I got a call from this number stating that I must call officer Michael Black from the Missouri Sheriff's Department.  The number on the caller ID was actually tied to the Missouri Sheriff's Association.  However, the call back number was 904-586-9861.  Ha!  I have had so many of these calls it is unreal.  They threatened to arrest me in 12 hours if I did not call back.  I cannot believe they are using an actual phone number to a local Sheriff's Association.  I will report this to the Sheriff's Association as well.  This is such a scam and so bothersome that they continue to call.  They can make it look like they are calling from any number.  One time the caller ID said "911".  Do not reply, call back, or even entertain the idea of giving thise folks the time of day.  IT'S A SCAM TO GET OUR HARD EARNED MONEY!!!  Heavy accents, and rude people trying to ruin your day over something you have nothing to do with other than them trying to get rich if you allow them to slip their hand in your pocket!!!!!!

Scam scam scam.. Got a call from an officer named " Greg Rogers" 9045869861, with a heavy thick Indian accent, leaving a msg in my workplace (WTF!!) that a complaint was lodged against me by a certain deputy Michael black..I called the California sheriff association both in Sacramento and Alameda county here in the Sanfo Bay Area!..no person/s working there by these name/s...

I received a call today from a man who said his name was deputy  O'Brien. He then said that I needed to call  a Ricky Johnson at 904-586-9861 ext 9747.  The call actually came from 843-958-2100.  This man had an Indian accent and threatened to send investigators to my place of residence and place of work to have me arrested.  This Mr. O  'Brien said that he was from the Federal Bureau of Crinal Investigations

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.

ABC News released an investigative report on this scam a year ago:

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

I got a call from a Deputy O'Brien today saying I needed to call Officer Ricky Johnson back he left a 904 number. Didn't sound right and the call came from number 817-473-0211 which is the number for Mansfield Police and Fire. I called the 817 number back and asked for them and They did not have a Officer Ricky Johnson or a Deputy O'Brien. Glad I research things before I hurry up to call someone back especially and I hate to say it someone with a thick accent. The first clue was he asked for Mr. Jones and I am a woman. Second clue was he said he was calling from a detention center, since when do detention centers make calls. He never said what the call was regarding, just I needed to call back today or I would be arrested at work or home. Here is the number 904-586-9861 ext 9747 Officer Ricky Johnson

I received several calls from 904-586-9861 at my work and a cell number. I just called them and very angrily told them NOT TO CALL ME ANYMORE AND THAT THIS IS A SCAM!!!!!!!

I was being harrassed at work. The first call came last week where I was given 12 hours to comply with money to repay my debt??? What debt??? Naturally, I did not reply within the 12 hrs so  this heavy Indian accent guy has called my office repeatedly. Before I answered the phone I view this website as well as a reverse phone number search. It revealed telemarketing. So when I answered I was very curt and I was told he could not talk to me because of my attitude and I would be arrested within 6 hours. I told him to bring it and hung up.

Each of us should call their number 20 times a day! See how THEY like it!!

I just called this number and told them they are a scam.. The guy hung up on me.

I had a message left in my cell phone from a man with a heavy Indian accent.  He told me I had to call Michael black within 12 hours or I would
Be arrested at my residence or at work.  The caller if showed a number that was from out of the country.  He gave me 904 586 9861.  I got a voicemail saying they were not available.  It was the same voice that was in my voicemail. I was initially very scared but googled the number and found this info.  This needs to be stopped ASAP!  I also had looked into online payday loans.  Do not give these ppl
Money!  SCAM!!!!

been getting the same calls he even called my work asking for me i told him was not here ask to speak to my manager i just hung up on him i had my manager listen to the messages he left on my cellphone!

I received a call today from an O'Brien with a very threatening phone call stating I would be taken into custody at my personal place and also at work.  I want to report this to the police.  This is harassment...and should not be allowed in our country.  We have too many rights here...as far as India....God Bless them for trying to take advantage of people in a difficult situation....karma's a bi***....

I want to report this to the police,  I had the same exact thing happen to me.  Who are these guys and how is this legal???

They call me up today  and said his name was Deputy Roger I need to speak to Michael Black if I don't I'll be arrested in six hours if I do not Call back  this is their investigations from Oceanside . They left message on my phone . Michael back extension 2061 . He had Indian accent . They need to stop this is not right. Scaring people like this . I have medical problem I am on this Ssi and this makes my medical problems worse . By scaring me and say I'm going to be arrested. . We all need help stop them .

Im glad I checked out the number too! I was stressed out and about to do what the guy said. Stupid scams!!
How do you get them to stop calling you or have your number?!?

I just got a call from Ricky Johnson 904-586-9861 saying he worked for US Federal Government in the Financial Crimes and Enforcement. He had a heavy indian accent. I could barely understand half of what he was saying. He said I owed money on an internet loan and that I needed to go to walmart and get a moneypak voucher and then call him with the authorization number. Sounds sketchy to me. And I don't think the actual federal government would care about a payday loan. And I pretty sure they wouldn't leave a detailed message with the front desk of why they are calling.

