Today I was contacted by "Samuel Gray" and informed that if I did not pay for a cash advance loan that I supposedly got direct deposited into my account.  I was told I needed to write out an affidavit with my SS number, address, credit card info, etc and fax the paper within an hour I was going to be charged with check fraud, check deception, and wire fraud.  I called the Sheriff and was told under no circumstances should I fax the letter or send the money requested.  Everyone be warned!!  Since then I have received 12 calls from the same number (347)388-3557.  This is rediculous and now I will probably have to change my phone number!!

This company called LLC Law office in Massachuetts called and said that i owe a certain amount of money and if i do not pay i will have a lawsuit against me. The person kept calling and would not leave a message. This place if a fraud and their number is 978-364-4254.

I noticed a couple small fraudulent ACH debits removed from my checking account over the past couple  of months and completely shut off all activity from my checking account on Monday. By Wednesday I started getting these pathetic collection calls from " Officer John Smith " from South Carolina. He proceeded to tell me lawsuit was being filed for a payday loan I never took out and I owed $5000.00!!! I know whoever these people are they are NOT in the United States even though the caller I'D indicates they are. Originally Officer Smith was calling me from South Carolina and 2 minutes later he called me from Lowell, Massachusetts! Today is Veteran's Day and I told Officer Smith today was Easter and he was ruining my holiday. He said sorry and then promptly wished me Happy Easter!!! LOL!!! How funny is that??? How do I get rid of these morons????
They also call from 843-414-6534 S.C.

they told me they were located in south carolina

Note... Out of curiosity I called the 978-364-4254 number back. A man with a thick accent as I posted earlier answered the phone. I gave him an fake name and he started saying that I needed to speak up. I believe this number is a cell phone because of the static and he keeping asking me to speak up. I repeated myself and he then went on to discuss a pending lawsuit. I told him that I have filed a report to the FTC and that if he calls me or my family again, that he wouldn't recieve any information or money. He hung up. He never once mentioned the company name or his for that matter.

My sister-in-law contacted me regarding a call she recieved earlier today. The caller was a man who had a thick Indian or Middle Eastern accent and asked for me. When she informed the caller that I was unavailable, he began to discuss with her the nature of his call, a lawsuit that was pending, and that I needed to get in touch with him as soon as possible. Once she gave me the number, I goggled it and this forum is what came up as well as many others. I informed her that this was a scam. I began to read the posts and got the FTC number. I made a formal complaint with an FTC representative who informed me that this sounded like a scam and to contact my state consumer department and file a complaint with them as well. The FTC representative also told me to call my phone company and see if these numbers could be blocked. (The FTC number is 1-877-382-4357)

I just received a call from this number this morning!  They said a cousin of mine had used my name and cell number on a loan from Cash Net, so I was now a guarantor on the loan!  The caller had a horrible non-English accent and was difficult to understand.  However, he made it clear that the sheriff's department would be visiting me this week regarding a lawsuit on a defaulted loan.  The person stated that he was working for the Department of Law and Investigation, but would not give a company name nor a toll-free number that I could call to determine any more information about the "case".  
I contacted my lawyer who says that collection agencies frequently use this type of phone call.  The agency will call anyone for whom they have a phone number, but do not usually send any legitimate legal documents.  Does anyone know who this agency is and how to write to them?

they keep calling saying they are taking papers out on me for not paying a pay day loan. They talked to me out of the way using words I would never use if I worked for a company.

This person with a bad accent called saying that he is from an Department of Law and Enforcement. He wanted to speak regarding a pending case. He could not give any details over the phone about the case but told me that if i dont pay him over the phone today somebody in my family will be going to jail. This is so bogus. I hung up on them and then called back five minutes later telling the person who answered the phone who wants to be called Kevin Jones not to call my number again or i will be calling the real law.

