I got several calls from this guy, really thick accent. He called me on my work phone and my personal phone. He said his name was Todd Larson, from the FBI. On my work phone he said, directed towards my employer, that I had a serious criminal charge that I need to take care of that was associated with my social security number,the F*& had the last 4 of my social. I'm glad that he does not only sound ridiculous and unbelievable, but that my work number is directly tied to me, hopefully he does not track me down like he claims because this could be serious if my employer though I had some serious criminal matter to attend to. On my personal phone he threatened me, saying that if I ignore him my situation will only get worse, he will track my phone and things will get really bad for me. I called the number back but that lead to a voice mail, I left a very unpleasant message. I also complained to the FBI themselves to inform them that someone was attempting to impersonate them to get money (I'm assuming). Either way this is a scam, but could be a serious one, especially if he has any of you personal information. If he calls you, keep an eye on your personal information and bank info and report it. I personally would like to see him "track" my phone and locate me, my husband would have a blast doing what protective husbands do best.

I keep getting calls at work and on my cell phone.I was told its a legal matter.i told them to send the information in the mail
I was told i got several email.I told them stop calling my job or i will submit infomation to my attorney

They are harassing me and when he leaves a message I try to call back and its busy or says the wireless caller is not available. Hes calling my work headquarters who I have let know about the scam so hopefully it won't cause to much trouble with my job. I am gonna give them the number to my local police station next time the call and I can answer.

The man called and threaten to sue me. He barely spoke English and there was a lot of static so you could barely here him. I told him he can go to hell and don't call my job again.

I got a call from this number also and they told me they were going to keep calling my work until I got fired. I have never taken a loan with this company and they are ridiculous. How do I get them to stop calling my work. I am gonna get fired and then I'm really screwed.

I got a call from this number the are from burea of crime investigation I owe money for a pay day loan an d they are calling my employer if I don't pay oh anf u can not calo number back

Same thing happened to me the last two days. What should I do?

A man from this number has called me probably 100 times or more in the last two days . Same threats as everyone else is getting. The worst part is they are calling my work.

its a scam my wife got same call very upset i called refused to give me info im calling the police and better buisness bureau

I received a voicemail from a man calling himself 'Dan Smith' who threatened me with a lawsuit the I had been named in with my employer.  He read off my FULL social security number and started to bully me.  I point blank asked him who the f*ck he was and where he was calling from- he then told me I 'cannot abuse him because he is from the US Federal Government' I told him I knew it was Fraud and I would do my level best to make their lives a living hell.  He hung up on me.  I'm so mad!  I can't figure out how they got my information- I recently got a corporate credit card through my work, but I also file my taxes online and it seemed he had all the information that would be on my W2.

He says he is from the some lay office and they will put a warrant out on me ..if i dont pay 200. Hundred dollars

I received a call at my work place from this number threatening me that  I was going to jail. They said there were three charges against me and the only way I would stop the execution of the pending charges was to pay a minimum of $300 to stall until the 14th of this month. They said I only had an hour to make a move. I was really scared because I know about a year ago I hit hard times and I did get a payday loan, and it has not been paid off yet. They knew the name of the payday loan company so it sounded real. They said they were the fraud investigation bureau and they will be contacting my employer about this. I spoke to my manager to see if he would pay it and he got on the phone and realized they were a scam. They called my workplace at least 100 times. We had to get the police involved and everything.

I have received numerous calls from this number on my cell and at my job. Told me I would be arrested for federal check fraud. Claimed to be an agent of the Bureau of Criminal Investigations. Gave his name as Todd Larson last time I talked to him. Said I'd failed to repay a payday loan I never received. When I told him I hadn't gotten a loan and didn't want one, he told me I had to pay a $150 cancellation fee. Last time I spoke to him he told me I should be fired because he thought I was someone else, told me I was going to be arrested. I told him to send them because I wasn't paying anything. Hung up. That was two days ago and I thought he got the picture that I'm not giving him any money, but he just called my cell again this morning.

If what you say is true, then you can file a complaint with the Department of Labor - firing you because you're a victim of harassment by scammers is illegal!

Print out at least one of the pages on this forum thread and give it to your husband's HR Dept and/or manager - so they know that he's being harassed by foreign scammers.  This shouldn't put him in a "bad position" - he's the innocent party here!

More info:

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

Read this investigative report ABC News did on this scam:

Hundreds of thousands of cash-strapped Americans have been targeted by abusive debt collectors operating out of overseas call centers suspected of links to organized crime in India, law enforcement officials told ABC News.

The calls are part of a massive scam, one that appears to target struggling Americans -- especially those who have gone online to apply for payday loans. Armed with personal information from those pilfered applications, the threatening callers, who claim to be debt collectors poised to initiate legal action, have managed to pry loose millions of dollars from their victims -- even when the victims never owed money in the first place.

"This is what we call a phantom debt collection scam," said Jon Leibowitz, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. "It's a very pernicious and innovative new fraud."

