I got about 6 voicemails from some wacko Indian Accent germ telling me to have my attorney call him asap and if I did not then a mess would unfold on me. I called him back and he read a script and tried to con me into settling a lawsuit out of court.  It was a scam, I had no such lawsuit. This guy is a thief, gave me an American name of John Smith. What a lier and a lowlife.  I called the FBI, FTC and my local police to tell them about the wacko, they said to not give any information and record the calls.  They also said they are aware of these Scammers and this is becoming a big scam and these guys are terrorizing Americans into thinking that have lawsuits and thus sending this thieves money.  Do not send money or talk to thes Jerks.

Caller will not identify who is calling.  The Caller ID says Unknown Number. I do not answer, but they leave very threatening messages that the call must be retuned immediately or ........ Attempts to return the call are fruitless...the line is always busy.  Only once did someone answer and then that was more frustrating.  The party spoke so fast that NO ONE could understand what they were saying.  They would not say who they were representing and what the call was about.  They only asked "personal" questions for which I refused to answer.  I've searched all databases for the number.  It shows that it is a landline in Ft. Lauderdale, but information about it is unavailable.

This man who calls himself "Brad" Keeps calling leaving threatng messages on my voicemail. I am getting angrey and want it to stop. Any suggestions?

I recieved a call from these fools.....they defintaley got my information from pay day loans. when i applied for those loans i had to give a reference and her phone number....now they are also calling my friends number asking for me. so now they have my social security number and everything else!! the guy was clearly indian and said his name was steve matthew. the last thing on the message was that he wished god blessed me and then threatened me!!

This guy named Brad Smith called me and my friend saying that we were going to be arrested monday the 23rd i am  i little confused does any one know what i can do

had the same thing idiot called said he was going to have my wife myself and another friend arrested on monday for non payment caller identified himself as brad smith and also had the indian accent that everyone else has mentioned this far

This guy first used the name "John Smith" and then then "Steven Knox." Called my place of business asking to speak to one of my employees saying he is being sued. I told him to get lost and never call back. Didn't stop him.

got call from this number today saying to call back ASAP or I will be arrested and put into jail. Caller ID showed up as Unknown. Contacted my lawyer and he said its a scam. Caller said name was Jeff Johnson and I could not understand him at all. Do NOT answer or give out any information. IT IS A SCAM!!!!

I too have received calls from this number.  I called back and caller identified himself as Jeff Johnson or somthing like that.  Got the same message, you are being sued, you must pay, or the consequences are on you.  The scumbag even called a friend of mine; no idea how he got the number.  Claims I owe money to some payday loan company; have never taken payday loan.

I did succeed in getting name of "lawyer" in Florida, who is "going to sue me."  Called and got anserwing service who said no one will be in the office til next week.  This is clearly a scam and if they call you, DO NOT give them any information, tell them you know they are a scam and hang up.  I'm sending letter to Attorney General in Florda.

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

Number shows being out of Ft. Lauderdale but its a phony also.
This is a number from a Scammer.
Be careful if they call you.  Don't divulge any information.

To the Michael Above, these Guys called me on and off for several months. Different names and different numbers. They impersonate lawyers and police officers and will tell you that there is a lawsuit against you.  It's a lie, don't believe them.  They had me running scared for awhile saying that I had a lot suit filed on me...They would never tell me by whom or what for, just a debt, and they tried to portray themselves as running to my rescue so if I sent them funds right away then I wouldn't be sued and have to pay court cost and be arrested.  I called my county dA and court clerk and they told me that there was no such lawsuit against me and they had been getting a lot of complaints from people with stories just like mine.  

The number comes up anonymous but the call back number they give you in the voicemails is 954-446-9209 (this week) next week the number may change and so will the names, sometimes they forget while you talking to them what name they are using, these scammers are very crude, nasty and idiots.  

Don't let them scare you into sending them money, they are criminals and will lie to you. They even told me the sheriff would be coming for me way back in May and I'm still waiting.  They are simply con men from India I think because they have Indian Accents with American names.  Don't believe a word they say, don't give them any information, and they will try to get you to confirm your social security number, don't tell them anything but you know they are scammers. Also, record your conversations with them because I'm having my voicemails and conversations put on the internet and newspapers, radio, tv. to alert other Americans about these scammers.

