I have been receiving threatening calls from a Charles and that he is calling from a lawyers office. He says I owe them money for a 300.00 personal loan that he says he has proof of, and that I am facing criminal charges for check fraud and a couple of other things. This person has all of my personal information.  He keeps telling me that someone is going to show up at my address. I know for a fact that I do not owe this money (they want 9000.00) and I also have proof. I am now afraid to be home alone for fear that some scammer might come knocking. I am nervous and scared.  Who are these people.

I received the same call many of you have mentioned yesterday, and the calls came from several different numbers including 760-453-0270, an Unknown number, and 214-570-0396. I was told initially that I was being contacted by a Daniel Stevens, who later identified himself as Steven and later was contacted by someone who used the "Lance Martin" alias. I was being asked to pay $963 and was told that I would have to appear in court in California (I, too, live in Ohio) on Monday. When I refused to commit to making payment I was asked why I was afraid to appear in court. I told him that I was not afraid to appear in court, but that I lived in OHIO! He told me they would pay for my flight!!!!! I finally agreed to make payment, but did not give him payment information. I was asked to write a very specific letter agreeing to make the payment and to take it and have it notarized and faxed to him by 12 noon. When I asked him if it was 12 noon Ohio time or California time and he was competely confused on the time difference. It was very obvious this call was overseas (although legitimate collections often are as well) and he was extremely vague as to who he represented or what I owed for.

Calls to my local law enforcement were comforting, but I was told there was little that could be done. I am interested to see if the calls continue or not. If they do, I will give them the number of the police officer I spoke with yesterday!!

Received a call from Lance Martin, Attorney - very thick Indian accent.  I am being charged with fraud and writing bad checks.  He will meet me in court - in California by the way - I live in OH.  I asked to speak to someone who spoke English so I could understand what I was being charged with and what the name of the Law Office was.  No response.  He also told me that he was representing some Loan company - but couldn't give me the name.  He also stated that if I could not afford an attorney he could have someone from his firm represent me.  That seems odd that he would be representing a Loan company, but he could have someone represent me (Can you say "Conflict of Interest").  I was never able to speak to someone who spoke English.  I have turned this over to the FBI and an attorney to look into this - I plan on suing this a**hole

I claimes bankrupcy ch 7 and i live i nj i owed credit cards and sutch..ive been working and happy with my future..these calls every 3 weeks or so keep hapening..if they were legit thed see on my credit i declared bankrupt and they know they cant collect..its very dishartening that people like us who are americans are working and trying to lead a good life is interupted by indians who i cant understand presing charges i called and made report with the police they said not to worry but its hard not too...just ignore the calls its a scam but it is scarry

OMG - Every few months I get the same kind of call - Saying that I have very serious charges that are going to be filed if I don't make payment on a payday loan - I have never recieved one so I can not owe... They have said that they are with different Law Firms that I can never get confrimation because of the accient and deliberate mumbling - They have worked for different Law Firms - So I have contacted the firms to let them know that some one is trying to use thier names in a scam.  Along with the number... that I have been given to call back on.

owe money on a loan I don't have. Same accentand rudeness.(714)497-4590

call from 415-366-9597.  I had someone call back from another number.  very threatening, heavy accent, hard to understand. Says they work for Lance Martin, who is an attorney.  scam.

I got the first call on my personal cell phone.  It came up as 'unavailable number' so i did not answer, which resulted in a threatening voicemail from an woman with a heavy indian accent, stating she was an attorney.  I wasn't able to understand much of what was said.  A few seconds after the voicemail had been left, I got a call at my desk at work from the same woman "Grace Marshall", claiming to be an attorney w/ the Cash Connect Law Firm.  I told her that was not a law firm & that before anything else took place, she needed to fax me any & all documentation regarding my supposed case.  I was told she didn't have to fax me anything & asked to hold.  I told her I was at work & didn't have time to deal with this right now & hung up.  The caller ID on my office phone showed (225)663-5567 LLM Services.  I will be reporting this to my local law enforcemnt & see how they suggest I proceed.

Same.  John smith .. heavy Indian Accent.. told me god bless and save me if I dont
pay money I supposedly owe???  called back and no answer.  scam

I got a call from 916-236-4575. Claims his name is Alexander Davenport, but he had a very heavy Indian accent. Left me a voicemail saying that if I don't call back, then he 'wishes me good luck'...that I should call or have my attorney call. Yeah, right...I've also been getting calls from unknown numbers and they claim I owe for a loan which I never had and I refuse to answer questions confirming my SSN or anything. They then get mad and start yelling so I just hang up.

