I got riped off of 2.500.00 dollars by a call i got at six am a joung man crying .''grandma im in jail in mexico, please dont call my parents I will tell later..please help me..i have no one else to go to..please...with he said here the officer wants to tlk to you, a man cleaer english said..we have .and gave my grandsons name..but he was just in the wrong place annnnnt the wrong time..dont worrie we ..here at the american embassy are going to send him home by tonight..what you need to do is go to a walmart.and send cash money to ---and if they ask if you know the person whom your sending to,be sure to say yeas..this veriy important, please understand you must be very carefull not talk to anyone ,about this till we send him home, other wise your jeperdizing his return..do you understand?..do not call his parents..well like a stupid I did as they requested,,,after the shock..I realized my grandson would have never gone to mexico...I called my daughter and my granson was in school..he is in collage , i said are you sure/ when did you last see him, she said about 20 min ago ? whats going on...so I told her..and i was taken, however the jerks .ungodinly beast..called back to ask for another two thousand, by now I knew and asked for what..well he needs money for the lawyer who is in court with him right now ,but you know here in mexico. if that is not paid he will not be released..I said ok should i send it to the same name, and bye the way how old is this ..grandson of mine I have two by the same name.?
they hung up on me..however I was taken for 2.500.00 which did not come easy. be careful. the wolfs are on the loose.
.

they called my job and left a message talking about if i dont call them back god bless me!

I don't know how someone could be so stupid to use the same names and the same name of collection agency. The fact that he is doing this over and over to so many people, how does not think he'll get caught one day??????
I do know that the FBI is very involved looking for this man.

Hi Tim,

I was one of the dumb ones to give them my debit card information and lost out on money so I am familiar with this cases. This guy by the name of Justin Woods initially called me to set up this so called debt. collection payment plan. I called the 1-866-978-5177 number that shows up as a detailed description on my bank account and someone by the name of Jason Price answers who says he is working with Justin Woods to pay this debt.

It is a scam!!!! He will dealt with from the FBI!!! He messed with the wrong person!!!

Hi Foxy,

Did they get any money out of you?
I also reported him to the FBI and my local Police Department so I am pursuing to press charges and find this guy.
If there is any information you have, can you please share with me?

Thank u!

OMG!!! This exact situation just happened to me. I have been going through hoops with my bank to get my money back. He has presented himself as Justin Woods from Williams & Associates. He also threatened me to press three charges against me for not paying a loan that I took out. I actually feel for it and set up a payment plan. He has taken a total of $250.00 so far. I called him at 1-866-978-5177 now someone named Jason Price picks up claiming to be working with Jason Price to collect a debt I have with this online EZ Payday loan.
Anyway, I do believe the FBI is looking into this because apparently he has been conning other people into working with this company to collect. I did tell this Justin Woods, who later returned my call after I talked with Jason Price and I told him that he was being investigated. Come to find out since the threat, he has returned the last $185.00 he was attempting to take from me.

What was your result and how long ago did this happen?

Thanks!

OMg! i AM EXPERIENCING THIS RIGHT NOW
there saying I never paid these folks back and from a 400 dollar now they want 5k r they serious! threatening social security drafts and place of employment as well. YES THEY DON'T SPEAK GREAT ENGLISH AND YES THEY R VERY UNPROFESSIONAL!!!

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

I received the same type of call from a Justin, who said he was a paralegal at (760) 239-9098 and when I called him back I was transferred to an attorney named Shawn Woods - spoke very poor English, sounded Indian to me.  He said they had filed criminal charges against my Social Security Number in the court in New York City.  When I asked for his bar number, he started yelling and said I owed over $5,000 to an online company.  When I asked which company and told him I was an attorney (which I am), he said he would no longer talk to me and hung up.

This is exactly the call the call I received yesterday on my cell phone.   Today I received another one- this time on my home phone.  I told them I had filed a complaint with the sheriff's office and online at ic3.  I also encouraged him to keep talking to I could record all he said.  He said "We are recording and it all goes straight to the courthouse."  Does he think I am a moron?

