760-300-4019
CA, US
Jim Bob
Jim Bob
2011-08-22 21:51:30
Unknown
I have recieved a call from Peter Black as well. REPEATEDLY for months now. Today I drove to the police station and put him on the phone with an officer there. He told the policeman that he would keep calling and there was nothing he could do about it! He is calling for someone named Randall, I have been recieving calls for Randall since I got this number in April. I told them this is no longer his number and the guy says he likes my voice and just wants to talk to me so he will keep calling and calling. I have tried everything. I ignored 20 calls today from him and yet he still keeps leaving messages saying he likes my voice and will keep calling so please talk to him! This person is insane!
Tom
Tom
2011-06-20 21:51:08
Debt Collector
Just got a call from the same non english speaking you whats and threaten again. I will answer next call to mess with them.
Batesee
Batesee
2011-06-16 18:00:36
Unknown
We received a call from a guy with a very strong Indian accent on our home answering machine at 11:37 a.m. today(6/15/11). He said on the message that my wife needed to contact him immediately to take care of this situation. He then said that he was with the firm of Morgan and Associates and that this problem was not gonna go away. He then finished the call with what sounded like a threatening statement to me. He said that my wife better not ignore his phone call and she better respond back to him immediately. He then stated that if she did not do this right away that he only hoped that God is with her because this is going to get ugly! Is there a way that we can stop these guys from making demanding and at times seemingly threatening phone calls. Even if it would take a Class Action Suit. My family, especially my kids don't need to listen to these harassing calls!!!!
Tom
Tom
2011-06-15 21:23:50
Debt Collector
There a***s and cant understand them told them I filed chapter 13 and they acted like they didnt understand I thinkI will call them 60 times and mess with them.
joe smith
joe smith
2011-06-15 15:41:16
Debt Collector
have been receiving harrassing phone calls from this number from endesino calif i ask them to cease and dessit contact but they continue
Nadine
Nadine
2011-06-13 13:29:04
Unknown
I have also received numerous calls from these Morgan and Associates, saying that I owed money, they were extremely rude and hateful and I could barely understand them. Everytime I hung up they would call me back and be even more hateful because I hung up on them. They said they were sending me to a judge and were going to garnish my wages, I have not ever had a loan with the company they claimed I owed. They also stated I signed for a package in April in another state which I haven tlived in, in over 9 months!
Jill W
Jill W
2011-06-11 00:02:46
Unknown
Received 2 phone calls from this # today 760-300-4019. I don't remember the name of the person who called but he had an accent that I could barely understand. He stated that they have filed a legal complaint against me...I ignored the 2nd phone call and they didn't leave a message. I'm planning on blocking this # thru my cell phone provider. I remember getting a call from them at least a couple of weeks ago and I'm pretty sure it's the same person. He did mention the last 4 digits of my SSN. What a scam!
ariel
ariel
2011-06-09 15:06:11
Unknown
OMG!  I have been geeting the same calls for ovr a week now.An india or pakistain man constantly caaling and saying i am being sued over a payday loan.He had all my info and was threathing me to pay up so much money to close the case or they would call my attorney.I told the mother "f....er" to get real and stop scamming ppl.That i would turn him over to the FBI and after that he hung up, but still calls and uses a new phone number of 325-987-5461 so everyone be aware of the new scam and new numbers. Freakin idiots!
Miacko Thompson
Miacko Thompson
2011-06-09 15:00:17
Unknown
Keeps calling me at work although I have asked them repeatedly not to call my work number.  They refuse to stop.
Candy
Candy
2011-06-08 16:55:28
Unknown
I recieved a call from this number moments ago.  I have previously recvd calls from the same people but they gave different numbers.  I never answer the phone if I don't recognize the number.  He left a message which I no longer listen too b/c they call so much I could recite the script myself.  The last # they called from or left for me to call was 818-659-5863 which I don't see on the list but that means nothing.  I entered that phone number into the internet and it came up with the same information so I wrote on that website too.
This has been going on for some time now and it is beyond annoying.  The information you provided below is very helpful.  The one thing that did freak me out was that one time when I actually spoke to the person, he recited back my bank information, SSN, and other personal information that I was shocked that he had. At that time, I demanded everything in writing but he refused and actually never got around to telling me what exactly he wanted from me.  He did mumble about how I owed some money to a payday loan company but I couldn't make out which one. After that it took atleast several months for the caller to call me again.  This is completely ridiculous BUT I am glad to see that it isn't just me and these callers are just harrassment.