You will not be arrested and no one will show up at your house to arrest you and by chance someone does, call your local police station because they will be impersonators and may rob you.  But I don't think it will go that far because if these scammers started showing up on MY doorsteps I would crack their skulls and in Texas where I am from we have deer rifles etc.....hahaha and we don't take kindly to swindlers.  So don't be afraid and don't be scammed.  I would also suggest you change your banking account and keep a close eye on your credit reports.  

What I have written is correct but also surf the net and talk to consumer attorneys or agencies and they will tell you what I am saying is or has been confirmed.

These Indian Accent scammers calling themselves Michael Smith, John Smith are all scammers.  Don't talk with them, don't give them any information. Report them

They called my phone, left a message, and then proceeded to call my work!  Asking and 'confirming' the last 4 of my SSN, then asked if XX/XX/XXXX was my Date of birth?!?!  Who are these people!?  I suppose if they never get any answer from me on ANYTHING and I tell them they have the wrong information they will stop calling??  Hmmm.....

have also been contacted by these scam artists. Officer John and Vincent Smith  have called me and threatened me with arrest and prison time. I contacted my state attorney general, the Federal Trade Commission and the Texas attorney general. <b>They gave me an address in New York and when my attorney general sent them a certified letter it turned out to be the address to a public library  I have not heard from these people for months after I told them what steps I have taken and then 2 days ago I heard from their legal department again asking if I knew about the paperwork that they have filed against me. I told the Indian accented guy to bring it on because I needed to get their information to the FTC, the attorney generals of 2 states and to my lawyer so that I could sue them for their illegal activities. The guy sputtered and hemmed and hawed and said thay they would get back to me.

His phone number came up as anonymous and he did not want my attorneys information and then hung up. They like to try and play hardball but dont like it when you play back, they are looking for sheep to prey on but dont like it if you turn out to be a wolf instead."

Contact your state Attorney General, FTC, and FBI to file complaints.  Some have reported that complaints to local police have been effective, since they are often impersonating law enforcement officers, and when local police call back, it is pretty clear they aren't going to succeed in scamming your so they stop calling.

These guys will try and use scare tactics to convince you to pay them money. If you do, then you are wasting your money down the drain. This is a scam, believe me, a big scam that is gaining popularity but as they keep up with it more people are becoming aware.

I am saving their conversations and voicemails to be played on tv and radio to alert Americans about the scammer organizations who are no doubt terrorist from overseas.  They might be planning to attack US citizens again and need money and they are liers and thieves.  Report them, do not send them any money.
John Smith is a coward and any other alias name he uses, his real name probably is Hussein or Shahid or something but they use American names, Vincent Smith, John Connor, Steven Smith and on and on.

Be smart, don't fall prey to these scumbags

John Smith you coward, stop calling me for I will NEVER send you one dime, I know you are a lier and a thief and a terrorist.  YOu are pondscum and a retarded idiot that cannot speak English.
Get a job, ever think about that.

ABC news did a report about these losers - they hacked into payday loan sites and stole the information
You cannot be arrested for a debt period!
If they call again tell them you know it is a SCAM and hang up PERIOD

They use different names and numbers. They are liers and thieves.  If you think you owe someone, its certainly not these criminals.  They are terrorist working to scam and hurt americans.  Report them to the FBI

ID came up Unknown but he identified himself as brad Smith

A stupid idoiot called me from this number,  he had an Indian accent and told me that I needed to call home or have my attorney of record call him asap or all he could do was wish me good luck as a bad situation unfolds on me.  I guess that was suppose to scare me.

What a crock of manure.?  I didn't just fall off the turnip truck.  
If someone calls you from this number, it is alread confirmed, its a thief and a lier.

Indian scammers is what they are, trying to extort money out of hardworking Americans.  File a complaint with the police.

This number is from a Terrorist Scammer, they have many different numbers and names, your information has either been stolen or sold and they are trying to scam money from you.  They have Indian or Nigerian accents and they prey upon people that are stupid, don't be stupid.  They will try to phish information out of you, don't tell them anything and do not send them any money.  I would report them to the FBI, Secret Service, FTC, and my states attorney general and even my local police.  These guys use threats and try to scam you bigtime.  Interpol will eventually shut them down, but until then Don't send John Smith, John Conner or any of these aliases any money, if you do, it is money to help fund their terrorist efforts on the United States of America.

