I recieved a message at my work place.  The guy had an Indian accent and did not understand half of what he was saying.  He did mation something about speaking to my attorney and if I did not call this number 951-306-1210 he just wished me good luck.  I called the number today and the line is disconnected.  I did apply for a payday loan online and there was a transaction on my bank account that I did not authorize and I had to file a claim with my bank and closed my account so it does not happen again.

Same thing happened to me at  7;30 am called and stated had a lawsuit against me had my ss# and asked my name . first person did not say who he was but to call this # 951-306-1210 so I did he said he was david cooper attorney from justice dept of ca and I was being sued did not say from who what where .. I said I have to go to work he said you will be arrested ny 12 noon at work !! my sig other took phone and was trying to find out what was going on no imfromation wuld he give him  but to say your wife will be arrested by 12 noon he ask for his bar assoc # was given as190203 and called my sig other an idot !! I cant bel how someone could get anyway with behavior I almost had car accident on and my way to work and my dad is very sick I hope they get this person who is doing this and the first person sounded like a indian voice and calls back 2 hrs later and said if you ingore this i wish you luck this call took place on 8/14/12 and I did apply for a loan online week before do not apply for any  payday loan online

Receive a called from this number saying my husband need to call him back or have his Att. call and said it's about case number 9513061210 you can tell he was reading something and didn't realize that he messed up. called the number back it was not in service. These people need are stupid using the same number. I hope no one gives these people any money

CALLER MENTIONED HIS NAME AND WHERE HE WAS CALLING FROM BUT I COULDNT REALLY UNDERSTAND HIM BUT HE CLAIMED THAT THERE IS A LAW SUIT AGAINST MY NAME AND SSN HE GAVE ME A NUMBER TO CALL BACK AND TALK TO A DAVID COOPER AT 951-306-1210 EXT 246
HE SAID IT MIGHT SOUND BUSY JUST KEEP CALLING UNTIL LINE CLEARS! HE SAID THIS GUY MR.COOPER WOULD EXPLAIN ALL THE DETAILS AS TO Y I AM GETTING SUED

Same story here, called and made legal threats, this man said he had my ss# and he actually did, Said that someone was going to arrest me if I did not take care of this legal matter, I told him he was a fraud and a liar and told him to take my number off his list and that I was going to call the police myself. I hung up and he continued to call me, Until I was able to block his number, Very hard to understand his words except when it came to the scam of the legal matter. According to this man there will be someone at my door steps tomorrow to arrest me.

This fool called my work phone and cell phone. Beyond pissed!!! I have a block on this number now but this guy had all sorts of information. But I knew for a fact that I did not have a payday loan out. Saying that he was a lawyer at a law firm...dummy I work for a law firm and know what you are supposed to do regarding debts and telling someone that you will have them arrested and someone will be at their job by 1pm is not the way to go. I cussed this guy out and told him my uncle who works as a police officer will be in contact with him. He even had the nerve to get smart and told me to shut my face...Please be careful what you fill out online...

A man claiming to be Calvin Smith has been calling my place of employment. He is leaving a message claiming to be from the Federal Legal Dept (a Law Firm). The man does not speak English very well at all. He too has my SS# and DOB. He is claiming that I owe over $20,000 in fraudulent checks and that if I will settle by 3pm today, the government will settle for $16,000. First of all, I asked for someone that spoke ENGLISH because I could not understand him. He got very upset and started accusing me of being a criminal and the law was coming after me. Then,  I told him I haven't written any fraudulent checks, nor have I ever. He told me the government didn't lie, this was no prank call, and if I didn't settle this debt today he would contact my employer and tell them that I was a criminal. Not only that, but I would be arrested for this crime.

Also received a voicemail message from this number. The person sounded like he was from India. He said that there were warrants attached to my ssn.  He asked for the number for my atty. I aid I would call him back. Called back about 15 mins. later. asked him information about the loans. He put me on hold for a couple of minutes then he line went dead. Called back several times, but line was busy. When line finally became clear, it just rang and rang, so I hung up. Called tis morning. When he answered the phone, he immediately said, "What is it (my name)?, but I even uttered a word. I said I'm trying to clear this stuff up. His response was pay $200, but gave no further info. and then hung up. There it is.

This same man called my phone, i'm in the navy so my jag officer looked into it for me. The guy that has called everyone gets your number from online applications that you fill out; things suck as: loans, apartments, ect. The thing that sucks is that theres nothing we can really do because the number can't be traced since its a server switch board. Just ignore the number or do like i did and call your cell carrier and have them block the number. Ihope this information helps.