This guy also said his assistant's name was Swain Hudson. He called me 3 & 4 times a day. I'm gonna inform my local law enforcement about this guy, everyone else shoul do the same.

I got a call from this no. 916-236-4578 he said is name was jeff frank and that I own a loan company 500. dollars or to court and pay 5000 dollars to dismissed this debt well I live in fla and I told him I will see my lawyer he said well I will see you in court and I hung up on him

Got a call at work & cellphone from this # (916)236-4578...left a msg saying I needed to call ASAP.  Time sensitive matter.  Didn't Say what company he was with, just his name was Monte Barker. Also calls 4 times a day on both work phone & cellphone.

i keep receiving phone calls from a Berry Black at 916-236-4575 asking if i have my attorney available and something about Check Connect and my owing them money. I have no idea who this is. He has an Indian accent and was very rude. i told him not to call me at work and he called back three times after this. he threatened a coworker to not lie to him about my not being able to come to the phone. I told him to not call me at work but he is still calling.

I got a call at work from this #  Some guy name Monte Barker.  When I called back, some guy said there was no-one by that name here.  he just kept saying my name over & over.  I told him to stop calling me.  then he called back on a different # 840.256.4261.  I reported it to FBI & FTC.

This Lance Martin who said his name was Anthony Stewart, called
me on Friday Oct.16, and I didn't get the message until today. When I called back this so called Anthony Stewart said I was having a case against me
for writing bad checks and having false documents concerning trying to get
a loan on line. He also said that I received funds from companies on false
documents. I have never wrote a bad check nor do I owe any cash company
money. This man has called my job and received all my information on line.
He said he was an attorney and that he was going to press charges against me.
I know I haven't done anything wrong but we need to stop this man before he
tries to runion someone's credit.

Tiffani McClain

I receved a voice mail from Anthony Stewart,916-236-4578 and it was a strange message.  He had a thick Indian accent.  I had a very hard time understanding him.  So I called 916-236-4578 and asked for Anthony Stewart.  But I was lucky I spoke with an attorney????  I was told that I had 35 counts of fraud and money laundry.  And he had my employer name, email address account, and my home address.  He told me that I needed to get 9,000.00 to pay off my on line loans.  Neeedless to say, I got very angry when he insisted that I get an attorney.  Why would I need an attorney when this place of business call, it's a restricted phone number.  I told him to mail those 35 counts of fraud and I will call my employer about this issue.

he is a lier

This is telephone harrassment!  He calls either 6 times in a row, sometimes no one is on the other end OR  he'll call 6 times a day spaced several hours apart. He says his name is Sean (or Shawn) Michaels from the Federal Credit Dept. He says he's a paralegal and there is a court order filed in my daughter's name. He is very arrogant, has a strong Indian accent, I hear several voices in the background as if they also are on the telephone. He at times does not understand my questions or chooses not to answer them. How do we get rid of this guy???  My daughter was in a bad financial situation but is now responsibly paying her way out. This is frightening! NONE of the ligitimate debt companies were this rude or forceful!

Name was Lance Martin (supposedly an attorney) said I was due in court in California (I reside in PA) for check fraud. Had all my ss# my sisters name, my mothers name, my old place of employment. Tried to ask for case doccet number, name of attorneys practice, I was hung up on 4 times.

I received a call from this individual also named Lance Martin who claimed he was a senior attorney representing Jefferson & Scott Law Firm. He said he was calling concerning a loan I had gotten form First Cash International. He said the loan was $300, but it cost them 4,000-5,000 to file charges and that I would need to get an attorney because they wanted their money. I told him that I don't have the account he was talking about and told him that I would contact the bank on monday concerning this. He hung up. Somebody needs to stop this guy, he's wrong. And how is he getting our personall info!!!

