAMETHING IS HAPPENING TO ME THEY KEEP CALLING ME WHAT SHOULD I DO,,,,

A man claiming to be officer Sam Brown with The Department of Law and Investigation. claims that he is going to file an affidavit for financial fraud against me claiming that I owe a payday loan which I did not take out for $400 and I now owe $895.85.  He also uses the telephone nr. 719.219.8444 and claims to work with Oakview Law Firm, in CA.  I called Oakview Law Firm 800.530.6854 and gave all three names of men with inidan accents who have been calling me Sam Brown, David Forster and Anthony Don and the manager said that nobody by those names works for them.

I will place a consumer complaint with The Attorney General, local secret service field agent and Local Police Station regarding extortion.  I warned both my bank and employer about the scam.  This is a major scam please do not let them scare you into sending them money.  Tell them that you are going to report them to the police, attorney general and federal trade commission.  Do Not Send Money.

yes the same exact thing when i ask about the tranaction they tell me in August they argue with my 13yr old grandaughter. Please beware of them.

Thank you for this message the same thing happened to me. We are getting calls from them.. Stay away!!

Same company keeps calling for months now, suspiciously every rep has the last name of Smith first names vary and has a very heavy Indian accent, claiming they are an officer with the "Dept of Law & Investigations".  Keeps telling me I owe money to "Cash Advance" Co., which I know I don't.  They cannot provide dates of the transactions, only says a deposit occured in August which I know is untrue and my bank records verify that it never occured. They ask me to send them my bank records and I refused since I don't know the legitimacy of thier company.  I've asked for written documentation several times since this has started and they refuse to provide it. They also threaten to send the FBI to arrest me for fraud if I didn't give them money on the day of the calls. I've told them on several occasions not to call and if there is such a case to mail me the info with dates & proof that I authorized such a transaction(which never comes), but they call.  They call from multiple numbers, some really odd(ex 1-017-192-198444) multiple times of the day, as well as my work number and family members.  For some reason they know my Social Security number, bank account number (which I had to close after my institution investigated to verify there was no transaction), contact numbers(cell, work, & family), & employment info. I verified that thier main # was 719-219-8444 after arguing with one of thier "officers" for it, then called it back to make sure and it was the same company.  FTC VERIFIED THAT THIS IS A SCAM DO NOT SEND THEM MONEY