Im JC (birth name not being provided here for obvious reasons - scams), I receive a phone call at approximately 5:13pm from an anonymous phone number according to my caller ID.  I did not answer because I don't answer anonymous phone calls, instead I let it go to my voicemail.  At approximately 5:14pm, a Joel Smith or John Smith (with a strong foreign accent) left me a voice message regarding another individual I know, GM (birth name not being provided here for obvious reasons - scams), whom allegedly gave my name as a reference.  He knew my full name and my acquaintance's full name.  He left a message telling me that I needed to inform my acquaintance that a law suit had been filed against her and that she needed to contact him at 954-446-9209 as soon as possible to discuss the case unfolding against her.

I sent my acquaintance a text message informing her of the message.  She called me back around 6pm and being confused we called this man back via 3-way call.  During the first call, he did not know I was on the phone as he claimed that GM was being sued for $5484.87.  And because I was listed as a reference on her loan I was also being sued for $5484.87.  And then he wanted us to not interrupt him while he read the alleged affidavit for GM regarding some PayDay loan that she allegedly took out in Sept 2007 and never repaid (no exact day provided).  She never signed up for a PayDay loan in 2007.  Before he began reading the affidavit, our call was disconnected.

This gave us time to breathe and GM called me back, we were obviously confused and scared, I guess due to the tactics used and legal lingo used.  But we called the 954-446-9209 number back again, explained our being disconnected, notified him that I (JC) was on the phone since I was person whom he left the voice message with.  He informed me that I was in trouble because of my acquaintance (GM).  Then he proceeded to read the alledged affadavit regarding GM in reference to a supposedly $300 PayDay loan taken out via email address (which was actually provided).  And since PayDay failed to get their money back, they decided to 'write off the debt' and simply forward the matter to an attorney.  We were both being sued for $5484.87 each along with another acquaintance listed as a reference (whom's name he could not even pronounce properly).

Of course to be honest, we were scared as h***, scared sh**less.  But to understand what was going on, we started asking questions about the alledged lawsuit.  What was the exact date the loan was requested by GM, what was the exact date the money was allegedly deposited in GM's account (and yes he actually knew the bank name), we asked for the exact account number for verification.  He said that we had the account number (which I'm sure he didn't have now that we're calm).  He would not give us the exact date of the loan request or the exact date of loan deposit; he claims that he has the information but doesn't have access to the record at this time and when asked again later he said 'you're supposed to have that information' and then he later said, he has it but he's not to divulge that information (something like that).

He said that GM would be served a subpoena and affidavit at work by police officers and arrested at that exact time from her job at approximately 11am.  He mentioned that various attempts had be made to serve her papers online.  He said that PayDay America Cash Advance had attempted to contact via email 26 times.  We think that he said that they had attempted to deliver affadavit papers and subpoena papers to GM before.  He mentioned some crap saying that the PayDay Loans contract notified GM that they would only contact her via email regarding the loan due (that didn't sound right).  To our knowledge PayDay Loans will contact your phone number and then contact your references via phone if they can?t reach the original debt holder after various attempts.  We think he said something about an IP address.

About 20 or so minutes into the conversation, we noticed an echo on the phone.  GM says 'it sounds like we're being recorded'.  He says yes you are being recorded.  Were being recorded to be used as proof adainst you in court tomorrow.  When GM notified him that according to law he was supposed to inform us that the call was being recorded prior to the conversation taking place and we both let him know that we were documenting the exact time of him officially notifying us of the call being recorded 6:33pm.  He said that he was NOT obligated to notify us of the call being recorded because he is only informing us of a pending law suit.  Then he said that he normally doesn't notify his callers of him recording their calls because he makes so many calls each day (this I believe - he's a scammer).

So to verify everything going on, we each continued to ask him questions. He was notibly irrate and began to raise his voice at us.  We asked him why he was yelling, he denied his yelling then later admitted yelling at us.  He then tried to maintain his cool after being called out for yelling. We explained that we needed more answers.

We asked the name of the law firm he was calling from and the address.  He gave Cynthia Lakeman Law Office, 210350 Jim Morin Blvd, Deerfield Beach FL 33441.  I asked his name, he gave the name Charles Green (note that this is different from the original Joel Smith or John Smith).  He said he was a Legal Affidavit Professor (haha). GM asked for the exact charge, he said that criminal charges were filed against her and that she was being charged for Check Fraud.