Mr. Peter Black left a detailed voicemail message on my answering machine on Monday, August 13, 2012. When I attempted to return his telephone call, the telephone line was busy.  After four unsuccessful attempts to contact the office were made, the telephone line was clear, and when I asked to speak with Mr. Black, the individual on the other line indicated that there was no one by that name that worked in the office. He later indicated to me in the same telephonic conversation that Mr. Black did work in the office.  As I waited to speak with Mr. Black, I could hear a lot of chatter in the background, and just as what has been previously blogged, Mr. Black indicated that he worked for CashNet USA and that I had taken a loan for $495.00.  He did not provide me with a date as to when I purportedly procured the loan, and he further did not substantiate to me that I owed a debt to his purported client.  Not only did he threaten to file a civil lawsuit against me, but he also threatened to have me arrested if I did not pay the aforementioned debt within 20 minutes of our conversation, which was extremely suspicious, as these actions are in direct violation of the Fair Debt and Collection Practices Act.  I explained to him that I do not have any personal loans.  Since Mr. Black was unable to effect his scam against me, he indicated to me to have my attorney contact him and stated verbatim:  "best of luck to you".

I researched Mr. Black's name on the California Bar Association website, and while there is one Peter Black in the State of California, his primary business is in Orange County and not Riverside County for which is the number that the call was made from (Hemet).  I also contacted the "Peter Black" on the California Bar Association website, and he indicated that he was not affiliated with the matter, and that most likely it is a scam to obtain "fast" money from its victims.

I filed a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), filed a police report with my local police department, reported my checking account since they were in possession of confidential information, and filed a fraud alert with all three (3) major credit bureaus.

While I admit that I did initially apply for an online loan, I never accepted any of the offers.  Apparently, these scam artists have taken my personal and financial information, and are trying to utilize "scare tactics" to collect on a non-existent debt.

this same person called me at my work at 7;00  am and said he was calling me from a attorneys office  from california..   I laghed  at him and called him a scammer,,  there is NO attorney  going to call me in indiana at 7;00 am from california,,  that would be  3;00  A.M  in  cali..   GOOFY...

I was contacted at work and on my cell. I called back and he said his name is David Cooper but had a heavy accent. I told him he must have called my number by mistake and not to call again. He did not say a word and I also told him that I am notifying the police. He still said nothing.

Someone saying his name is Bob called my work and left this number for me to call back.  I called and it was just a busy signal.  They left a message with my coworker that I need to call ASAP about this legal matter.  This is probably the same scam that called my house yesterday from a different number and left a message to have my attorney call them.  That number was just a busy signal too.  I don't think they have my full social security number or bank account info.  If they did, they would probably just steal money out of my account instead of trying to bully me into giving them money.

My boyfriend and I keep getting these calls from this number. When I finally answered it was an indian guy asking for attorney information becasue my boyfriend was being sued for not paying back a loan (which by the way he never applied nor recieved. He was cking into payday loans online but due to high intrest rates never accepted any offers). When asked what it was in regards to he stated that a company in CA was suing him for faliure to pay back a loan. He gave the number inwhich to call, which turned out to be the same number he was calling from, and ask to speak to a David Cooper which was the attorney working the case. He provided an extenstion of 346, but when calling the number the supposive Atty David Cooper answered without dialing an extention and never annouced himself as Attry David Cooper until asked if he was the Attry. He was very unprofessional for an attorney and when I stated to him that he didn't act like an attry he got irrate. Them he began to read some script and i asked myself..." what attorney needs to read a script to a potiental defendant?" When I asked for a case number all he could respond with was "I dont have a case number. All i can provide for you is the last date inwhich this company tried to withdraw money for the payment." WHAT!!!!  What case do you know of that goes to court and being announced as " case number June 12th 2012?"  So my thoughts were to call this number again and again (as they did us) and see what name is given when called after business hours. Never made it pass 2 rings and a busy signal. (LOL) I have never heard of an attry that has an office and working with other legit attorneys just answer the phone with a simple but rude HELLO. I am kind of relieved to see that I was not wrong in my assumption that this was some type of scam for money. My boyfriend and I are down on our luck and havent been employed regularly for about a year and currently homeless. And when I told this supposive attry that my boyfriend and I are living on the streets he stated that the orginal bill of 3486.87 would be excused if I payed 486.87. When I told him that we dont even have a roof over our head how in the world would I be able to pay that. He again dropped it to 200.00 to clear the balance. I again explained that we are homeless he stated to call back in 30 mins so he can see what he could do. We waited and called back and then all of a sudden he says I dont know what you are talking about and I dont know of no such case????? WHAT!!!! How crazy! I pray that those committing this crime are judged accorddingly. Even though the call center workers are not the ones who opened the business, out of moral they should have some type of idea that what they are doing is wrong. If you are being asked to call random numbers and threathen people who tell you that you know you own no such money to anyone or even that you have no home (which case leads to knowing they have no money), then morally they should go to their supervisor and stand up for whats right has a human being and not continue to be a robot and do as they are told. Somewhere the line has to be drawn as to what a human being is willing to do for money.  ( now i feeel better)

This number called me this morning and scared the crap out of me. They said I had a negligent bill of 733 dollars. They had my bank info as well as my last 4 of my social. I called my bank and everything still seemed to be in order. My girlfriend kept telling me it was a scam so I tried messing with him a bit, I called him back saying I talked to my lawer and my bank but before I could say another word he said F my bank and hung up on me! Well let me tell you I'm not the most pleasant Irishman once you get on my bad side. So I use my girlfriends phone (different num) to call him back and I acted like a cop. What an a#s this guy was. So needless to say I gave him the business. The whole time though he kept saying Fu officer, and things to that nature. Now what kind of REAL business would let their employees  talk to people like that let alone a police officer. My suggestion, block his num. Or mess with him a bit.

