The call wasn't from this guy, but from someone that had called him ... saying he was calling on behalf of me (solo attorney in a tiny rural town in the Pacific Northwest) even reciting my office street address.  Um, apparently they think people will believe that someone like me could run a nationwide lending operation ...
Accent (Indo) and threats (pay up, arrest, jail) were similar to those mentioned by others.  Fortunately, the three victims reporting to date were not taken in and all they lost was peace of mind and the phone charges to call me.  Meanwhile, I look bad, if only for a second.

Called my cellphone and my work phone.  told me I better listen to him and if I didn't appera in court that the arresting officer who was going to pick it up would explain it.  stated I had a lawsuit with Johnson&Johnson loans.  Never heard of this company.

said he was with a service and there were 3 felonies against me,i asked him what time they were going to arrest me so i could still have lunch,He hung up on me and i called back asked why he hung up on me he said he didnt then hung up again,Kept calling back now he wont answer me,This is the third time these idiots have done this.They are scum,called from 253-235-2306.

Their so called "supervisor" indicated that I had taken out a pay day loan and needed to pay it immediately.  My e-mail along with my social security number and my bank accounts have been compromised.  The IRS has been involved in resolving my tax return from 2011 and it is still under investigation.  How do I go about getting these people involved in this scam to leave me alone.

They threaten to send a police officer to my address.  I have no pay loans that are outstanding or otherwise.

I received a call from this number as well.. Total Scam...

These idiots were threatening arrest and upset my whole entire family im really disgusted over this they need to stop people like this.

said i owe them 500 or im being sued...

We received three calls within a 15 minute span.  We told him to quit calling since this no longer belongs to the person he was calling.  He was very threatening this time.  My husband told him to shut up and listen and when  we told him we are taking legal action, he  hung up.  This same person with an accent has called many times and we tell him the same thing.  I told him to take our number out of the system and was told he can't do that.  I told him since it was put in he could take it out. His answer was "you'll have to send money to get it taken out".  I told him he was nuts and hung up.

This guy is trying to scam me for the second time. The stupid thing is that he is using the same name as he used last time. I filed another complaint for the Federal Trade Commission on this guy. Now I am going to get the State Attorney General on this guy. If this guy calls.File a complaint on ftc.gov.  If he keeps calling you tell them that you have called the police, contacted the Federal Trade Commission, and the FBI will be on them. Than hang up. That is what the police officer told me to say the last time.He stopped calling me when he tried this a few months ago. But started up again yesterday.  I said it again to them and it looked like they stopped. Hopefully the State Attorney General can help me stop them all together.

This same person "Peter Jackson" keeps calling my moms phone, my mom is on SSI and her pension, and this idiot wont leave her alone, all i can think of is to change her phone number that she has had most of her life. This is totally unfair and i dont think the government is doing enough, if anything, to fix this issue. This guy told my mom that she could go to jail over a legal issue, to have her lawyer call, and good luck if she doesnt respond. My mom is elderly, but i made her well aware to never answer any calls she does not recognize. But they call so much its ridiculous, and im not even sure how they obtained her information anyways, she doesnt owe money to anyone, she has always paid off all and any bill she has ever got. And she has never applied for a online loan either. She does go online and she likes to get the free samples by mail, most are legitimate, and one time she filled out something for a $50 gift card for a restaurant and they called her alot to try to get her personal information, im not sure how much she gave, but she didnt give them her debit card number, thank god, and i have been keeping a close eye on her credit report because she did give them her social security number. I hope that something eventually gets done with this mess, this is ridiculous. I feel bad for those who are out money cause they fell for this, people need to know and i plan to put what is happening to my mother everywhere i can think of. I would like to rent one of those billboards on interstate 75 north and south bound lanes from Michigan to Florida and make people aware of these idiots. Im glad this website is here, that also helps as im going to have my mother read this site so she understands. God luck to everyone with this issue, and rest assure that i will be doing my part to help stop this as well. God Bless!

plain and simple. a scumbag caller and a bs scam. ignore the jerk

Treating voice messages. They are telling me to call them at 253-235-2306 and not to disreguard this message becuase if I don't he can only wish me good luck. He says his name is Peter Jackson but with a VERY thick Inian Accent.

Report them to
Your local police
Your state's Attorney General
The FTC:
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en
Secret Service:
http://www.secretservice.gov/field_offices.shtml
FBI
https://tips.fbi.gov
Internet Crime Complaint Center:
http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

Protect yourself
http://800notes.com/forum/ta-55aaf878cb7e2d2- ... 654448153805545

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2012/09/id-theft-s ... day-loan-sites/

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/phantom-debt-co ... 28#.UFo1xbJlT8l

They call my work and my cellphone stating that I need to pay them $500.00 so that the legal case against me will be stop. They threatened me that cops will pick me up and will be in jail for 30 days. They even read a whole "legal" documents which I never receive from the mail. They call me 6-8 times a day and telling me that if I don't pay I better tell my loved ones I won't be home for long. What should I do?

Has anyone managed to get these people to stop calling? The guy threatened to have an officer at my door in the morning if I didn't march right down to the local walmart and get a green dot prepaid card to call him back and pay him. So....has anyone who didn't pay them get them to stop calling?

I have got several phone calls which say they are going to arrest me on charges of fraud. I am tired of this

*to*

He is one of many criminal extortionists operating out of India.

Report themThe FTC: https://econsumer.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

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

This guy has called me four times harassing telling his fileing legal action and I better get a lawer and god help me. And good luck I reported him to the police who is this jerk

They keep calling me n telling me that they going to arrest me n the FBI woul be involved how do I stop them from calling me

Call the police and have them set up a three-way conversation with them.

They have been calling my cell phone and my place of employment at least 15 - 20 times a day.  I have told them that I am aware that it is a scam and to stop calling me, but the calls continue.  How do I get the calls to stop?  Please help.

The FTC: https://econsumer.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

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

Called me at work-told me he felt sorry for me if i did not call him back and wished me good luck.  that is a threat- but who do you report these annoying calls to?

It is the same idiots that call from other #'s they say there is legal action against u or ur ss#

I received one as well, they stated that it was about an important legal matter from a firm.