GM notified him that she never took a loan out in Sept 2007 that she never received a deposit.  He said that he never said she received the cash but the money was deposited into her account.  He was doing her a favor by notifying her of the lawsuit against her.  Again he would not give her exact loan request dates or loan deposit dates.  So when we started restating everything that he had told us, he got angry again and told us that he had other calls waiting on his line that he needed to answer.  That he had spent too much time on us and that he was hanging up the phone.  He hung on us.  Based on the various calls I made from my cell phone afterwards, the scammer?s call ended at approximately 7:00pm (our time zone).

My acquaintaince called another one of her acquaintainces (some else familiar with debt laws).  He informed both of us that it was a scam.  I did some checking online myself for more assurance.  There is no Cynthia Lakeman Law Office in Deerfield Beach, FL. The 210350 Jim Morin Blvd, Deerfield Beach FL 33441 address would not pull up on addresses.com.  The Law Offices of Cynthia Lakeman is only located in Tampa FL (607 W Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Ste A, Tampa FL 33603 to be exact).  I called the Law Offices of Cynthia Lakeman at 813-221-4466 at 7:30pm.  I spoke to Cynthia Lakeman for about 3 minutes; she assured me that it is a scam, that there is no Charles Green on her staff, not to send any money to anyone that calls me, that the athorities have been notified but they won't do anything to this individual or group of individuals.  She also informed me that this scam has probably been going on for 5 to 6 months and that I am not the only person whom has contacted her regarding the calls and messages from this scam individual. She apologized for the problem and scare.

I typed in the 954-446-9209 phone number via addresses.com and nothing was revealed but Intelius (intelius.com) revealed that this is a land line number.  It is not affiliated with the Law Offices of Cynthia Lakeman. Intelius could probably provide the name of the owner but I would have to pay them for that information of course.  Per previous comments, research, and acquaintance search results, I?ve discovered that the owner refuses to provide his/her information (ex.: name, etc.).  

If you type in the name Charles Green, all sorts of stuff will pull up (jeweler, artist, deceased astronomer, someone with a myspace page, etc.) Too common a name.  I'm sure the same applies to the other names the scammer is using.

I typed in ?check fraud? via Yahoo search and chose a link.  I ran across a website that gave me some clarification about alleged check fraud, the types of check fraud, and penalties.  None of which matched the description of the ?check fraud? crime Mr. Joel Smith/John Smith/Charles Green was claiming GM was guilty of.  Source http://www.totalcriminaldefense.com/crimes-a-z/white-collar/check-fraud.aspx

If you've never been involved in a scam before (like us), try not to panic like we technically did.  If you find yourself panicking anyway, ask questions of the caller/scammer because it allows your brain to work better and eventually you'll have enough info to try verifying what's being said to you via online resources and via phone calls.  That seemed work well for us. You can also hang up on the scammer. It helps you think better. You can call the scammer back for more needed information if you desire/need to, eventually the scammer will make a mistake while answering your questions and end up telling on himself/herself.  And/or the scammer will get mad and hang up on you the way he/she did us.  You can call your other acquaintances, etc. while your judgement is temporarily clouded or if you're fearful because those other acquaintances may know something that you don't especially in the case of scams.  

Do your research.  Don't send any money.  If it makes you feel better, contact an attorney regarding the phone call you've received and leave a message if necessary; I did. I'll probably get a phone call tomorrow and have to explain this crap to him but at least I had peace of mind that legal counsel had been contacted.  If it makes you feel better, stay away from places where you could get 'picked up' while you consult with an attorney.  You can call the scammer back to aggravate him/her if you so desire but remember that your information is out there so you might want to focus on protecting it a bit better and notifying whomever to protect yourself from potential fraud.

I wanted to post this information as accurately as possible so that others are aware of the various things that could be said to you by the scam artist(s). I also wanted others to be aware of a new 'references' scare tactic this individual or group of individuals are using.

I?ve been on various websites and read the comments regarding this 954-446-9209 phone number (whoscallingme.com, phoneowner.com) and the individual(s) whom is/are scamming from it.  This has been going on for a while.  Everyone is saying to notify our state's Attorney General Office, notify the FBI, and notify the police.  Since my basic information along with my acquaintance's information is out there, I'll gladly do this.  But my question is this, if everyone else whom has posted a comment (or even half of us) have already notified the proper authorities (along with Cynthia Lakeman herself - the actual attorney who's offices are named as part of the scam), why isn't this individual or group of individuals in jail already for scamming people or attempting to scam people.  Can't the authorities do anything about this or do anything about this particular 954-446-9209 land line phone number?  Can't we press charges against this individual/group of individuals?  Do we have rights in this matter at all?