Received a call from Lance Martin, Attorney - very thick Indian accent.  I am being charged with fraud and writing bad checks.  He will meet me in court - in California by the way - I live in OH.  I asked to speak to someone who spoke English so I could understand what I was being charged with and what the name of the Law Office was.  No response.  He also told me that he was representing some Loan company - but couldn't give me the name.  He also stated that if I could not afford an attorney he could have someone from his firm represent me.  That seems odd that he would be representing a Loan company, but he could have someone represent me (Can you say "Conflict of Interest").  I was never able to speak to someone who spoke English.  I have turned this over to the FBI and an attorney to look into this - I plan on suing this a***ole

Fake Debt Collectors and Collection Tactics

If consumers did not have enough to worry about having to deal with rising credit card interest rates, late fees and over-limit fees, zombie debt, and fervent bill collectors, now we have to worry about collectors calling about fake debt.

While many legitimate collection agencies follow the FDCPA, there are some collectors out there that are only running a scam operation and will be quick to use threats and scare tactics to get you to pay up quick. Their scams turn up in mailboxes, on the internet and through the telephone every day. Some collectors pose as national banks, government agencies (FBI, CIA), or even popular celebrity stars to gain personal information. These phony collectors may threaten to repossess your house, issue a warrant for your arrest, or even garnish your pay check, all of which are against the FDCPA rules. Some of which are even laughable (for example, there is no debtor?s prison in the United States).

Fake debt scammers rely on the fear and lack of knowledge about debt collection laws within the population. They also figure that a certain percentage of their calls will be received by individuals who may be carrying debt on credit cards anyway and may be susceptible to intimidation. When collectors use misleading statements and fail to provide identification, they are breaking the law. Never pay money to a possible thief. Keep cool when you hear from collectors to avoid this collection abuse.

Many times, people who took out payday loans online in the past are most susceptible. If you took a payday loan, be aware scammers may have access to your Social Security number and other personal information, and keep your guard up against such tactics.

Ironically, real "deadbeats" probably wouldn't fall for these scammers, since they have no intention of repaying their creditors anyway. But upright citizens may doubt themselves, thinking they've forgotten to pay a bill. Many times, the sums involved tend to be fairly small, so some people may be tempted to just pay the "bill" and "get it over with."

Ways to Protect Yourself Against Debt Collection Scams

Review your credit report frequently to find inaccuracies.
Be aware of your current creditors and how much you owe.
Ask creditors for identification before you provide any information over the telephone.
Reporting Fake Debt Collectors

If you ever receive a call from anyone identifying himself as a debt collector, the law requires that the debt collector provide you with identification, and that the debt collector refrain from making misleading and threatening statements.

You can report any problems you have to your state Attorney General?s office www.naag.org and the Federal Trade Commission www.ftc.gov. Many states have their own debt collection laws that are different from the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Your Attorney General?s office can help you determine your rights under your state?s law.

http://www.internetautoguide.com/credit-cente ... on-tactics.html

I received another call from this line but it came as "blocked id" on my cell...his name is Wayne Hudson (?) and said it was time sensative and I needed an attorney.   This is a scam since I have dealt with this before and the people from this number would not give me a case # or anything when I requested one.

I too have received calls from this man, I contacted an attorney, he said it definitely sounded like scam to him.

Is there anything anyone can actually do about this? They have been harassing me for MONTHS, threatening me and getting me in trouble at work. They threaten to arrest me, they say "God help you as the weight of the world crashes down upon you" and things of that nature. They call me at work constantly. I asked them to provide me with verification of the debt which they said is impossible (of course, because it is a scam). They have literally been doing this to me for well over six months and I can't believe I haven't been fired yet-I keep getting warnings about these "personal" calls and have been written up, but I can't make them stop! I have called the police, filed a complaint with the FBI and the FTC and none of them had an answer for me. Who can protect us from this? I'm going to lose my job!!!

ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN VICTIMIZED BY THESE PEOPLE PLEASE EMAIL ME AT DIRKDIGGLERINJERSEY@YAHOO.COM I HAVE BEEN CONTACTED BY THE SAME PEOPLE AND HAVE 3 RECORDED CONVERATIONS OF THESE IDIOTS BREAKING EVERY LAW IN THE BOOK I HAVE COMPLAINTS PENDING WITH THE FBI SECRET SERVICE AND ATTORNEY GENERAL THEY HAVE CALLED ME FROM 916-236-4578 AND 4579 PLEASE CONTACT ME SO WE CAN NAIL THESE PEOPLE....I JUST HAPPEN TO BE A COLLECTIONS MANAGER AND THEY CALLED THE WRONG GUY

Received 2 voicemails from a east Indian (from India)claiming to be Sean Michaels then started with my name said to contact my attorney ect... He ended the conversation sounding Very Threatening... I received the 2 voicemails with an hour of each and could not get anyone at the phone no then called again and they hung up 3rd time mailbox full... This is a scam coming from California

Of course he is not going to give you any information...because he has NOTHING to give you!