Working through call centers in India, the commission estimates that the criminals have dialed at least 2.5 million calls, persuading already cash-strapped victims to send them more than $5 million. Some have reported receiving dozens of calls per hour. They are victims like Cindy Gervais, of New Orleans, who went online for a quick loan when her husband's car was hit by a driver who didn't have insurance.

Even though she paid the loan off, the so-called "phantom" debt collectors with Indian accents began calling to say she still owed money.

"He more or less told me that if I didn't pay, they were going to have someone on my doorstep to arrest me," she told ABC News. "And that they were going to contact my place of business, and tell them what kind of person I am."

At first, she said she resisted. Then the calls became more frequent, and started to ring on her cell phone, and at the grocery distribution company where she had worked for 27 years.

"I was more or less in panic mode because he told me there would be someone before noon at my place of business to arrest me and take me to jail," she said tearfully. "So I agreed to pay him."

After receiving scores of complaints, investigators with the FTC said they began tracking the calls, and following the payments. They alleged the payments led them to a California company run by an Indian-American named Kirit Patel, and that such scams would not be possible without American front men.

"I would say that all roads of this scam, or many of the roads of this scam, lead back to Mr. Patel," said the FTC's Leibowitz.

ABC News tracked Patel for weeks, from the suburbs of San Francisco to Austin, Texas.

Patel refused to talk. But his lawyer, Mark Ellis, said he believes it is far too early to pass judgment on his client. Ellis, a Sacramento-based attorney, told ABC News that Patel was hired for a nominal fee to set up an American shell company, and had no idea what the call centers in India were doing.

"I can tell you, he was as snookered by the people in India as anybody," Ellis said. "He's a 69-year-old man who is nearing his retirement who thought all he had to do was set up some corporations and everything was on the up and up. He's completely dismayed that he has become the lightning rod of this entire problem."

A close friend of Patel's also defended him in a brief interview at his home, saying Patel was not trying to defraud anyone -- he was just an unwitting, bit player in a larger scheme.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/phantom-debt-co ... ory?id=16512428

They're not legitimate - they're scammers.  Post by Alfalfa (from 10 January, above) -

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

Read this investigative report ABC News did on this scam:

Hundreds of thousands of cash-strapped Americans have been targeted by abusive debt collectors operating out of overseas call centers suspected of links to organized crime in India, law enforcement officials told ABC News.

The calls are part of a massive scam, one that appears to target struggling Americans -- especially those who have gone online to apply for payday loans. Armed with personal information from those pilfered applications, the threatening callers, who claim to be debt collectors poised to initiate legal action, have managed to pry loose millions of dollars from their victims -- even when the victims never owed money in the first place.

"This is what we call a phantom debt collection scam," said Jon Leibowitz, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. "It's a very pernicious and innovative new fraud."

Working through call centers in India, the commission estimates that the criminals have dialed at least 2.5 million calls, persuading already cash-strapped victims to send them more than $5 million. Some have reported receiving dozens of calls per hour. They are victims like Cindy Gervais, of New Orleans, who went online for a quick loan when her husband's car was hit by a driver who didn't have insurance.

Even though she paid the loan off, the so-called "phantom" debt collectors with Indian accents began calling to say she still owed money.

"He more or less told me that if I didn't pay, they were going to have someone on my doorstep to arrest me," she told ABC News. "And that they were going to contact my place of business, and tell them what kind of person I am."

At first, she said she resisted. Then the calls became more frequent, and started to ring on her cell phone, and at the grocery distribution company where she had worked for 27 years.

"I was more or less in panic mode because he told me there would be someone before noon at my place of business to arrest me and take me to jail," she said tearfully. "So I agreed to pay him."

After receiving scores of complaints, investigators with the FTC said they began tracking the calls, and following the payments. They alleged the payments led them to a California company run by an Indian-American named Kirit Patel, and that such scams would not be possible without American front men.

"I would say that all roads of this scam, or many of the roads of this scam, lead back to Mr. Patel," said the FTC's Leibowitz.

ABC News tracked Patel for weeks, from the suburbs of San Francisco to Austin, Texas.

Patel refused to talk. But his lawyer, Mark Ellis, said he believes it is far too early to pass judgment on his client. Ellis, a Sacramento-based attorney, told ABC News that Patel was hired for a nominal fee to set up an American shell company, and had no idea what the call centers in India were doing.

"I can tell you, he was as snookered by the people in India as anybody," Ellis said. "He's a 69-year-old man who is nearing his retirement who thought all he had to do was set up some corporations and everything was on the up and up. He's completely dismayed that he has become the lightning rod of this entire problem."

A close friend of Patel's also defended him in a brief interview at his home, saying Patel was not trying to defraud anyone -- he was just an unwitting, bit player in a larger scheme.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/phantom-debt-co ... ory?id=16512428

They will call your employer. Not too sure if they're legitimate or not. I asked for them to send me information validating the "debt" owed and they instantly began to yell at me and use explicatives towards me. Calling me a F*****G B***H and an A** Hole and all sorts of other colorful words. They claim to be with the Federal Bureau of Crime Investigation. Needless to say, they called my employer, luckily I'm the manager so I was able to screen it and have them cease the calling.