What if these individuals contact an elderly person whom may suffer health-wise after being scared or someone who panics trying to save themselves or save their acquaintance, not knowing better (due to lack of memory, etc.)?  This is violation of the Fair Debt Collections Practice Act, any other agencies and/or persons would have been prosecuted/fined even if they were official or a legal agency.  At least a $1000 fine per violation.

Just FYI there are certain things that an official debt collection agency or law firm is supposed to adhere to.  1) Never disclose the debtor information to a third party such as a friend, relative, etc. unless they have permission from the debtor. 2) It is also illegal to threaten or pursue legal action that the agency is not willing to proceed with example: imprisonment, garnishment of wages, sending a police officer to pick you up and take you to jail, etc. 3) It is also illegal to falsly state the accrual of interest and charges to a debt just to collect on it - they just cant add charges at will. 4) Proof of the debt must be provided in writing - they must provide the acct number, the amount owed, and the date the original loan was attained. They must be willing to send you proof via postal mail. 5) One cannot mislead the consumer by impersonating an attorney or any other higher official when that's not who they are.  

I'm done, my acquaintance and I have talked this over, we've calmed ourselves.  This scam has destroyed the remaining six hours of our day, we've been dealing with it technically since 5:15pm in one form or another. We were needlessly stressed out.  We've had a drink to calm our nerves (well I'm not allowed to drink right now so I had to suffice with juice - da**it).  The only thing that we know to do right now is to post this information.  We hope that it helps someone, helps eliminate someone else from getting scared, and prevents someone from being scammed.  All of us should notify our acquaintances, co-workers, friends, family members, etc. about this scam so that they won't get caught up in it and end up hurt.  Informing a few reporters might not be a bad idea either.

Im JC (birth name not being provided here for obvious reasons - scams), I receive a phone call at approximately 5:13pm from an anonymous phone number according to my caller ID.  I did not answer because I don't answer anonymous phone calls, instead I let it go to my voicemail.  At approximately 5:14pm, a Joel Smith or John Smith (with a strong foreign accent) left me a voice message regarding another individual I know, GM (birth name not being provided here for obvious reasons - scams), whom allegedly gave my name as a reference.  He knew my full name and my acquaintance's full name.  He left a message telling me that I needed to inform my acquaintance that a law suit had been filed against her and that she needed to contact him at 954-446-9209 as soon as possible to discuss the case unfolding against her.

I sent my acquaintance a text message informing her of the message.  She called me back around 6pm and being confused we called this man back via 3-way call.  During the first call, he did not know I was on the phone as he claimed that GM was being sued for $5484.87.  And because I was listed as a reference on her loan I was also being sued for $5484.87.  And then he wanted us to not interrupt him while he read the alleged affidavit for GM regarding some PayDay loan that she allegedly took out in Sept 2007 and never repaid (no exact day provided).  She never signed up for a PayDay loan in 2007.  Before he began reading the affidavit, our call was disconnected.

This gave us time to breathe and GM called me back, we were obviously confused and scared, I guess due to the tactics used and legal lingo used.  But we called the 954-446-9209 number back again, explained our being disconnected, notified him that I (JC) was on the phone since I was person whom he left the voice message with.  He informed me that I was in trouble because of my acquaintance (GM).  Then he proceeded to read the alledged affadavit regarding GM in reference to a supposedly $300 PayDay loan taken out via email address (which was actually provided).  And since PayDay failed to get their money back, they decided to 'write off the debt' and simply forward the matter to an attorney.  We were both being sued for $5484.87 each along with another acquaintance listed as a reference (whom's name he could not even pronounce properly).

Of course to be honest, we were scared as h***, scared sh**less.  But to understand what was going on, we started asking questions about the alledged lawsuit.  What was the exact date the loan was requested by GM, what was the exact date the money was allegedly deposited in GM's account (and yes he actually knew the bank name), we asked for the exact account number for verification.  He said that we had the account number (which I'm sure he didn't have now that we're calm).  He would not give us the exact date of the loan request or the exact date of loan deposit; he claims that he has the information but doesn't have access to the record at this time and when asked again later he said 'you're supposed to have that information' and then he later said, he has it but he's not to divulge that information (something like that).

