TRUTH: VICTOR ANTHONY BONAVITA IS A CRIMINAL (SSN# is 082-50-6657, DOB is 11-16-57, DL# is B513-861-57-416-0). TRUTH: DANIELLE MARIE RODRIGUEZ IS A CRIMINAL (SSN# 094-56-8579, DOB 07-24-75, DL# R362-173-75-764-0). BEWARE: DO NOT RENT,,SELL,,OR CONDUCT ANY KIND OF BUISNESS WITH THESE PRICKS!!! THESE CLOWNS ARE NOTHING BUT SCUM OF THE EARTH CALL TARPON POLICE IF YOU SEE THEM!! **They will squat in your rental **They will lie to you **They will steal from you **Victor is a habitual Oxy freak and traffic offender, he cant even talk very well,,,too many pills in his PHAT mouth,,,and not a very good salesman for US FEDERAL CONTARCTING CORP, TARPON SPRINGS, FL. (BILL WILLINGHAM AND RONALD PERRETT) Danielle loves to write hot checks at Winn Dixie (wherever else) and has been punked by Victor since day 1 (nice age gap ya?ll) and Victor loves to tell stories (lies!!), he couldn?t even read a script for a telemarketing job?.ha ha ha. they drive a white camaro (1999),,with an Italian pride license plate on the front bumper (LMFAO,,,what a joke!!!!). They steal, lie, thieves. They live in Tarpon Springs,,,,so here is your BOLO!!!! Victor,,if you are that smart and know who this is,,,,,,,,come see me!!!! BOTTOMLINE: These phucks are total losers,,,do not even dewal with them!! if you see them,,,call them what they are.............CRIMINAL THUGS!!! Hey Victor & Danielle,,,,NOT SO SMART ARE WE!!! Tons of info to spread around on you bums. Go back to NY and sit in that sesspool of filth!!!! Hey Danielle,,,I'll let WILLIAM TROVATO know who your hanging out with and what a loser you have become!!!!

This guy uses lots of different names, he calls from all different phone numbers, same heavy accent and voice. he could be know as roger, alex, who knows how many different names. don't let this guy bully you around, he tries to use your personally info to extort money from you. Don't be fooled by this con artist. he'll call your work, your cell, your home. he goes quite a long ways to get you to send him money on a prepaid card. if he was a debt collector he would be doing shady stuff like that so remember this guy is a FRAUD and don't believe anything he says. hope this is helpful to anyone else that may also be a victim of this POS..

Do not call me or my employer with your scam. I am on to you.

His real name is RYON GAMBILL-home address 75147 La Sierra Drive..Palm Desert California 92211. He works with his wife Kim Edwards, she's part of it, too. He has a criminal record for telephone harassment.  (760)423-1111 or (760) 423-1100 are also tied to this.  Google the name,  theres more info about him online...even websites dedicated to exposing him.

His real name is RYON GAMBILL-home address 75147 La Sierra Drive..Palm Desert California 92211. He works with his wife Kim Edwards, she's part of it, too. He has a criminal record  (760)423-1111 or (760) 423-1100

I wish I could take credit for finally tracking him down, but I cannot.  Im reposting this from a source at another website.  This individual, Di,  deserves a medal.  Take this info and report him until they bury him under the jail.

"He works here: Owner is RIC PACE---2880 W. Oakland Park Blvd...Suite 108...Ft. Lauderdale, Fl...33311.. FEIN# 65-0926400..(954) 590-3442..scammer names include- Nathaniel Richardson..Nathaniel Richmond..."

Ric Pace, Ric short for Richard, as in "Richardson", ""Richmond", get it...time to call him out!!!!

WOW!!!  A million thank you's to you!!  I did a google search on the address and noticed that at one time, that was an office space for lease, so I wouldnt doubt thats where he's at, and he has that south florida accent too, so it all adds up.  Im going to get my states attorney general and local law enforcement the info you just listed and let them go after him.  Ric, probably short for Richard, as in "Richardson"...makes perfect sense.  I'd buy you a beer if i could!  Thanks again!