Got a call from an indian sounding man name officer Obrien saying he was preparing an arrest warrant and I had better call an officer named Ricky Johnson  904-586-9861 immediately to avoid arrest.  No legit police department would leave a message like that.

an officer Michael black said to put money on a money pak to pay an outstanding payday loan or I would be arrested in 6 hours if I wanted to make arrangemets for the rest I could save 300.00 and owe 451.00 after the first intial payment of 200.00 or pay the the 985.00 what a scam good thing I checked the number out

I applied for a loan online last week and today at work I get a phone call from these idiots saying I had a warrant for my arrest in Florida. The number he have me to call is 9045869861 ex.9747 for Ricky Johnson. This was on our local news last week.

I received a message from my superisor at work saying Mike Black from the BCI had called and I had 6 hours to resolve this issue.....the nerve of people!!

I got a call today on both of my phones on my cell phone plane they said
That he was an deputy Rogers with the missouri
Sheriff office and states that if I didn't call back and talk to an officer
Black that they would send investigating officers to my house or work in the next 12 hours

It is a scam.  First of all, debt is civil, not criminal, so no one is going to be arrested.  Secondly, no legitimate law-abiding business threatens you with arrest if you don't pay a debt.  Third, no legitimate law-abiding business asks you to pay a debt via Western Union, Green Dot, Vanilla or whatever other pre-paid card they ask for.

And last but not least - legitimate law-abiding businesses will not violate bankruptcy protection laws and ask you to pay a bill which was covered by bankruptcy.

A So called man from the Department of bureau of Criminal Investigations called me toda by the name of Michael black and told me I had to put my money on a moneypak card but little did he know I was cover by bankruptcy protection. He wasn't trying to hear that. he told me I had 30 minutes to get a moneypak card and put the money on it and he needed to stay on the phone while I do it and if I didn't do it I would be arrested in 30 minutes at my home or place of employment.... what if I get away with this type of thing? I called my attorney and he told me it was a scam and don't worry about it cause that's not the way that you do business

A man calling himself Trey Rogers left a VM and said a Federal officer named Michael Black would come to my office and arrest me.

They called me to dam scam artist talking bout I owe them on a loan must be crazy and when I found out it wasn't real they called my home numerous time I don't know what kind language your speaking but I understood very well asked can touch my tits and other body parts I will be reporting their a** that's harassment.

Phantom Debt Collectors From India Harass Americans, Demand Money

By BRIAN ROSS (@brianross) , CINDY GALLI and MATTHEW MOSK (@mattmosk)
June 7, 2012

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 was 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.

"If Mr. Patel was just a cog in the wheel he seems to have been a pretty big cog," Leibowitz said. "It is clear that Patel was integrally involved with this scam."

Leibowitz points to thousands of pages of financial and phone records gathered by the FTC and filed as part of a civil case brought against him in the U.S. District Court in Sacramento last month. When FTC lawyers sought to freeze his assets and prevent his business from continuing to operate, Patel responded by invoking his rights against self-incrimination. His lawyer told ABC News he has had to be careful in how he responds to the allegations in civil court "because there is a potential criminal action," but that Patel maintains the allegations against him are false.

Federal investigators said the phantom debt collection operation that allegedly benefitted from Patel's assistance was one of several that all trace back to the same small town in Western India called Ahmedabad. Callers use technology to make it appear that the calls originate inside the U.S. Victims provided ABC News with recordings of dozens of the calls, and many of the thickly accented callers appear to be reading off a script.

"Subpoenas have been readied, and Monday morning you're going to be picked up from your home," one caller says on a victim's voicemail. "And you have children. Don't worry about your children. We have a childcare department to take care of the children."

"You will be behind bars for six months," said another caller. "And once you go behind bars, you will lose your job. Once you are behind the bars, you won't get a single drop of water."

William Peerce Howard, a Tampa attorney who represents victims of harassment from debt collectors, said it takes an especially twisted criminal to use threats and coercion to pry money from someone who is already struggling financially

"These guys really are the most visible villains in America today," he said. "They make a living scaring people."

Mark Merola, of Florida, said he just panicked when the caller told him he might be arrested at the deli where he works in a Florida retirement community.

"I was nervous. I didn't want to embarrass myself, my family," he said. He used his debit card to pay the collector $576.

Afterwards, he says he realized "how stupid I was."

"It just happened so fast," he said. "I got scared."

Leibowitz said he hopes with more attention, future potential targets of the scam will recognize red flags before they turn over any money.

If callers say they are from the police, consumers should know that law enforcement officers do not collect debt for private parties. If the caller is speaking with a thick Indian accent, but calls themselves by a names such as Officer Mike Johnson, that should be a tip off. And if they're calling 40 times in two hours, that's another red flag. "Legitimate debt collectors, legitimate pay day lenders don't do those sorts of things," he said.

Merola said he would like to see anyone involved in the scam prosecuted aggressively.

"There's no place in society for these people," he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/phantom-debt-co ... 16512428&page=2

Got a call from this number saying he was an officer and a case has been filed against me.