"Unknown Name"

I got a phone call on my cell phone from two of my  friends telling me that a John Reed an Officer from the
FBI asking for me. And after calling 1-724-512-2120 the guy answer John Reed from the FBI and if I didn't
give him information That a FBI officer would be at my front door to lock me up. But after I talked to one of
my friends she told me that she Google the number listed and it is a scam so be careful.

I got the call as well and it was so scarry but I am new to this country.....so I had a suspicion that this is definitely a scam. This forum really put my mind at peace that it has nothing to do with me. But like all of you...I think these people should be caught and punished.

Same content and phone no. as for all.

I received a call from these people today on my cell phone.  I couldn't understand the message they left, not the name or who were they looking for, very heavy accent but it was threatening me with jail time and saying that they will take legal action if I didn't call back.  So I did call back, the lady that answered the phone, with a heavy accent also, asked for my name.  I said I was not going to give her my name but I was willing to give her my phone number because I wanted to know why were they threatening me.  So I did gave her my phone number and she asked if I was George (Last Name), I asked her if I sounded like a George to her and she hang up the phone on me.  In my case, I believe they have the wrong number, she couldn't provide me with any of my personal information, I have never ever taken a payday loan or any other loan for that matter, except for a car loan.  This is really scary, do you guys think they are calling from overseas? Because the line sounded kind of weird.

Received a call on at work and on my cell phone today from someone saying they are Officer John Smith and this was a legal emergency.  They left a message that if i did not call them back today i will be arrested and would need to seek an attorney.  I dont know if this is true. I do have a payday loan that i owe. Could this be from that.

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

this guy has been calling me and my exboyfriend for a couple of years now. he says his name is "mike mark anderson" or "ken chris adams andrews". he has a thick accent and english is clearly not his native language. he says he is from the "united states investigation bureau". sometimes he says he's a lawyer. or a police officer. once, about a year ago, i decided to mess with him because he was obviously a fraud and he threatened me, saying that he knew where i lived. then, when he called yesterday, he said disturbing sexual things to me. what a creep. i don't know how concerned to be about this, or what to do. his number was 7245122120. i think i just won't talk to him anymore.

I recieved a call today from the number 724-512-2120 and the gentleman with a strong accent saying his name was Officer Roy Wilson said he was from the US bureau of investigation. He had all my information and said that I was being sued by a payday loan company that I applied for but never recieved. He left the number 724-512-2120 and said it was the direct line to his desk. I am worried, he had my banking info plus all my personal information.

I just received a phone call from a company called the US Investigation Bureau of Crime and something else. There phone number is 724-512-2120. These people claim that they deposited money into my bank account (which I can prove is not true) and that I never paid them back. They repeated my bank account number, social, address and all, THEY HAVE ALL MY INFORMATION. I am scared, upset and worried. Can someone please help me, I am scared for my identity. I have the voicemail they left, threatening my job, these are tough times and this type of FRAUD needs to be contained ASAP.

I have been receiving numbers from this number on my cell for weeks. They call at least everyother day. I do not answer as I do not recognize the number. This does not stop them - they continue to call and leave not message. I have registered all our phones (cell and land lines) on the official government do not call list and yet these people got my number!

I recieved a phone call from this number and he stated that his name wasOfficer John (Edwards,Atwood,Advil??)I could not understand with the accent. He said that he was with the Social Security Investigation &Crime Prevention and that I had been named in a legal complaint with minimal information and that I needed to contact  him immediately or there would be legal proceedings against me and that I would need legal counsel and that if I did not call today he wished me good luck in their legal pursuit against me in court. Concerns are that he verified last 4 digits of my ssn#,when I called the number this evenng it was unavailable with a # message seemed very odd to me. So I came home and searched on Bing and glad I did ; I will be reporting this and also notify my employer.

I got the same call, it's a scam and somehow he/they got your information from online.

I received a call from this number at work the other day saying their name was Office John Atwood from the US. Investigation Bureau & Crime Department and they had a legal complaint against another co-worker. I gave the message to my boss and he called the number back. My boss asked where they were located and they said Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He said the legal complaint was criminal and said the name of their company was Johnson & Johnson Law Firm. They did not say anything about debt collection but was posing as a law firm. My boss told him he would be reporting him to the bar and the state attorney generals office.

These people just called me at work posing as Roy Wilson and had all of my personal information.  When I asked for their address and information he would not give it to me.  He "forwarded" me to his "supervisor" who sounded just like him except he was pinching his nose to make his voice sound like someone else.  Too funny.  I just said I'd have my attorney call him and hung up on him.  I hope he doesn't call back.  If so, I'll just say, "Agent so-and-so, this is the call I reported to the FBI.  Please trace it.  That ought to stop them from calling me.

The same thing happened to me!  A guy claiming to be Roy Wilson called me with all my personal information and I told him my attorney would get back with him and then I hung up on him.

also beware that there is an email scam from these people also. They say they will send you 900,000 dollars or more if you send 230.00 to Mr. Mark Atwood.

I too received a call from John Edward...not Mr. Reed. He says he is with the U.S. Investigation Bureau Department of Crime Prevention. The phone call itself is hilarious. The phone fades in and out, and he is demanding that I call them. He calls me at work, so I called the Secret Service and was told to alert my boss of the phone calls, which I did and thankfully have a decent boss who got our security department to block the call from coming in. I also saved the phone number to my cell so that when they call, I know who it is and I don't answer.