I have recieved the same messages as others have, It sounds to me that these people have the computer expeiance above the average person and are trying to get into your accounts or better yet your credit,    They are calling from is residential area in Lowell, Mass. I will be filing with the Federal Trade Comm.   FYI  don't be afraid to confront them as to the name of their firm , are they licesened in the that state,   I have done this and gave them the same double talk as they gave me. These people don't know what their talking about, which leads me to believe they may be part of something bigger.

Threating Message about a lawsuit!

Wow I am so shocked by all I just read.  I just had the same thing happen to me today, this is crap and I have already reported it to the FTC.  

I received a voicemail from 548-557-5855 from a man with a heavy Indian accent named Stephen (didn't catch the last name) saying that they were taking me to court and to contact them back or have my retained attorney contact them back right away or they "wish me good luck".  I was advised to call back the number of 978-364-4254 and I called back and received the man named Stephen, he had such a heavy Indian accent that I could not understand him and asked to speak with someone that spoke clear English and got transferred around supposedly to other people (however it sounded like the same man each time).  I finally got to a Kevin George (still sounding like the same man) who said that I had a payday loan from Cash Net that I never paid on and they were going to be taking me to court for it.  The man asked for me to verify all my information, which I would not do, but they clearly had my social security number, address, phone number, and bank account number on file.  I advised the man that I never took out a payday loan and I would need to do some investigation on my part and get back with him.  I tried calling the man back at both numbers, 548-557-5855 and 978-364-4254, but 548-557-5855 was not valid number and 978-364-4254 would ring out with no answer or was off hook each time I tried.  I did not take out a payday loan and I have ended up calling the FTC and filing an complaint and filing a fraud report with Experian.  This is a scam and these people need to be caught and prosecuted ASAP for harassment and fraud!  I certainly hope these people do NOT contact my work or references.

I recieved this call today. Indian accent, could barely understand what he was saying. The call was to inform me of a private investigation. Scam. Mine on the other hand was John Wilson then John Smith calling from the Department of Law with a time sensitive issue.

Its totally Bogus. First of all the guy calls and he's Captain John Smith ..after a few phone more phone calls, he was officer John Smith. Very heavy indian accent!  Its laughable. They didn't even say what the deal was, just to get your attorney or we will be sorry. Frankly, I feel sorry for them that  they have to have a crappy job like that.

I received the call yesterday saying that I had to call asap or..... "I wish you luck", I could barely understand the broken english.  I copied down the number on caller id and the number he said to call back, "Officer Adam Smith", was the name he used... I reported it to the local police and they were very familiar with it.  They called and asked for this officer's badge number and that is when they hung up.  Very scary.

This person called my friend and pretended to be an "officer" and said that if she didn't pay the money over the phone now, she would be taken to jail that afternoon. I called them back to get their information so that I could forward it to the Oregon AG and the guy who answered (who sounded just like the chinese guy from Hangover) said that I could have the information once he Fu*ked my mother and my sister and my wife. It continued on from there, I kept it up with him for a while because I was recording the call and it is truly the funniest thing that I have heard all year.

I just got 5 voice-mails in a row from this number just in the last several hours. It was so eerie that I looked it up right away before dialing it back. (Which I do not plan to do now). Female in super broken Chinese called herself Officer Joan and said something about lawsuit, then that if I did not respond that something would happen to me but in every voice-mail it is too difficult to understand what she is saying will happen...but at the end of each message she clearly says Good Luck. It was very threatening, confusing and made NO sense. Definitely not cool. I have never taken out a payday loan and although I have debt, none of it is significant enough for this kind of response from any collector I have ever heard of.

I have received a call from this number for several days and each message that was left stated that I needed to call right away or have my attorney call. The message stated that I had until the close of business to take care of an urgent matter and that I needed to ask for Jay Edwards. But when I called the number it sounded like the person on the other end was outside and there was a lot of noise in the background. Is this real?

This man keeps calling officer Jackson that I need to call is urgent and if my attorney or myself didn't  call he wishes me good luck. I'm tired of this people how can i stop them from calling me they call me to work. They try to get me fired by calling my job and saying i was going to get arrested.