He went on to give me my home address and said he couldn't wasit to come get me.  I take this as a threat.

I contacted the sheriff's office again and was told I needed a phone tap/trace and to document three traced calls from them before I could officially file charges for harassment.

Yes, they are:

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

I received a call today from a Shawn Woods (heavy accent), stating that Criminal Charges have been filed for a loan that I suppose to have taking out on line, but could not tell me exactly when/nor how much,  He also asked if I had a lawyer.  Said I needed to have my attorney contact him at 760-239-9098.  He would not give me the company's name or any other information that I had requested.  He knew my name, last 4 of my social, my address and the last four of my bank account as well as the banks name.  He first said a bank other than the one I have but quickly changed it.  When I keep asking questions,he hung up on me.  I called around 10 more times, but he just kept hanging up on me.  Finally he ask if I new what personnality disorder was,  I then asked him why was he trying to scam me, he hung up.  I phoned the police and filed a report.   Everyone out there be on alert, for they are the real criminals.  Would like to hang the b*****d by the little balls he has and choke the s*** out of him.

Thank you so much for this information and I did exactly what you said.  I do not intend to pay them anything and have issued the reports as you suggested.

You cannot be jailed (a felony punishment) for debt (a civil crime). Jail is only for serious crimes like robbery and are handled by criminal courts while debt, like divorce, is handled by civil courts. These b*****ds are stupid scammers and you should not pay them money. What's happening to you is happening to many people all over the country. Scammers are using bought/hacked loan application data to extort payments for fictitious debts from victims and victims' families and friends. If you call your state's Attorney General's Office consumer division, I guarantee you they will tell you it's a scam and not to pay them. The loss of personal data like SSN to criminals is serious but in this case, they cannot harm you. You might be at risk for ID theft so you may want to put an alert on your credit file but that's your choice.
The FBI warns about payday loan extortion scams here http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/paydayloanscam_120710
The BBB has issued several alerts on this scam, just google "bbb.org alert phony debt collector"
Report to the Internet Crime Complaint Center http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx , the Federal Communications Commission http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm , the Federal Trade Commission https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and your state AG, as appropriate.

These people are scam artists. I would like to hire a bounty hunter to track them down and extradite them to the United States so that they can stand trial. These people serve no purpose in life and they are an embarrassment to their families.

I got this same call.  Who are these people?  They were very threatening to me as well.

i just got the same type of call I was on my job anmd they threatened me with the same type of things.  They would not answer any of my questions just kept stating I had a criminal charge against my social and that was it and wanted my bosses name and address and that they were serving papers on me within the hour and were taking me to jail

I just got the same type of call on my job from this number threatening me with all sorts of things.

I received a call yesterday from an unknown caller on my cell phone.  I did not answer and had a message stating that I needed to call back the same day or there would be serious trouble.  Within 5 minutes the same person called my work number and stated he was a paralegal, asked that I verify the last 4 of my social security number.  When I said I would not verify anything until he told me who he was and what company he was calling from, he became very defensive stating he was calling from C. Williams & Associates and I needed to contact Shawn Woods immediately as there were criminal charges against me and if I did not take care of it "today" I would be arrested.  GET REAL!  I called the number for Shawn Woods & he had a very strong accent as well stating that I needed to verify my information.  Again I said again that I would not verify anything and he said that he needed contact information for my attorney of record.  I told him that I would not give him any information because I had no idea what he was talking about.  I asked for specifics and the only info he would give was I owed for a payday loan and if I did not take care of it that day, I would be arrested the next day!