***UPDATE*** The same guy called my cell twice today. My husband answered the second time and told him not to call back. I was at work. When I got to work, I had a message that was taken yesterday with this number and "Bureau of Criminal Investigations". He called my work after my husband hung up on him and was transferred to me. He asked for me and I identified myself, at which point he accused me of lying. He said I was hiding her (me) and to go get her (me) right now. I reiterated that I was in fact me, but he continued accusing me of lying for about five minutes. When I demanded to know who he was, he identified himself as Todd Larson from the Bureau of Criminal Investigations.  He claimed he was an agent with this bureau. Then he said that she (still me) should be fired. I asked him why I should be fired, to which he replied "fraud". At this point, I told him I was aware that this was in relation to a payday loan I had never gotten and never wanted. I told him I knew it was a scam, and that I wasn't paying him anything. He said he would have the police come arrest me, and I told him to go ahead and send them because I was not giving him any money. I told him I would be at work for four more hours, after which he was free to have me arrested at home. He told me to "wait and see". I told him I would do so, asked him not to call my work again, and hung up. He did not call back today, but I doubt I've heard the last of him.

called on my work cell number about legal charges that were filed against me.. I told him to talk slowly because the FCC and the local police were recording the call, he became vulgar and said things that would make a sailor blush... he was still being vulgar when I hung up on him

They called me too repeatedly at work. I know this is a scam,  problem is I did in fact lose my job today because of these pigs!!!!

The last two days I been getting calls from this number-trying to scare me into paying a loan I know I never did. I called my police dept and reported it-as they said they be at my house to arrest me. The police dept said they can not do that and was going to call the number. I hope this stops the calls. I also called the state attorney office and gave them the phone number.

they told me too that a sherriff officer would be out to arrest me, so I told them to come and get me and gave them the address at the sedgwick county sherriff office.  Also they asked for my attorney info, so I gave them the District Attorneys office telephone #, and the state of Kansas fraud division's telephone #.   They Stopped harrasing me

I received a call at my work out of the blue from a man with a very thick accent, and all I could understand were the words "federal check fraud". He said it was in relation to a payday loan I had received. I told him I have never received a payday loan in my life, that the only time I applied I was turned down because I didn't have a phone bill. I asked who the company he was working for was, and all he would say was that it was a company with over 500 websites. When I told him I did not know anything about the case to which he was referring, he transferred me to someone else who asked me if I wanted to cancel my loan. I said I did not want any loan, and he told me I had to pay a $150 cancellation fee. I said I was not paying any cancellation fee because I never entered into an agreement with his company. He said he would check something and call me right back, which he never did. I did some research and found out about this scam. I have reported it to the FTC, but since I couldn't understand him I never got the name of the company and it showed up on my work caller ID as a wireless caller. The only number I have is the one he called my cell phone from today, and all I told him was not to call my phone number again. I then hung up. He then called right back, and I did not answer.

CALLED JOB BACK TO BACK TRYING TO GET ME TO PAY MONEY SAID I WAS GOING TO BE ARRESTED

I also received multiple calls to my home number, cell and work number. He keeps asking to speak to Christy C. because of a debt and that is an emergency that I call him back. He left message with employer also. He will not leave the name of the business he is calling from. Hopefully we can get this taken care of so he will leave all of us alone.

855-736-1431 extension 227 is calling me at work saying they are going to serve a summons to me and arrest me if I dont call back in 2 hours.  Her name is Deborah Mcknight she claims, also says she is a private investigator.  Same basic story line with the harassment etc... I see on here there is also other phone numbers she has called from.  

What an a** I have been! I have been dealing with "Raymond" for the past 3 weeks after he threatened me with a law suit and a warrant for my arrest. They called my work (government job) telling them that there was indeed a warrant out. Panicking, I made a payment arrangement. I have already given them, $393.00 and I am due to give them a second payment this week. However, I called "Raymond" to ask for proof of the debt and a statement showing that what I have paid for is indeed paying off this loan. He refused to comply and told me that he would give me all the paperwork I wanted ONLY AFTER I paid the final payment. When I told him I would not, he lost it and began to yell and over talk me (not allowing me to get a word in). After reading these reports, I tried to call the number (it's 2am), and all I get is a busy signal. Raymond will be calling me to remind me of the next payment. He will be in for a surprise!! Thank you for the reports. I feel like total idiot!!!

this caller is a fraud please report them to authorities

Thick accented, very difficult to understand man called our busy office asking for one of our employees. Asked his name, he refused to provide it. Asked his company, identified that as US Cash Advance. Explained that person is not employeed here & hung up on him. He called 2 more times demanding he be connected. He became extremely beligerent even after I told him not to call here again.

Said i have legal complaints against my social security number from US Cash Advance and I hung up on him He has called me back 7 times and keep rejecting the call