This scam has been going on for well over a year, now and has been recognized as such by the BBB:

Chicago, IL ? August 5, 2009 ? The Better Business Bureau is issuing an alert about phony debt collectors that are calling consumers nationwide and claiming that they have defaulted on a payday loan and will be arrested if they don?t pay immediately. Claiming to be lawyers, the scammers say they are with the ?Financial Accountability Association? or the ?Federal Legislation of Unsecured Loans? and are equipped with a disconcerting amount of personal information about their potential victims.

?Because the scammers have so much information about potential victims, the BBB is concerned that this may be the result of a data breach,? said Steve J. Bernas, president & CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and Northern Illinois. ?Thousands of people may have had their personal information compromised, and given the scammers? tactics, it appears that those who have previously used payday loan services could be particularly at risk.?

According to reports received by the BBB and posted online, the scammers accuse the victim of defaulting on a payday loan and claim they are being sued. The phony debt collector threatens that, if the victim doesn?t pay as much as $1,000 immediately via wire or by providing bank account or credit card numbers, he or she will be arrested and extradited to California within the hour to stand trial. The scammers often may have the victim?s Social Security, old bank account numbers or driver?s license numbers as well as home addresses, employer information and even the names of personal friends and professional references.

The BBB offers the following advice to consumers if they receive a suspicious telephone call about an outstanding debt:
* Ask the debt collector to provide official documentation in writing which substantiates the debt.
* Do not provide or confirm any bank account, credit card or other personal information over the phone until you have confirmed the legitimacy of the call.
* Review recent copies of your credit reports to ensure that the alleged debt is not affecting your credit. Consumers can do this for free once every 12 months, and can find more information here: http://www.ftc.gov/freereports
* Under the Federal Trade Commission's Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or abuse any person while attempting to collect a debt.
* A debtor may be contacted between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. only and can be contacted at work unless instructed not to.
* File a complaint with the FTC online if the caller is abusive, uses threats or otherwise violates federal telemarketing laws.
* File a complaint with BBB online at www.bbb.org if you believe a debt collector is trying to scam you.

http://www.thinkglink.com/article/2009/08/06/ ... eading-says-bbb

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-618-5897

This is a very active group of scammers, many of whom are calling from India (and probably other countries) and are in cahoots with a group of American pay day loan scammers. They attempt to extort money from consumers with a myriad of false and illegal threats, and alternately pose as debt collectors, federal and state law enforcement officers, lawyers and bankers. Their trademark is to use meaningless legalese gobblygook phrases like "We are downloading warrants against you" or "We are filing an affidavit against you." Another trademark phrase is to threaten the consumer with something like this ridiculous phrase: "If you don't pay then only God can help you."

Typical of many financial scams of this variety, they usually demand payment via Western Union or MoneyGram or credit card. They use any number of phony names such as US National Bank, Federal Investigation Bureau, US Legal Investigation Bureau, Hopkins Law Office, United Legal Processing, Morgan Associates, United Pay Services, National Processing, White Collar Crime Unit and many more.  These criminals also use many phone numbers from many area codes; they're probably using caller-id spoofing software and/or VoIP to disguise their real location.

The main thing to remember is that anytime someone calls you demanding money to prevent your arrest, or demanding your lawyer's name so they can sue you, it is ALWAYS a scam. No debt collector (let alone criminals posing as debt collectors) has the authority to have anyone arrested for anything. (And it's illegal to them to threaten such a thing.) And since these foreign dirtbags routinely impersonate law enforcement, it's also important to remember that American law enforcement officers aren't in the business of debt collection.  (Debt is a civil, not a criminal, matter.)

The bottom line is, these are criminals trying to steal your money.

A consumer posting a complaint about these same scammers at http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-718-831-7157 notes that 718-831-7157 is associated with an India-based "outsourcing" telephone bank.  Though a reverse search on WhitePages.com shows that 718-831-7157 is an unlisted land line in New York City, information on Debtbuyers.Com shows that that number is used by India-based Intellisourze. (Source: http://www.debtbuyers.com/debtbuyers.asp ) My guess is that it's a VoIP phone number.