A man with a very thick accent called from this number stating he was a paralegal and that I needed to speak with his senior attorney about a criminal matter.  I asked what was he talking about and he would not tell me anything other than I needed to call back to thiis number and that I needed to get an attorney as I would be arrested by 5pm and that he wished me luck in this matter.  He had all my information such as ss# and work number and I asked his address and who was this .  He told me he was from the firm of C Lee Williams an attorney office.  He kept interrupting me when I would ask specific questions as to what this was about and he kept telling me it ws a very serious criminal matter and I needed to speak with his senior attorney and get this resolved.  I think this is a scam to get money from people as all of them are middle eastern type accents who are very hard to understand and they try and trick you into staying stuff

I had the same call today, saying that I needed to call Shawn Woods, and that I had criminal charges against me for a payday loan....I have never got a payday loan. They call from a blocked number, but gave me a number to call 1-760-239-9098. When I told him i was not falling for his scam he said "you will be arrested today and put in jail", and hung up on me. The two people I spoke with both had very strong middle eastern accents.

First, I urge everyone to call the police, FBI, file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.
Second, I urge everyone to call these people back from a blocked number and give them hell. If they get enough calls, they may get discouraged. Scam Artists are the lowest form of life. They should be ashamed of themselves for trying to extort money from people.
Third, get the word out to as many people as possible through facebook, twitter, bulletin boards, user groups.

I received a call today from 760-239-9098 and the name on the ID was Ramona CA the phone rang twice then hung up once I answered. Less than one minute later I received a call from a unknown caller, I answered it was a man with a heavy accent. I asked the man if he could get someone else on the line that I could understand fully. I understood that I had a felony charge pending and that?s all. Once he had someone else to take over the call he too had a very heavy accent. He knew my full Social Security number and my name and accused me of getting a payday loan that I never got. When I tried to explain to the man that I never received such a loan he in return said that I was just trying to run off with three hundred dollars. He also said that I was about to be prosecuted. He then asked me if it was possible if someone could have used my identity and every time I tried to explain that I t couldn?t be possible he would interrupt by saying ?oh my God?. I really got upset and explain to him not to take the Lords name in vain while on the phone with me and to stop interrupting me when I'm trying to answer your question.  Bottom line is that I never ever in my life received a Payday Loan because first of all I've been laid off since September 2010. He said that they would subpoena me to come to court in California. So I assume they don't have my home address that goodness and when he mentioned a job I knew there was something wrong because I'm not working. What does concern me is that they do have my full name and Social Security number. What should I do or is there something I can do. HELP PLEASE

I received a phone call today from this number saying it was Kevin Jones with a very thick accent and hard to understand.  This has been going on for months now and they will call you from other numbers as well.  Most of them are all listed as Cali. but from what I am told this is a scam and they are calling from an outsourced location outside of us.  There has been a whole lot of complaints put against these people with the Attorney Generals Office, Police (local and state), FBI, US Secret Service, BBB for Pennsylvania and California and the Federal Trade Commission.  I have received the same phone call, same message but with numerous numbers as a call back.  I have even called them and they are very rude and threatening, they are getting their kicks off of irritating people and they say they are because they can and some people are even scared enough to give their banking info over the phone.  You will never get anything in writing from them because they are not legit.  DO NOT Give them any information and if you can just ignore them.  I have a fraud alert on my account and with the credit bureaus and I have reported this to my job because they started calling them too.  I work for the State Police and they do not care who they are harassing because they apparently can't get caught.  They might have info about people but they don't have the crucial info which is banking account or credit card #'s that is why they are harassing and threatening people to get the info out of them.  DON'T DO IT!!!

The number Williams & Associates was using today was 760-239-9098.
Was using names Daniel Peters, Mike Anderson and Justin Williams. Basically the same story as all of you I was having 3 charges brought against me and I would be arrested unless I paid them $3484 for a loan I never took. They had my last 4 social, bank name and Company name. They wanted my boss'es name and number and my work fax number, which I refused to give them. When I pressed them for a address, they asked why - I mentioned I needed it for my attorney to fight them in court. He mumbeled something incoherent with his thick accent. I asked him to spell the address for me and they hung up on me. I called the police and filed a complaint at www.ic3.gov.