He said that GM would be served a subpoena and affidavit at work by police officers and arrested at that exact time from her job at approximately 11am.  He mentioned that various attempts had be made to serve her papers online.  He said that PayDay America Cash Advance had attempted to contact via email 26 times.  We think that he said that they had attempted to deliver affadavit papers and subpoena papers to GM before.  He mentioned some crap saying that the PayDay Loans contract notified GM that they would only contact her via email regarding the loan due (that didn't sound right).  To our knowledge PayDay Loans will contact your phone number and then contact your references via phone if they can?t reach the original debt holder after various attempts.  We think he said something about an IP address.

About 20 or so minutes into the conversation, we noticed an echo on the phone.  GM says 'it sounds like we're being recorded'.  He says yes you are being recorded.  Were being recorded to be used as proof adainst you in court tomorrow.  When GM notified him that according to law he was supposed to inform us that the call was being recorded prior to the conversation taking place and we both let him know that we were documenting the exact time of him officially notifying us of the call being recorded 6:33pm.  He said that he was NOT obligated to notify us of the call being recorded because he is only informing us of a pending law suit.  Then he said that he normally doesn't notify his callers of him recording their calls because he makes so many calls each day (this I believe - he's a scammer).

So to verify everything going on, we each continued to ask him questions. He was notibly irrate and began to raise his voice at us.  We asked him why he was yelling, he denied his yelling then later admitted yelling at us.  He then tried to maintain his cool after being called out for yelling. We explained that we needed more answers.

We asked the name of the law firm he was calling from and the address.  He gave Cynthia Lakeman Law Office, 210350 Jim Morin Blvd, Deerfield Beach FL 33441.  I asked his name, he gave the name Charles Green (note that this is different from the original Joel Smith or John Smith).  He said he was a Legal Affidavit Professor (haha). GM asked for the exact charge, he said that criminal charges were filed against her and that she was being charged for Check Fraud.

GM notified him that she never took a loan out in Sept 2007 that she never received a deposit.  He said that he never said she received the cash but the money was deposited into her account.  He was doing her a favor by notifying her of the lawsuit against her.  Again he would not give her exact loan request dates or loan deposit dates.  So when we started restating everything that he had told us, he got angry again and told us that he had other calls waiting on his line that he needed to answer.  That he had spent too much time on us and that he was hanging up the phone.  He hung on us.  Based on the various calls I made from my cell phone afterwards, the scammer?s call ended at approximately 7:00pm (our time zone).

My acquaintaince called another one of her acquaintainces (some else familiar with debt laws).  He informed both of us that it was a scam.  I did some checking online myself for more assurance.  There is no Cynthia Lakeman Law Office in Deerfield Beach, FL. The 210350 Jim Morin Blvd, Deerfield Beach FL 33441 address would not pull up on addresses.com.  The Law Offices of Cynthia Lakeman is only located in Tampa FL (607 W Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Ste A, Tampa FL 33603 to be exact).  I called the Law Offices of Cynthia Lakeman at 813-221-4466 at 7:30pm.  I spoke to Cynthia Lakeman for about 3 minutes; she assured me that it is a scam, that there is no Charles Green on her staff, not to send any money to anyone that calls me, that the athorities have been notified but they won't do anything to this individual or group of individuals.  She also informed me that this scam has probably been going on for 5 to 6 months and that I am not the only person whom has contacted her regarding the calls and messages from this scam individual. She apologized for the problem and scare.

I typed in the 954-446-9209 phone number via addresses.com and nothing was revealed but Intelius (intelius.com) revealed that this is a land line number.  It is not affiliated with the Law Offices of Cynthia Lakeman. Intelius could probably provide the name of the owner but I would have to pay them for that information of course.  Per previous comments, research, and acquaintance search results, I?ve discovered that the owner refuses to provide his/her information (ex.: name, etc.).  

If you type in the name Charles Green, all sorts of stuff will pull up (jeweler, artist, deceased astronomer, someone with a myspace page, etc.) Too common a name.  I'm sure the same applies to the other names the scammer is using.

I typed in ?check fraud? via Yahoo search and chose a link.  I ran across a website that gave me some clarification about alleged check fraud, the types of check fraud, and penalties.  None of which matched the description of the ?check fraud? crime Mr. Joel Smith/John Smith/Charles Green was claiming GM was guilty of.  Source http://www.totalcriminaldefense.com/crimes-a-z/white-collar/check-fraud.aspx

If you've never been involved in a scam before (like us), try not to panic like we technically did.  If you find yourself panicking anyway, ask questions of the caller/scammer because it allows your brain to work better and eventually you'll have enough info to try verifying what's being said to you via online resources and via phone calls.  That seemed work well for us. You can also hang up on the scammer. It helps you think better. You can call the scammer back for more needed information if you desire/need to, eventually the scammer will make a mistake while answering your questions and end up telling on himself/herself.  And/or the scammer will get mad and hang up on you the way he/she did us.  You can call your other acquaintances, etc. while your judgement is temporarily clouded or if you're fearful because those other acquaintances may know something that you don't especially in the case of scams.  