Im so happy about that!!!  He spoofed a local sheriffs office number near me too!.  Ive saved all his voicemails and WILL have him prosecuted if I ever find out who he really is.  If anyone has any info on him, please share, and I will do the same.  If I can help any one elses case out with my saved voicemails, please just reply here and maybe we can team up and have this guy put where he belongs...in jail.

He works here: Owner is RIC PACE---2880 W. Oakland Park Blvd...Suite 108...Ft. Lauderdale, Fl...33311.. FEIN# 65-0926400..(954) 590-3442..scammer names include- Nathaniel Richardson..Nathaniel Richmond...

He made a big mistake by posing as the PA District Attorney's office using their ph#.  The criminal investigation unit is now involved.

Robert Wolfe has been calling me from International Asset Group. He said that Cash Net USA give their clients to Debt Management Partners then they give to TAG to collect monies from their clients so Cash Net USA, that's why they have so much information. TAG number is 888-752-6145.    Who are these people and why did Cash Net give our information to them. Very unprofessional. Threaten me with felonies and said Cash Net gave them this information to collect for them.

I want him to end up in a jail cell being "bunk buddys" with bubba...Ive reported him myself

I just called the PA District Attorney's office who will be contacting him. Don't give him any info.  DA is calling me back.

He's a scammer..rude..unprofessional..needs to get a real job. Obviously he can't because he has to resort to his fake cell phone collection agent.  He impersonated the PA District Attorney's office so the D.A. will contact him back now. Don't waste your breath with this low life - Nathaniel Richmond

I was so happy to see those Indian scammers, or even a small part of them shut down, that was wonderful news, and made Varang Thacker the scourge of our nation LOL...I hope he gets 20 years in a cell with, well, not a nice inmate, thats for sure LOL....this guy, Richmond, Richardson, whatever he's going by for that day isnt Indian though.  He is very very much American.  I actually hoped that fact would help me in tracking him down and suing him, but since its a prepaid cell, it made it very difficult for me, and he never sent me an email either (and I was really waiting for that in the hopes LE could use his IP address to track him)...either way, if I ever, or if anyone ever gets anything or knows anything about this guy, I will use it to benefit my case against him and will gladly share anything I know as well.  I want to see this guy prosecuted to the fullest.

One leg of this extortion scam was shut down several weeks ago:

Even scam artists are outsourcing. On Tuesday in its first crackdown on fraudulent telemarketing in South Asia, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it was shutting down two California-based companies that used a call center in India to defraud Americans out of more than $5 million over the past two years.

Workers in India made threatening calls to Americans getting them to pay money on debts that they didn't owe, the FTC charges. At an FTC press conference in Chicago on Tuesday, fraud victim JanLaree DeJulius explained that she had received a call from someone claiming to be an enforcement officer from the (phony) "Federal Department of Crime and Prevention," who threatened to have her arrested and have her wages garnished if she didn't pay a bill of more than $730. The scam artists had gotten her name and information from a payday loan her ex-husband had taken out in her name.

"It was very embarrassing," Dejulius said. "He knew everything about me so I agreed to set up an installment." She is not alone. According to the FTC, more than 8 million calls were made since 2010 and at least 17,000 transactions processed across the United States related to the global scam.

On Tuesday under request from the FTC, a U.S. District Court in Chicago stopped the international operation, charging Varang K. Thaker and two companies he owned, American Credit Crunchers, LLC, and an affiliate Ebeeze, LLC, with violating the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

"This is a brazen operation based on pure fraud, and the FTC is committed to shutting it down," said David Vladeck, director of the FTC's consumer protection bureau. "Consumers should not be pressured into paying debt they don't remember owing. Legitimate debt collectors must provide consumers with both written information about the debt, and instructions for protecting themselves if they don't think they owe the debt."