I have recieved several calls from this and several other numbers with multiple names - the minute I called and told them that they were foreigners passing themselves off as US Citizens and that the name, phone number and messages left on my phone have been report to the FBI and CIA they repeated my phone number back to me, then abruptly hung up. By the time I had called them back, the phone number had been disconnected or rang busy. Once I do this it usually takes about a month before someone else with a new name and phone number calls me back, then I go through the whole process again.

I got a call from a david wilson- "Finacial Services"
2 numbers: 0524977347: and 38584204664.

1 number is one digit too short and the other is one digit too long.

I recieded a call today from a person with a heavy accent.  He claimed his name was Officer Roy Wilson.  He was demanding money and threatending to have me arrestd for banking fraud because of an un-paid payday loan, (it had been paid)  he kept sayng he could not understand what I was saying (I would not pay him).  I asked him what part of the English language he did not understand.  I then asked in what city he was.  He then said my attorney would be hearing from him, and then hung up.

they claim to be Us Agents, which they are NOT. The is a federal offense, ask them for their badge #, they by law have to and they won't. then tell them if they call you or anyone inquiring about you charges will be pressed.

They are NOT LEGITIMATE debt collectors.

They will not stop until they decide to stop - then they will wait about 6 months and start again with NEW NAMES and false threats

READ MY PREVIOUS POSTING - in the links it states they CALL you at WORK and there is nothing YOU CAN do about it.  Show the articles to your BOSS so work KNOWS they are CROOKS and everyone just needs to tell them they are SCAM and hang up..

I also recieved a call today from a man identifying himself as Officer Roy Wilson of the US Investigation Bureau at 724-512-2120.  when I asked for an address he told me he could noy give it to me.

What can I do to stop these calls?? he is now calling my work!!!!!!!!!!

I got a call today from a man claiming he was officer roy wilson and he had my personal information and said that my mother was in trouble. He then started to sexual harasse me on the phone. how do i report him cause my state police said there is nothen they can do

THEY ARE NOT REAL DEBT COLLECTORS AT ALL - JUST CROOKS - THE BBB CANNOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT THEM!   REPORT THEM TO THE GOVERNMENT/POLICE AGENCIES BELOW!



PROTECT YOURSELF!  IMPORTANT INFORMATION YOU MUST READ ? HOW THE SCAM WORKS AND WHAT AGENCIES TO REPORT THEM TO

LONG RUNNING AND KNOWN SCAM ? ALL OVER INTERNET AND NEWS FOR ALMOST 2 YEARS NOW


Fake Debt Collectors ? Terrorizing Consumers

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


MORE ON FAKE DEBT COLLECTORS
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-904-425-9141
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/call4action/17285785/detail.html
http://www.800helpfla.com/newsletter/2008/092008.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/01/ks_debt_collection.html  

http://consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/07/video_bill_collector_scam.html  NEWEST CONSUMER ALERT ABOUT THIS SCAM WITH VIDEO!  

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

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


http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-771-9249   Scammer posting here as GARY and GARRY JONES
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-860-4509   Scammer posting here as Mike Henderson
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-212-500-0839   Scammer posting here as Ricky
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-201-244-7722   Scammer posting as Carole, David Brown and Amanda
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-626-200-4646   Scammer false postings at this new number as silshan kanniue and Tina ? preparing a new number to use.
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-424-354-4270   Scammer false postings as Rose
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-785-4479   Scammer posting as Robert
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-909-327-4870   Scammer false postings as Marry
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-646-274-1143   Scammer false postings as Karen Miller, Chichi and Tom Little
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-561-300-8018   Scammer false postings as Marco Polo (real original)
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-226-7488   Scammer false postings as SAM, David S
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-706-7463   Scammer false postings as George
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-209-349-7382   Scammer false postings as Towanda Robinson, Shannon Walsh, Jack Dawson and Cynthia
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-760-514-0132   scammer false postings as Suzy01, Johanna Hall, Cindie McMellon, Michael Dublin, Mark Williams, Carol and Rio   (800notes removed some of the scammers posts because the all came from the SAME IP ADDRESS)
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-209-797-2212   scammer false posting as Jaison Connar
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-707-401-4056   Scammer false posting as John Carner, KSR
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-650-241-4604   Scammer false postings as jhon and Kevin
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-708-401-0535   Scammer false posting here as JHON
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-518-212-0219  Scammer false posting as Prince Christian, Arpit
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-718-705-8669  Scammer false postings as Alicia
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-707-633-2789  Scammer false postings as Rojer, Minni, Rhone, Smith, Lisa Jack, Julie, Sean, and Carol. ? preparing a new number to use to steal money
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-205-294-6271  Scammer false posting as Thomas Jhonson
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-661-263-4011  Scammer false posting ?ILLEGALLY claiming to be an attorney Charles F Robinson
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-321-684-4117  Scammer false posing as Harry Patt
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-518-565-0306  Scammer false posting as Wellvishers

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

Did you get any information about this company.I would like to report them to the BBB.

I also got this call today  and I was wondering if this was a valid #. The have my personal information and Im not sure what this is concerning.

got called yesterday and today from someone calling himself John or Ron Reed  Reeves saying he's with the U.S. Investigation Service and that there is a legal problem that concerns me and that I need to call him back. He left the info on my voicemail