Dani
Dani
2011-06-07 14:34:39
Unknown
I put up a bit of a fight and I told them that I didn't think they were a real company and everything sounded fishy to me. This made them made and he yelled at me and said he would see me in court then hung up and I have not received anther call. So I think if you put up a little fight they will leave you alone. I did however put a 90 day credit watch on my SS# to be safe.
Peggy
Peggy
2011-06-06 20:56:31
Unknown
Received two phone calls today from someone named Peter Black and said he was from Morgan and Associates. The first I was at work. I work at a movie theatre and was doing some maintenance with the manager when she answered the phone. The second one was on my voicemail when I came home. This has been going on with diffferent numbers and different names for about two years. You know that they are reading from a script because the same message is left by different people.  The first time I talked to someone, they had me scared but after talking to my sister, they called back and when I started asking questions, they couldn't hang up fast enough. Now I don't answer the phone if it says unknown caller or a number that I don't recognize. I let them leave a message, then write down the information and google the number and then report it.
Brian
Brian
2011-06-02 02:00:05
Unknown
Ive been getting harrased by the same number.  So I turned the tables on them....I cursed them out, called 57 times today. I told them  they messed with the wrong cracker, that it is my lifelong goal to hunt the t**** head, camel jockies down, rip off there heads, an crap down their throat.  You know, I acted like a crazy MF and it worked. The guy begged me to stop harrasing him.  He told me he promises never to call me again.  I told him too late, they already contacted the wrong Mofo.  I act this way to all these kinds of phone calls.
Angel
Angel
2011-05-16 17:48:10
Unknown
company called my cell phone 15 times in 10 minutes, and then called my work phone about 5 times back to back, they said it was morgan associates, i said i have never dealt with them and if they did not stop harassing and threatening me i would have my lawyer sue them
Brandi H. Provencher
Brandi H. Provencher
2011-05-12 23:29:20
Unknown
I have been receiving calls from this and several other numbers over the last couple of months.  The first time that they ever called me, I was panic stricken.  After talking to the person, I realized that he had a foreign accent and the call kept going in and out.  They were very vague and would not give me any details about the name of the company that I supposedly had this loan through.  That is when I became suspicious and hung up.  They even harass me at work.  How do you put a stop to this.
bigg
bigg
2011-05-11 03:42:28
Unknown
Answering to you I also been getting this phone calls for the same reason that I own money to CashNetUSA pay day loan, how they get all this information don't know but what I did today I report it to the police department here in Texas and gived them the phone number, so hope this calls will stop probably you can do the same. Good Luck.......
Shay
Shay
2011-04-29 21:04:58
Unknown
Ha...I got Justin White, John Smith lol...I told them I know they are a scam and DO NOT call my phone again. Ridiculous.
BLAK
BLAK
2011-04-26 23:35:36
Unknown
OMG I GOT THE SAME CALL FROM SAME NUMBER FORIEGN GUY,SAID HIS NAME WAS MICHEAL. HE CALLS ME ALL DAY U CANT UNDERSTAND WHAT HE IS SAYING. VERY RUDE, AND STATING ALL TYPES OF THREATS. HE CALLED AN CAUGHT ME OFF GAURD MY CALLER I.D. STATED IT WAS MY JOB NUMBER WHEN IT REALLY WAS HIM.
B
B
2011-04-26 16:00:53
Unknown
& i should also maybe have mentioned a key factor. When I stated that she didnt live here and this was the wrong address, he then tried to probe me for my personal information-name, address, SSN. {this is the part my grandmother may have fell for}
B
B
2011-04-26 15:58:47
Unknown
Our family has had the same number for over 30 years and these same people starting calling from 7603004019 saying that they work for mogan and associates law firm and they are looking for a Katie Harry or Kerry Hatty (no one by that name has ever lived here) to verify her social security number and name change and quoted the wrong address in my city. he then told me the last 4 of her social. I told him several times the person he was questioning does not live here and that he had the wrong address. The person I spoke with appeared to be nearly mentally disabled and called himself "sean Miller" which was clearly an alias judging by his extremely thick indian, maybe p***, accent. I questioned his name. He was very rude. I asked to speak with a supervisor,he said he was the supervisor. I asked to speak with the person that pays him. He hung up on me. I called back, and asked for the business name and address to report this Bogus company to the BBB and he gave me the address and hung up on me mid sentence.