According to the FTC's charges, Thaker used Social Security numbers and bank account numbers obtained from payday lenders to identify the victims for his scam. He outsourced the work to an Indian call center, where workers made threatening calls to American consumers to pay fake debt or collect on bills for which they were not authorized.

Thaker was not available when contacted by telephone on Tuesday. A woman who claimed to be Thaker's older sister and asked not to be named for privacy reasons said he is working with the FTC to help the Indian government pursue the fraudster call center operators. She also said he was innocent in the scam. "He was being used by somebody. He didn't even know where they got the information," she told The Huffington Post by phone. She said that her brother got 10 percent of the earnings from the scam operation.

The FTC charges against Thaker are the latest in a series of police actions by the government agency to put an end to rogue debt collection operations that have become more frequent in the aftermath of the Great Recession. In January, the FTC struck a $2.5-million settlement with debt-buying company Asset Acceptance, LLC, charging that the company had falsely represented itself to customers, including making up phantom debts that customers no longer owed. Last October, the FTC filed a complaint against seven other fraudulent debt collectors, alleging that they had engaged in the same techniques -- demanding money from customers who owed nothing at all.

The growing number of Americans who are unable to pay their bills has meant there are more companies looking to profit from their economic difficulties.

Debt collectors have been taking more aggressive tactics as fewer people are able to make ends meet or are in a cycle of debt. More than 30 million Americans are in debt collection, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Since 2010, more than 4,000 complaints have been filed with the FTC and state attorneys general about fraudulent debt collection calls, the FTC said.

Charles Junitkka, a personal bankruptcy attorney who represents clients in the New York City area, said, "In the last few years, the desperation of the collectors and their efforts have intensified because of the economy."

This story has been updated to reflect comment from a woman who says she is the sister of Varang Thaker. Thaker himself was unavailable for comment.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/21/ftc- ... _n_1289751.html

The best thing you can do is report him to these 4 agency's...The FTC, IC3, your states attorney general, and the California state attorney general.   Report him every day if you have to like I did.   He is calling from a prepaid cell, which is NEARLY impossible to trace, though not completely impossible.  If you can get any information about him, or get him to send you an email, you could report that to the investigators and they could trace him through his IP address.  Save all your voicemails too as I did because if you ever get the chance to see him thrown in jail or at least sued, you will need those as evidence.  Ive backed up all of mine here.   He needs to be stopped, and if he is ever caught, I plan on suing him myself, and I most certainly will so, if you do happen to get any info I could use in my case too, please post it here.  Bottom line, report him, report him, report him and dont let up.  Also, you could show your boss this page, as I did mine, and just let him know that you are being scammed, and there's nothing you can do about it, because he will keep calling for about 2 months.

This guy says he is an investigator and keeps calling home, cell, work at 5am and several times during the day.  He called my coworkers and asked for my supervisor.  This is harrassment and needs to stop.  I changed his number to my house calling me, how can people do that kind of stuff!  I have listed his number on the DO NOT CALL LIST but he is still calling so I am reporting the number today.

this a***ole call me today to the same lame story,  Not really knowing gave him my card number but guess what the b*****d will never get any money off of because I stopped it.   He can threaten me to his a** choke and die.

Recieved a call @ 10:43AM on 2/1/12.  
called ext 203 for Nate Richmond.  Asked questions about an employee where I work, but I could not respond to his questions.  Appeared to be trying to hold me on the phone for some reason, but I hung up.

He also threatens me that "they" whoever they are is going to show up at my job.  But since I start work at 6pm it's hard because banks close at 5pm.  What the heck does what time I start work have to do with any bank.  He has my address and e-mail, so why not send me the information.  What he is doing is harassment as well as Mail and Wire Fraud.  He's pissed because a payday loan is an unsecured debt and in some states it's illegal.  In those states it's illegal, they do not have to pay a dime of it back if the lender provides a loan to an individual.  So in reality, he cannot technically sue you in court for all the interest they charge.