This number called me and left a message asking for me or my attorney to call them back. It was clearly an Indian guy claiming his name was Ryan Davis and that if I nor my attorney called him back all he could do is "wish me luck as things un-fold on me"

I Just got a call from this number.  After I told him that I have no business with him and hang up, he call back and read my home address and the last 4 numbers of my SS and left a message that a sheriff will come and arrest me because there is a law suite against me

this guy said he was from the crime dept in new York with complaints on my name so i did a reverse lookup and the number came up as a debt collector

I got two voice mails and finally picked up on the third call he said he was from the federal law dept. his name was John Walter  heavy accent  he couldn't give me any information and gave me a # to call 95-306-1210. @ ext.346 David Cooper. I called the # it was always busy. I got a reminder call today from John telling me to make the call I told him the line was busy he said he would contact the office to let them know I was trying to call and said to hang and call now. to my surprise  the phone rang and I spoke w a guy name Mark Richard I ask to speak to David cooper he said he was busy and I need to talk with him he was a attorney working for Russell Miller law firm and they had 3 charges against me. when I started to ask him questions he got mad and said he didn't have much time to talk to me and advised me to get an attorney. then hung up on me. I called back he  said I need to shut up and listen he was sending a warrant to the county I live in and have police offers come to my  home and my job to arrest me. I told him I was going to sue him and his office if I'm arrested and also I have this call recorded for the Attorney General office to hear. he hung up.  I changed my account  at the bank and have fraud alert on my credit.

Sherri I applied for a loan online to im worried as well

I just got a call from this number to. It came through on my husband phone but they asked for me I said she wasn't available due to the accent but took the name and number to have her call back! I don't like this and don't know what to do.

And to the FTC: https://econsumer.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

I got the calls from this guy today saying I am being sued! He wont stop calling me. He gave me a number to call that is always busy. Can I report this to the police??

Tell your employer and co-workers what happened before he calls your place of work so they know what to expect. Consider everything you gave them to be compromised. Some say you should place a fraud alert on your credit file. Replace your bank account. Do not borrow money online unless it's with well known established entities. Safer to borrow from local lenders like credit unions.  http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/

What can you do with your bank account short of closing?  Was the bank able to give you any support to keep this person from getting into your account?

This man is also calling me and making threats (messages on my voicemail since I haven't answered his calls).  What happens if I just never answer his calls?  Has he quit calling you?  I am afraid he could take money out of my bank account or something.  I can block the number from my phone but am worried about any reprocussions.  I also don't want him calling my employer.  Can you let us know if anything further has happened to you?  I did apply for a loan online so am afraid he must have lots of personal info.  What do I do?  Thanks

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

Sounds like the same call I got yesterday.  Had my attorney call him
Also, contacted my bank because of all the my info he had.

Tues. Aug. 7,2012  At 10:45 a.m. my husband & I received  a call on our home phone which was picked up by our ans. machine. When we listened 2 the msg. it  was from a man calling himself Ricky Gurbin (?) saying that  I shouldn't ignore this call but that my att. or myself should call back as soon as I got this msg. 'cause some sort of charges were being brought against my name & my social. When I tried 2 call him back the phone rang & rang then went 2 a busy signal. I tried 2 call sev. more xs w/ the same result. We couldn't understand a lot of what he said 'cause of his accent. He was definitly not American sounding & we couldn't understand 1/2 of what he said. He never said what co. he was calling from or why these supposed charges were being brought against me. I have still not spoken w/ him or ant1 else from this #. This # was 951-306-1210.

This man called several times and I finally answered his name was dwight telling me that i have 3 criminal charges barely could understand his indian accent which was enough to know he was a fake, he knew the last 4 of my social my address where i work, He said i will be going to court for these charges , and told me to call a diff number to find out what my charges were BECAUSE he could nott release the info. I hung up and immediatly called the local police, they said its a scam for people to pay the "fines" then they have bank account info .the next day he continued to call and I told him the police are aware of his scam I then hung up he continued to call back to back, i answered the phone and sat silently he said "try what you want i will send you a bill for the fines''.. I had to block his number and now its nice and quiet, after more research he says you have criminal charges to get you scared, if the police or FBI really had criminal charges against you they would arrest you first then you would go to court... do not believe this mambo jambo