Someone with bad English left a voice mail about a law suit.

Hi there,
I just recieved a call from this number. They have actually called me from another number using the same strategy.  Threatening to put me in jail my father and my daughter in jail too.  They are complete A=-holes.  Don't believe anything they say.

I have dealt with these people twice.  The first time it was Denzel Washington, this time it is Samuel Gray. They say they are from the LLC Department of Law and Investigation, and just like all of the other calls if I don't pay my payday loan then they will file in my "local" court today and I have to show up with a "retained" attorney, also I have to have my "retained" attorney call them.  
I love f***ing with these idiots.  I work in a law office and they are trying to collect on a debt I have ALREADY paid.  I told Samuel Gray that I would have all 8 of my attorneys waiting for him when they came to my work to  "make sure I lost my job"...amazing, he hung up on me.  I am reporting them to the federal trade commission  877 382 4357.

They have even called my mother in another state and told her if she did not give them my social security number, address, phone number, employer's address and phone number and CREDIT CARD number, they were going to come immediately and throw her in jail.  (gotta love mom) She told them she would be waiting, she needed the rest....wow, surprise the guy hung up on her.

PEOPLE please know that in NO state can they file a law suit that requires you to have an attorney in court the next day.  Its all bull.  Also, the information they have on the "lawsuit" they say they only can tell your attorney...that is BULL...you are entitled BY LAW to all the information they have so you can ascertain IF you even owe the debt.

I am still trying to reach someone at CASHNET, where these crap seems to be traced back to.

I received the same call today in it started early in the morning.  The person left a message, but he had very bad English.  I decide to call back and see what it was all about.  The person stated that a law suite is pending against me regarding a payday load I got about a year ago.  Then he goes on and tells me if I don’t make a payment by 5pm, I will have to go to court.  Now they have been calling me non-stop.  I have already received five calls from them and it’s only 1pm.  SMH...who in hell are these people.

This company called me twice today.  I picked up both of the calls before they went to my voicemail and when I picked up all I heard was silence.  After hanging up, I received 2 voicemails.  I don't know how they reached my voicemail when I picked up way before it should have even went to VM.  Whoever called has extremely bad english but I did catch parts of it which said I was in a lawsuit for something.  I returned their phone call attempting to investigate but they hung up on me in the middle of whatever he was saying.  I will be calling the FTC.

This company called me today 7 times in a row and left no message.  I answered the last call and they stated that there was a pending lawsuit against me and the case would be going to court at 11 am.  I am supposed to call them back and get more information on how to pay off my debt before going to court.  I believe this to be bogus!!!

Wow thanks for the wealth of information you provided.  I haven't paid them a dime yet and will not. I already filed a report with the FTC and a fraud complaint with Experian.  I hate that they may keep calling though I really don't want them to mess with my job or references I provided.  This is not a fun situation, but all the information you gave will really help out!  I will never inquire about a payday loan online again!

For at least the last four years, possibly longer, a group has been calling former payday loan applicants advising them that they have defrauded a bank and are now being sued for non-payment of a loan.  The callers will claim to be calling on behalf of an attorney's office (name varies), the Dept. of Law and Investigation, ACS, or other similar combinations below:

United Legal Processing Division
Midline Marketing
Crime Monitoring Services
Monetary Crime Division
U.S. National Bank
Attorney General?s Office (usually in California)
American Legal Services
Affidavit Consolidation Services (ACS)

You will be threatened with arrest, a costly trial and possibly worse.  In no shape, way or form can you be arrested for non-payment on a consumer debt.  Do not believe these threats, as they are without merit and cannot be carried out in the manner they allege.  

Who are they?