I just got into it with Nathan Richmond.  He continues calling my job who is now getting corporate security involved.  Wants me to call him back with an unblocked number.  I told him NO.  He tells me he is going to call my job everyday until I discuss my case with him.  Says I threatened him when I simply told him repeatedly he isn't to call my place of employment.  I told him I am under bankruptcy and he wants my case number and Lawyer's name.  I won't provide it to him because Mr. Richmond claims he knows everything about me and has my credit report.  Well if he has my credit report, he'd find all my bankruptcy case information on my report.  He will not provide an address of his company so I can send a seize letter for him to stop contacting my employer.  He threatened to discuss my case he has against me with everyone.  I told him that is against the law.  He said he didn't care that he was going to do it anyway.  I told him I was reporting him to the local FBI Field Office and he said he didn't care.  He said have them call me and I will discuss your case with them.  He claims to be a fraud investigator.  Yet, he calls from a cell phone and no where on the internet is anything about his company CPS.  I have taken out payday loans and as I explained to him, they are in my bankruptcy and I have provided those companies with the information needed.  So why am I gonna provide him with  any information.  This guy needs stopped.  He maybe helpful to some people but most, he is a scam artist.

Douche just left another message.  Funniest thing I ever heard in my life.  I swear I think he's gonna cry LOL!!  Scams must be running thin lately, due to awesome websites like this one.  Guess I will report him for harrassing phone calls to the FBI, IC3, and my states attorney general again LOL!  Sheesh.

He's given me the exact same story. He harrasses me all the time. I told him I'd be happy to pay a bill that I owe and instructed him to send me a bill in the mail. He never did. Instead, he sent me an email from a yahoo account saying that was my bill. LoL. Yeah. Whatever dude. If you're a real fraud investigator with the D.A.'s office your email address is going to end in .gov. He called me the other day and left a message telling me I had a court date and left a case number. Really funny that when I checked the court's calendar there's no such court date or case Can't wait til the Feds catch up with this loser.

This Richmond investigator has contact me as well.  I've had a hard time with this guy.  Never admitting to nothing.  I even went to the extent to use my prepaid legal services to contact him.  Did not do much but knows I have other resources.  I've submitted claims to FTC, local and CA District's Attorney.  Now I am not responding to his calls and saving all messages.  The ugly thing is that he's contacting me at work.  I read these posting and will use information posted to benefit my case.  Thanks for sharing!

I received a call yesterday at my place of work from AKA"Investigator Richards. He is such a scam he called my place of employment which he didn't know i look is number up before i even got a chance to talk to him. You can not issue anyone a court date without official documentation. I am not stupid. Plus he didn't want to provide me the company that is suing me. I finally got it out of him, it was bogus. he will go on the internet and find a legit company any and say that company is suing you. people do not fall for this scam artist. he is trying to get money out of you. I have reported him to the district attorney.

this is how debt collectors get drug money then launder it by collecting on debts.
everyone should know they are scammers.

I had been told by the Dept of Financial Institutions in Ky that Payday Lenders online are il-legal in Ky & that I was not obligated tp pay. And to stop payment on their ACH (I had already paid the Principle in full).
I reported Payday Loan Yes to my state Attorney General. They had a hard time tracking down a legitimate mailing address for them. They have forwarded complaint to the Illinois AG office (which is where they operate out of).
In the meantime, this Collection guy called from this number. (They have ignored all attempts of the Ky AG Office to get any info on this case).
He said that my bank has filed a fraud charge against me. And that it is going to court Dec 29.
I contacted my bank. They know nothing about it.

This is an offshore payday loan debt collection extortion scam that has been going on for at least five years. The FBI is aware of it but is unable to go after those involved due to lack of money and manpower. I looked back and found some old information which may prove to be helpful:

They obtained your information through Teletrack:

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

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-951-489-0227

that if its got to the point of harassment (and I agree with you that it has) that you could report it to your local law enforcement.  Harassing phone calls is illegal.  Report him to IC3 and your states attorney general too if you haven't already.