I also got a call from the saying they where hiring but it was from the second number. Said they were from a bank in my city. I caught on when the asked for my birthday and last 4 #s of my ssn. Even the email looked suspicious.

They got me to. I called both numbers back and pretended to be someone feeding into their bull. I finally told them I knew it was a scam and had been trying to waste their time.

These bozos call at least once a day. We never answer, but they don't give up

I got a phons call from 281-975-2533 in regards to a job at UPS in Louisville, ky. Wanted to confirm my interest asked for my resume and LSAT 4 of social like an idiot I gave they told me I would get a second call from 281-661-4005  they claim to be advent global I also got an email and called a number from their website and rhey are an internet company. They do not hire for ups.  They are supposed to get back with me once they talk to the hiring manager but they have not. I keep calling back but they keep gicing me eun around. UPS called them and they sounded shady to them. They say they do not use a out of atate company for hiring.

Bandy
bandy@adventglobal.com
281-661-4005


Bandy is actually a Recruiter working with Advent Global. Recently I had a contract job offered from one of their client, which I actually declined due to my wife's illness.
I had uploaded my resume on Monster.com, thats how she contacted me looking for Quality Analysts.

Most of the recruiters in todays world are from India, she probably is from India too. I was little bothered about where she is really from fellas and I needed a job then. We spoke, I was happy with $35/hr and she submitted my resume to her client and after that I'm sure you guys know how things move...a couple of interviews and an offer. But i do regret on not accepting that offer

Hope this info gets ya'll off the miscommunication

Thanks

This came under the guise , From Sandy G via Monster

Requirement Details:
Position?s name: Class A CDL Driver
Location: Conroe, TX, 77385
Job type:  Contract
Duration: 6 Months
Start Date: ASAP


Job Description:
? Long Haul Drivers deliver materials to job site, primarily delivering wallpanels and/or trusses requiring oversized load permits, inspects andmaintains truck, reports shortages and claims to supervisor, and assists in loading and storing of materials.
? Maintains a current CDL license as required
? Prepares DOT required log of time on duty and driving
? Organizes and secures load
? Assists forklift operators when loading
? Adheres to safety standards and DOT guidelines
? Delivers and unloads to the customers' satisfaction


Looking for your reply.....................................


Thanks,
Bandy
bandy@adventglobal.com
281-661-4005

Advent Global is an IT company. Scammers are making up fake email addresses or getting email addys from general mail companies and using resumes to get to potential victims. You have an option to make your contact info private and are advised not to put any contact info on cover letter or resume. Employers will contact you through the site you posted with. This happens weekly and I just ignore them. I hold the power and I refuse to be a victim.

Correction, the name is Bandy. I miss-heared the name, but that is what appears in the e-mail she sent.

Brandy called me from another number after I e-mailed her that she was scamming, she called from 281-973-5930 to explain that there are others working for the same client.... Yea... right.... sure.... uh-huh... Job seekers beware!

So, it wasn't a debt collector for me... or an officer... or even a man. A woman with poor engligh named Brandy (Brandy Deka) sent me an e-mail of a job offer, I replied and then she called me from 281-661-4005, tried to gain all of my information for a background check. I didn't hand it all out, but she does have my resume. I received a similar e-mail from a Priten Patel with a number listed within it (didn't receive a phone call or reply back to the job offer) of 704-893-3500. I looked up the 704 number and it doesn't seem to have any information for it, other than people have looked it up.

I'm not sure if either are scams or both... But to those in these trying times of looking for employment, I do hope you will be on the look out!

Brandy's e-mail was brandy@adventglobal.com and Priten's was priten.patel@collabera.com --- has anyone else had this happen to them?

the law offices of david harrison called me today from 323-417-0125. they claimed im going to jail over some fraudulent cash advance i supposedly applied for, the guy told me they would send papers to the police and have them come arrest me for bank fraud and some other things, i couldnt understand half of what the guy said on the nasty voice mail. anyway he said i will be going to court and be sued and also be charged criminally. they said i could clear it up for $776.00 and the $500.00 in fees. i told them i was going to call state attorney and ask if they can do that, so i called them back and the woman answered and i said i need your law firms name and she said why! i said why so then she was nasty with me when i asked her how to spell it, she said im only saying it one more time! then she put jeff on the phone the guy who  talked to earlier and he said he would not disclose the date this supposedly happened, because it was an evidence thing, another guy named brad peaches left me vm too nasty. i think its cambece law at it again.