In the past when pressed by law enforcement for an address, the callers have provided the following information:

David Morgan and Associates
Morgan & Associates
Morgan Associates
954-727-8481
1155 Northwest 85th Street
Wintergarden, Florida  33150
(Address is likely invalid)

The collector's MO matches a once legit collections agency called Ellis Crosby & Associates.  Here are some links on them:

http://www.budhibbs.com/collectorpages/ellis_crosby_and_associates.htm
http://www.budhibbs.com/collectorpages/EllisCrosbyJudgment.pdf

They have been previously fined over $1.3 million for various violations.  They have been known to use phone banks in India to make their calls, which more or less coincides with the difficult to understand accent many of us detect when we are contacted.  

The last time this group went by any "official" name was back in 2008:

Ellis Crosby & Associates / Douglas & Morgan Associates
4494 Southside Boulevard Suite #200
Jacksonville Florida 32216
Phone:  800-928-3536 / (904) 928-3536
(Address is likely invalid)

There are NUMEROUS consumer alerts out against this group of individuals:

Florida:
http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/061107/met_176207561.shtml

Kansas:  
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/01/ks_debt_collection.html

Colorado:  
http://www.coloradoattorneygeneral.gov/press/ ... lls_likely_orig

Rhode Island:  
http://www.collectionscreditrisk.com/news/rho ... -3002135-1.html

West Virginia:
http://www.wvago.gov/internetloanscam.cfm

Missouri:
On July 15th, 2010 a Public Awareness Bulletin was sent out by Missouri Information Analysis Center.  

"..received reports from individuals in Ohio and Illinois reference suspicious telephone calls they received. In both instances, the callers are reporting that a voicemail is received from a man, with a Middle Eastern accent, identifying himself as an officer working with the Financial Crimes Unit.  The message indicates that the reason for the call concerns a loan made by the receiver or someone in the receiver's family. The voicemail requests that a return call be made and a telephone number is provided. When a return call is made, the caller is asked to provide personal identifying information such as their date of birth and social security number.

Reports indicate that the calls are frequent and persistent and that they even threaten arrest or legal action if information or money is not provided. It appears that the individuals making these calls may have access to some records connecting individuals and their relatives.  Missouri does not have a Financial Crimes Unit and all indications are that this is a fictitious agency. If you receive a similar phone call, please be advised that it is a scam and please contact your local law enforcement agency or the Missouri Information Analysis Center at 866-362-6422."

Bottom line:

Do not supply the callers with any additional information.  Inform them you have reported them to law enforcement and hang up.  If you haven't already, go ahead and report the calls to local law enforcement, your state's Attorney General and beyond.  Look up the local Secret Service branch's information in your area and get in contact with an agent there.  

If you ever applied for a cash advance online, your information is out there.  
Possible sources for the breach of your privacy are:

* The scammers obtained your information from Teletrack - a reporting agency used by many cash advance lenders to determine their risk lending to you.  The service is able to tell cash advance lenders if you have existing loans with other companies, for example.  Many state laws prohibit borrowers from having more than two cash advances out at the same time.

* The scammers created their own fake payday loan application site.  People looking for a cash advance went to the site and applied, thus freely providing the scammers with their information for malicious use at a later time.  

* The scammers were able to get into the database(s) of cash advance lenders - probable targets being Sonic Payday and Cashnet USA.  


How to protect yourself:

* Inform your employer.  You are likely getting calls at home and/or at work, so make sure your employer is aware the calls are part of a scam and to not take them seriously.  Advise the callers that they are no longer allowed to call you at work.  If they continue to call, document the date and time of the calls you received.  Save voice mails left if at all possible.  

* Change your number(s).  For some this may not be an option, for others a one-time number change can be done free of charge.

Be advised - any references you listed on your payday loan application will be contacted.  Let those people know that this is a scam, and they can disregard.

* Use Google Voice.  Google Voice is a great replacement voice mail system for just about any phone number you use.  Messages can be transcribed and voice mail recordings can be saved as mp3 files.  