This is another piece of the puzzle that fits in perfectly with other information about this scam. There are some reports on 800Notes that have suggested that the crooks behind this offshore scam are also the crooks behind the notorious Bass/Ellis Crosby & Assoc./States Predisposition scams in Florida and Georgia. The interesting thing is that the number of complaints on here about the US National Bank/US Legal Investigation/Federal Investigation scam skyrocketed *after* April 7, 2008 when Florida obtained a $1.3 million judgment against Ted Ellis Crosby, shutdown his operations and barred him from ever conducting debt collections in Florida (Read http://myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsrel ... 5257424005858A6 ) There's certainly a good chance that the crooks placing these calls from India are doing so on behalf of the American crooks behind the Crosby/Bass/States Predisposition scams.

Here's the contact information for the phone bank in India:

IntellisOurzE BPO
701, Sapphier, Nr. Cargo Motors,
C.G. Road Navrangpura,
Ahmedabad - 9. (Guj.) INDIA.
E-Mail: info@intellisourze.com
Website: www.intellisourze.com

A check on the domain name "intellisourze.com" shows that the website and name registration was created on May 8, just one month *after* the Crosby scams were shut down in Florida:

Domain Name: INTELLISOURZE.COM
Registrant:  Pragra Infratech Pvt. Limited.
Email:  ankur.ranpariya@pragra.com  
908, Aksaht Tower, Nr. ICICI Bank
Opp. Rajpath Club, S.G. Highway
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India 380054
Tel. +91.7926871353
Creation Date: 08-May-2008
Expiration Date: 08-May-2009
Domain servers in listed order: ns5.znetindia.com ns4.znetindia.com
(Source: http://whois.domaintools.com/intellisourze.com )

Though scam calls from these crooks have been going on long before May 8, the frequency of complaints about these calls increased considerably after Crosby was shut down in early April.

This is conjecture, but appearances suggest that Crosby and company were originally running a two-pronged payday loan scam operation -- with some calls being made from Jacksonville, Florida and other calls being made from a phone bank in India (and possibly other countries); then, after the Florida Attorney General shut down the Crosby scams in Florida, the Crosby crooks transferred most of their scam efforts to the India phone bank.

If you are targeted by these criminals, be sure to report them to all the following federal and state law enforcement agencies (most of which you can do online or over the phone):

1) Alert the FBI at https://tips.fbi.gov  Be sure to tell the FBI that you are being targeted by extortionists over the phone. And if the crooks claim to be law enforcement, lawyers, officers of the court or bankers, or if they threatened you with arrest, be sure to include that information in your report.

2) File a complaint online with The Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en

3) File a complaint with your local police. Most police departments will take a report over the phone.  Be sure to tell them that you're being targeted by an extortionist and give them all the details.

4) The caller placed the call under a Texas area code. Even though the caller ID was probably spoofed or they're using VoIP technology to hide the fact that they're really calling from overseas, you should also file a complaint with the Texas Attorney General at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/complain.shtml

5) File a complaint your state's attorney general, the contact information for whom is at www.naag.org

6) The U.S. Secret Service is responsible for protecting the country's financial infrastructure and payment systems from international and domestic threats. Call or write your local Secret Service field office to alert them to the details of this attempted extortion. The addresses and phone numbers for the local Secret Service field offices are listed at http://www.secretservice.gov/field_offices.shtml or in your phone book.

If these crooks call back, promise them nothing, pay them nothing and tell them nothing other than that you know they're a scam and that you've reported them to law enforcement. (And be sure to report them to all the agencies above each time they call you.)

By the way, here's just a small sample of numbers used by this particular group of scammers. Read the reports and you'll see the same pattern time and again -- phony organization names, thick foreign accents, and oddly worded threats that are so melodramatic and ridiculous that it's laughable:

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-925-262-1327
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-678-954-6346
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-341-4004
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-856-831-0640
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-949-743-1140
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-410-505-8128
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-917-464-2534
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-210-858-6602
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-775-2121
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-949-743-1156
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-245-1402
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-245-0922
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-723-5572
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-904-425-2863
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-718-831-7157
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-904-425-2857
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-858-244-0444
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-954-678-9724
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-610-571-3252
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-909-8245

...and, many, MANY more.

Got a call and a male said that his name was franklin. Stated that he was charging me with bank fraud and check deception on a payday loan. Would not give me any info on the phone. Had all of my personal information as well.