Do your research.  Don't send any money.  If it makes you feel better, contact an attorney regarding the phone call you've received and leave a message if necessary; I did. I'll probably get a phone call tomorrow and have to explain this crap to him but at least I had peace of mind that legal counsel had been contacted.  If it makes you feel better, stay away from places where you could get 'picked up' while you consult with an attorney.  You can call the scammer back to aggravate him/her if you so desire but remember that your information is out there so you might want to focus on protecting it a bit better and notifying whomever to protect yourself from potential fraud.

I wanted to post this information as accurately as possible so that others are aware of the various things that could be said to you by the scam artist(s). I also wanted others to be aware of a new 'references' scare tactic this individual or group of individuals are using.

I?ve been on various websites and read the comments regarding this 954-446-9209 phone number (http://whocallsme.com, http://phoneowner.info) and the individual(s) whom is/are scamming from it.  This has been going on for a while.  Everyone is saying to notify our state's Attorney General Office, notify the FBI, and notify the police.  Since my basic information along with my acquaintance's information is out there, I'll gladly do this.  But my question is this, if everyone else whom has posted a comment (or even half of us) have already notified the proper authorities (along with Cynthia Lakeman herself - the actual attorney who's offices are named as part of the scam), why isn't this individual or group of individuals in jail already for scamming people or attempting to scam people.  Can't the authorities do anything about this or do anything about this particular 954-446-9209 land line phone number?  Can't we press charges against this individual/group of individuals?  Do we have rights in this matter at all?

What if these individuals contact an elderly person whom may suffer health-wise after being scared or someone who panics trying to save themselves or save their acquaintance, not knowing better (due to lack of memory, etc.)?  This is violation of the Fair Debt Collections Practice Act, any other agencies and/or persons would have been prosecuted/fined even if they were official or a legal agency.  At least a $1000 fine per violation.

Just FYI there are certain things that an official debt collection agency or law firm is supposed to adhere to.  1) Never disclose the debtor information to a third party such as a friend, relative, etc. unless they have permission from the debtor. 2) It is also illegal to threaten or pursue legal action that the agency is not willing to proceed with example: imprisonment, garnishment of wages, sending a police officer to pick you up and take you to jail, etc. 3) It is also illegal to falsly state the accrual of interest and charges to a debt just to collect on it - they just cant add charges at will. 4) Proof of the debt must be provided in writing - they must provide the acct number, the amount owed, and the date the original loan was attained. They must be willing to send you proof via postal mail. 5) One cannot mislead the consumer by impersonating an attorney or any other higher official when that's not who they are.  

I'm done, my acquaintance and I have talked this over, we've calmed ourselves.  This scam has destroyed the remaining six hours of our day, we've been dealing with it technically since 5:15pm in one form or another. We were needlessly stressed out.  We've had a drink to calm our nerves (well I'm not allowed to drink right now so I had to suffice with juice - da**it).  The only thing that we know to do right now is to post this information.  We hope that it helps someone, helps eliminate someone else from getting scared, and prevents someone from being scammed.  All of us should notify our acquaintances, co-workers, friends, family members, etc. about this scam so that they won't get caught up in it and end up hurt.  Informing a few reporters might not be a bad idea either.

People!! John Smith and Lisa Jackson played out now. I receive a called at work from this Bi*** Stella Wood(excuse me ladies)saying that she is a lawyer representing a law firm in Florida. She said i took out a payday loan 3 years ago and that i still owe $5000.Stella told me to pay now or face jail time. I told Stella that she had lost her mine and that she need to come better than that. I made Stella day a living hell, because i had nothing to do at the time, so I called Stella all day and mess with her. Stella got mad and would not answer my calls anymore, eventually the # was no longer in service.

I also received a call at work from this # by the name of Lisa Jackson.when I called back an indian speaking persistence jerk said I owed $5000 from a payday loan advance that I did over a year ago.He said an officer will be picking me up @ 11 tomarrow and hauling me off to jail.He had my addresse and ss# also.I contacted the local police and hope they can catch these people and press charges on them.