This is the address that he gave me, Google Maps can not locate it:
1020 bryan towers indio, california 95205
morgan & associates



Please be wise and dont share your information, I do this is a scam to get elderly people, as he was hard to understand and he called the house phone at 11:30am. If my grandmother had answered the first time she may have fell for it.
Robin Branch
Robin Branch
2011-04-25 14:29:45
Unknown
I keep getting phone calls at work and on my cell phone saying that I owe them money.  They claim to be attorneys and are leaving threatening messages. They will not provide me with any legal documentation to prove this.
Kimberly Okey
Kimberly Okey
2011-04-19 14:30:11
Debt Collector
We have been recieving calls every 1 minute over and over all day long from this number, One guy claimed his  name was doug Morgan. He said my daughter Brittney owed 597.00 for a pay day loan she borrowed and never payed back and she has a warrent for her arrest and is facing prison I tell them my daughter is 9 years old and brain dead she cant speak walk or see, they responded well can she type? They asked us for our personal info claiming the cops will be at our door if we didnt pay now! They even made threats to hurt us. These calls go on around the clock,we called the police and they called them and the guys just hang up on them, also for some reason our phone lines have been actiong strange saying the phones in use when infact its hung up? Im scared these guys might have our personal info and steal my daughters or ours identity, Im going to get identity theft insurance today my bank offers it, so if the cops wont budge what do we do? did you know if you are a victim of fraud how long it takes to recover? a life time, how do we know its safe to use our computers?
Ms V
Ms V
2011-04-14 00:38:34
Debt Collector
I received a call from this number on April 13,2011. The number showed in my phone as "911" so that's why I intially answer. The man stated his name was ? calling from Morgan & Associates and the have a case against me for writing a bad check to their client a Cash Advance Company over the internet. He transferred me to his manager named Frank Miller (both of their accent was so thick I barely understood). I was baffled b/c I didnt remember accepting any cash advances in 12/10 like he stated and wrote a bad check to them; all the payday I ever used always took the money automatically. He couldnt tell me an exact date, all he knew was the file was locked and he had my name, my references, and my job. He got smart with me which pissed me off b/c I have a firm believer to pay what I owe. He said he was trying to save me from going to court, losing my job and paying court cost est well over $6,000 for $350 bad check. He was me to fax a written authorization letter to take the settlement out of my account for $612.00. I tried numerous of times to call the number back but circuits were alway busy. This is a SCAM,which I almost believed but I check my bank records and had no such. The are very addament about trying to "save" you from going to court. PLEASE DO NOT GIVE THESE FORIEGNERS YOUR INFO. They will continue to harrass, so I played stupid when they call and would not cooperate with anything they wanted which in turn pissed them off. The final call was them telling me that the have a warrant for my arrest and where can the serve me my papers; I replied "serve them in your a@# and I havent heard from they since.
SANDY
SANDY
2011-04-12 20:29:34
Debt Collector
I got a call from one person who had an accent so bad I could not understand him. So he disconected and someone else called back and acted like he was the same person. He said he was from Morgan and Associates and that I had commited fraud. Well I told him that I paid back the payday loans and did not owe anything to anyone. Gave him my Lawyers name and he could not get off the phone fast enough. I talked to a guy in India and he said never pay these people or give them information. What they do is sell your information to other people and those people call for a while then sell it to someone else. They are just trying to get money and information. Once I even paid them a little thinking it would stop and someone used my information to open an account with a cell phone company. I learned real fast do not do that again!!! I just ignore them now. I would like to know how to stop these people but no one seems to know what to do.
mama
mama
2011-04-12 15:37:54
Unknown
I just received a call from this same number Indian guy stating his name was Andy Smith of all things. He said he is from Morgan and Associates.  Same guy called me a month ago saying he was from the FBI and his name was Matt something.
BUSINESS
BUSINESS
2011-04-07 19:42:30
Debt Collector
We have been receiving calls for several days from this person also.  He states his name is Peter Black and he is trying to reach one of our employees we have asked numerous times for them to stop calling us and they refuse.  This is pure harassment and nobody will help any of us?
LC
LC
2011-04-06 23:46:07
Unknown
Hi there,

Omg...I'm reading your post. I got the same phone call today by this same number. Spoke with two foreign men claiming they are from Morgan and Associates. They called me on my cell phone leaving a harassing message that I owe a debt on a payday loan  from US Cash Advance that I never did. They also called my work involving my co-workers. This is crazy. I never been a victim of this. What should I do?
HRG
HRG
2011-04-06 17:19:03
Debt Collector
Harrassing calls one after another here at work for one of our employees, and he will not comply with the FDCPA of no Calls at work, if they need further ritributionon have an attorney call directly, the # is 760-300-4019, Peter Black was his name trying to say he was from an attorney's office, when I stated then have the Attorney Contact us, he still kept calling, again and again 10 times here at work.  These people need to be stopped.  I asked for the Director and of course he would not provide it, stating one of our employees had a fraudulent case on her. I contacted Morgan and Associates and they stated it is not them nor are they part of what they do.  How do we report it to the law officials?
Frederick Llenarez
Frederick Llenarez
2011-04-06 16:56:49
Unknown
I have received several phone calls from this number stating that they are the legal department of United cash services. They use American names but definitely sound foreign from india or pakistan. They have asked me if I have an attorney and if not I do so get one. They also say that my ss# is being used in fraudelent cases and that I am a prime susupect of the investigation.
The Saint
The Saint
2011-03-21 14:46:11
Unknown
In order to do that, they would have to prove this is a legitimate debt (which they can't), and have the authority to issue a court order (which they don't).

This is an international extortion ring which has been in operation for over four years. "David Morgan and Associates" is only one of many names they are using. Report them to your FBI's field office, The Department of Homeland Security and your State Police.

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
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