Pro Tip - call the scammers with a Google Voice number before turning off your old phone numbers.  Make sure when you call you identify yourself so they can start up their script.  At any point after they have your information pulled up just hang up.  They will then start religiously calling your Google Voice number.  At this point, you are free to change your regular phone number(s) and enjoy not having these people ever call you again.  (And laugh at the fact these people are basically talking to a brick wall several times a day)

The scammers change their numbers frequently.  Law enforcement used to think it was because the callers ran out of minutes on their prepaid wireless accounts or they were shuttered due to fraud, but now they understand it's simply to evade detection by savvy consumers online.  With the proliferation of VoIP, it's even easier for the crooks to stay a couple of steps ahead of law enforcement.  Below is just a sampling of the 30+ numbers that have been used in recent memory.

1-201-244-7722
1-209-349-7382
1-209-797-2212
1-212-500-0839
1-213-256-0408
1-213-995-3039
1-281-763-0433
1-347-289-3902
1-347-844-6817
1-347-844-6831
1-424-354-4270
1-516-232-8905
1-516-232-8935
1-518-212-0219
1-561-300-8018
1-561-210-4185
1-626-200-4646
1-631-456-4041
1-646-274-1143
1-646-810-8635
1-650-241-4604
1-707-401-4056
1-707-633-2789
1-708-401-0535
1-716-442-2824
1-717-862-4080
1-718-705-8669
1-760-514-0132
1-760-563-5384
1-772-318-4938
1-850-201-1111
1-858-777-1977
1-859-908-2281
1-866-860-4509
1-877-226-7488
1-888-706-7463
1-888-771-9249
1-888-785-4479
1-909-327-4870

So can they really do anything to you?

It's not a simple yes or no answer.  Logic dictates that, if they really wanted to take you for a ride and drain your bank accounts, they already would have.  

So, why haven't they?  

Authorization.  

Why do you think you are being called so much?  Perhaps it is because they like the sound of your voice?  No, they have to have your authorization to take any form of payment from you, period.  The callers know their audience, and that audience is typically a bunch of people that have applied for payday loans in the past.  Most of those people they call couldn't afford an attorney if they wanted one, and are so used to receiving collections calls that so long as they sound like a real collector, they will likely be perceived as one.

Furthermore, they don't even really want to talk to your attorney - that just sounds official and scary enough.  A real attorney would take the callers to task and write them off as two-bit con artists.  The callers need you, in writing, to authorize payment against the fictitious debt they claim you owe.  Go ahead, ask them for proof you owe the debt - more commonly known as verification of debt.  See what they say.  A phone authorization carries very little weight, so if they have something signed by you on file, you are done for - and the callers know that.  That authorization is the only thing these callers are doing by the book, and for good reason.  If they just went all willy nilly and made an ACH debit from your checking account, without your written approval, you could in turn report the transaction as fraudulent to your financial institution.  In about 7-10 business days, you would get the funds returned to your account.  Then the scammers would be up against a bank and their team of lawyers and investigators.  

Bottom line:

If you haven't paid the callers a dime, don't.  If you planned on paying them to shut them up, just don't.  Remember - you are not being contacted by a legally licensed, ethically owned and operated collector.  Read up on the FDCPA - http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf - and know your rights.

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-646-274-1143/3

I received a call from this number saying I received a payday loan from Cash Net that I never paid on. I never received the claimed payday loan they were talking about. The company was theatening to take me to court if I do not pay for it and also threatening to get me fired from my job. When they called I advised that I was not aware of receiving any payday loan and would need to do some investigation on my end first and they provided me with a phone number of 978-364-4254 to call them back on, but when I tried calling the number back it rang out with no answer and no one would ever pick up.

I received the same call today in it started early in the morning.  The person left a message, but he had very bad English.  I decide to call back and see what it was all about.  The person stated that a law suite is pending against me regarding a payday load I got about a year ago.  Then he goes on and tells me if I don?t make a payment by 5pm, I will have to go to court.  Now they have been calling me non-stop.  I have already received five calls from them and it?s only 1pm.  SMH...who in hell are these people.