I to received a call at work from this # by the name of Lisa Jackson.when I called back an indian speaking persistence jerk said I owed $5000 from a payday loan advance that I did over a year ago.He said an officer will be picking me up @ 11 tomarrow and hauling me off to jail.He had my addresse and ss# also.I contacted the local police and hope they can catch these people and press charges on them.

I too received a call from them only he said his name was Steven Knox....guess John Smith wasnt going over anymore.  I was threatened with jail time, a lawsuit and told I would lose my job.  They gave me PERSONAL information over the phone so they have hacked into someones database.  He could not provide me with the name of the company that sent the case to this supposed lawyers office and also could not give me the amount owed.  Wanted me to FAX a NY fax #315-849-3117 with a notarized letter with all of my personal information on it including my debit card number, SS #....which I told them I would.  HAHA fat chance but the local police have all of the information now too so hopefully they will get closer to being put out of 'business'.

I too just got a phone call from this number. For the life of me due to his heavy indian accent I could not understand his name..I figured out right away that this was one of those "scam Lawsuit" phone calls so I hung up on him. Of course he called back - I let it go to voicemail. He left the msg that it was of UTMOST important that I return his call and that their would be a consequence if I didn't return his call. Of course at the end of the call that I better call him and good bless and good luck if I don't. My father is an attorney and he has been on the phone with these jerks and tells them do u have anything that confirms wat they are telling him (that I owe money). Of course not. He then asks do they have anything that I signed ...of course not. These guys are trying to scare you into paying money. Ignore their calls and report them to the attorney general. These people need to be stopped

John Smith called me had a Indian Accent and threatened to come to my house and beat the F*** out of me if I didn't shut up and follow his directions. He wanted me to settle a lawsuit with him that he said was pending in my state against me.  He wanted $5000 and I said no, so he threatened to gut me like a fish and other nasty vulgar things. I will not talk with him again and I reported this threat.  By the way, I have no lawsuits. He was a lier, I checked with my county clerks office and they said I had no lawsuits, besides I don't owe anyone anything. But I was terrorize by this devil over the phone.

This was a call back numeber left in my voicemail.I've had at least 4 voicemails and this Guy with Nigerian accent calls himself John Smith said I should have my attorney call him back right away due to a time sensitive situation and if I don't call him then all he could do was wish me good like as a terrible situation unfolds.  SCAMMER!

Some stupid b*****d calling himself John Smith called me and left several threatening voicemails and said I was being sued. I keep calling the number this retarded non speaking English idiot left but its always busy.
I got my sister to call the County Court House to see if I was being sued and they told her no.  She explained the voicemails to the County Clerk that I had been getting and the Clerk in turn told her that her office had been receiving several of the same sort of complaints and told her to tell me this is a popular scam that is going on now from overseas people trying to scare Americans into sending them money that using these sort of tactics to make you think your being sued and they will stop the suit but its all a lie.  I am not being sued.  I am still tryingto call this scum John Smith so I can cuss him out and he can stop calling me.  

I also checked my finances, I am up to date on all my bills. So John Smith is a lier and a coward.

have also been contacted by these scam artists. Officer Vincent and John Smith have called me and threatened me with arrest and prison time. I contacted my state attorney general, the Federal Trade Commission and the New York attorney general. <b>They gave me an address in New York and when my attorney general sent them a certified letter it turned out to be the address to a public library.</b> I have not heard from these people for months after I told them what steps I have taken and then 2 days ago I heard from their legal department again asking if I knew about the paperwork that they have filed against me.

I told the Indian accented guy to bring it on because I needed to get their information to the FTC, the attorney generals of 2 states and to my lawyer so that I could sue them for their illegal activities. The guy sputtered and hemmed and hawed and said thay they would get back to me. His phone number came up as private, and he did not want my attorneys information and then hung up. They like to try and play hardball but dont like it when you play back, they are looking for sheep to prey on but dont like it if you turn out to be a wolf instead."

Contact your state Attorney General, FTC, and FBI to file complaints.  Some have reported that complaints to local police have been effective, since they are often impersonating law enforcement officers, and when local police call back, it is pretty clear they aren't going to succeed in scamming your so they stop calling.


The whole world must think we are a bunch of idiot suckers for having credit and debt collection practices so wide open to mass scamming and extortion as routine practices that anyone anywhere in the world can join in.  They are right.  We are idiots.