So I just talked to "David" (don't know if that's his real name but he finally broke down when I called him on every imaginable number that I could find on the internet for this scam). And he told me what the gig is.  This is a SCAM, they admit it, they harass people and eventually people give in with their checking account information, credit card information, more personal information, you name it.  He broke down and told me this after I used 3 phones and called every number that I could locate for them repeatedly until they wanted ME to leave them alone.

But it's like what normal collection calls do, they provide lots of harassment to put pressure on you to make it so you leave them alone.  We have laws in this country though that you can't make up claims that aren't true when doing a collection.  Clearly, these people do, so it's quick to figure out that this is off-shore.

For me?  I have time on my hands so I kept calling them back.  They claim they are in the UK.  I was honest with him that collection companies in the US usually aren't even this harsh with their harassment, so I thought their scam quickly unravels.  But their initial claim to me is that they are from a payday loan place.  I have applied and used online payday loans in the past, and now I won't because clearly that's how they got my information.  But it's interesting... he's very offended when I called him "Indian" but ended up laughing when I called every number I could find to call them.  This would be a great 20/20 story or newsmedia story if someone had a blog.

At the end of the call, this "David" invited me to call him back so that he could explain more.  I doubt I'll call him back at this point, as he leveled with me that it's a scam.

Here's how to unravel them for the reader who is reading this:
- call them on every number you can find for them on the internet.  They are at:
714.441.8691
213-995-3041
914-373-7038
(at least).  You can find even more numbers to call them by looking further online.

When you get a call from them (or anyone claiming they represent an attorney) demand to get their BAR number.  If the attorney's office won't give it to you, they probably aren't an attorney.

If they hangup on you, do what I did.  Keep calling them back with every number you can and be relentless.  Unfortunately, since this is some offshore place, there's not much that the local or state police can do.  The Federal authorities can do something if it's a country where extradition is possible, and it's easy to get a US number with a vonage box these days, so it's not hard for offshore people to do this scam.  I recommend to warn your friends and relatives but also BE RELENTLESS BACK.  Keep calling every number you can find for them.  When they hang up on you, call them back.  Spend a 1/2 hour of your life making their life miserable until they tell you what's going on. By pressuring them in return, my hope is that they will find that it's not worth doing this scam and go onto other criminal things that they do.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T GIVE OUT ANY INFORMATION OVER THE PHONE.

Lastly, this "David" said he was doing this (when I simply asked him "why?" -- he retorted quickly that he hated Americans.  I asked him "why?" but he couldn't give me a good answer. He used some strong language about Americans I won't do justice here to repeat.  Just be vigilant everyone, be very vigilant.

From this Number  714.441.8691

I just got a call from Ray at David Harrison LegaL services. They are telling me I have a court date on friday. I asked them to place everything in writing for me. They refused and Hung up. I was called names and to top it all off they sound like they are calling from India

I have recieved several calls from the people as well. I have different numbers from where they call from. The one person that keeps calling me is "Chris Gray". He said he is from a law office adn I have criminal action being taken against me. I finally asked for their law office name and the name of the attorney they work for. They said they were with ASC Corp Ltd. and were from Orange County California. The lawyers name is David Harrison. It is real funny because the numbers they are calling me from are cell and land lines from Dallas Texas.

214-446-5380
214-446-9831
214-446-5369
281-661-4005

WELL THEY ARE BACK AT IT AGAIN NOW CALLING FROM #436-867-872 THIS IS HOW IT APPEARS ON THE CALLER ID AN ENGLISH SPEAKING WOMEN IS ON THE PHONE STATING THAT SHE IS CALLING ABOUT THE LAW SUIT THAT HAS BEEN FILED AGAINST ME AND SHE NEEDS MY LAWYERS INFO WHEN I ASKED HER WHAT LAW SUIT SHE SAYS OH LET ME GIVE YOU TO MY SUPERVISER SO HE CAN EXPLAIN IT TO YOU AT THIS TIME THE SAME BROKEN ENGLSH SPEAKING PERSON I WON'T CALL IT A HIM OR MAN GETS ON THE PHONE SAYS HE'S CALLING FROM CYBER CRIME UNIT IN WASHINGTON THEN I ASKED HIM WHERE ARE YOU CALLING FROM AGAIN HE THEN SAYS SAME COMPANY BUT NOW IT'S IN CALIFORNIA WHEN I ASKED HIM DIDN'T YOU JUST SAY YOU WERE LOCATED IN WASHINGTON HE SAYS OH NO CALIFORNIA HE THEN START ASKING FOR MY LAWYERS INFO WHEN I TOLD HIM TO GIVE ME HIS INFO AND I WILL GIVE TO MY LAWYER TO CONTACT HIM HE SAID WELL THE POLICE WILL B THERE IN 30 MIN TO ARREST YOU SO I TOLD OK SEND THEM IM HERE HE THEN SLAMS THE PHONE IN MY EAR

I just received a call yesterday...I have since called my lawyer and my bank! the wierd thing about the call...is that they are not english speaking people...and I could not make out much of what they wanted...except for me to get a prepaid walmart card and send it to them ....such Freaks! who in the hell are these dudes??? Who should I call about Fraud? Harrasment? can someone let me know?

I just checked my voice message and some officer said that he is from Dallas Texas by way of Orange County Texas and sais that if I do not call him, that the local sheriff department would drag me from my job and my manager along with my wife to court or jail. The guy had a foreign acsent and threatened me to call him about a law suit for unpaid online pay day loans. I have been dealing with threats from people in India, California, New York etc... about law suits and saying I am going to jail. They always say call them or else! These pay day scammers are getting out of hand!!!!!!

He told me that his name is Officer Russell William and is from Orange County in Texas. So I assume he is getting confused when he tells this story. But he has also threatened me with arrest.

I have been receiving calls from 281-661-4005...and they are asking for someone not eve myself...when I tell them that they have the wrong number, they keep calling....once they even said they were the police dept...so I contacted my sheriff's dept....and the guy called them...and when they told him it was the sheriff dept...they hung up on him.....i got another call and message.....the guy doesnt speak english and he ask me my name and social...i told him it wasnt none of his business~!!!  anyway, do not give info out over the phone to these people...

i am gonna contact my fbi dept here ....to investigate more.

we do know its from california...

A person who goes by the name of Marcus has been calling me from this number 214-446-5369 he also has a accent from India. The amount varies from week to week last night the amount was $14000 and the week before it $8000, however if I paid the 322.00 I owed throught electronic transfer the debt would be settled. I informed him that my bank paid the payday loan that I received, and stated to him that I never received a loan from the lender (Cash Advance or Cng Payday Loan}.I have been informed that a warrant will be issued for my arrest and I must appear in  court on thursday 4-21-11 with  a judgement of $14000 against me. When I asked for a mailing address he responded all payments must be done through electronic transfer. When I asked for information on the courthouse and the legal paper I would need to defend myself, he became agitated and hung up on me. THIS IS A SCAM...
DON'T GIVE THEM ANYMORE INFORMATION, AS YOU KNOW THAT HAVE THE INFORMATION TO HARASS YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE. I PLAN TO CONTACT IC3.GOV ...ALSO

Last evening I received a call from a man who gave his name as Nick Jackson (sounded as if he is from Pakistan) and from the broken English he used I get that he has my son's SS number, and is threatening a lawsuit of some sort.

I intend to type a letter with the information for my son to take to his bank.

This is getting out of hand! So much fraud, and no recourse for those who are victims.

i received a call from Officer Ray McKenzie also. He stated that he was from the Orange County Sheriff's office in California. He said that a warrant has been issued for my arrest because of a $300 Cash Advance loan that I had taken out in 2010 and never repaid. I told him that he was crazy because I don't owe any Cash Advance place. He said that I would have to prove this in court. I told him that he would have to prove to me that he had a warrant and then hung up. It makes me nervous about what information these people could have on me. I guess I'll call the bank and notify the credit bureaus. GRRR!

I received a call from Officer Ray McKenzie (sounded like from India) and he states that there is a warrant for my arrest based on my name and ssn# and there were sending an officer to my home or work and arrest me and my manager (I haven't figured that out yet) and that I needed to warn my co-workers also. He advised me that I needed to pay $80,000.00 to prevent me from going to court. This message was on my cell voice mail and of course I never returned the call. I have been getting these calls for 2 years same situation but from different #'s and same India accent.
I could not understand any company information.

I got a call from this Ray McKenzie tonight.  I thought he sounded like a Cuban gentleman I know, but then he said he was Officer Ray McKenzie and I was going to be arrested tonight along with my manager and ?, for fraud and criminal activity on my name and Social Security number.  

Nothing was said about a pay day loan, though I did get a call about 6 months ago from someone saying I owed money on a pay day loan.  I told that person that I did not and go ahead and do what ever they wanted (they had said they would prosecute).

I had gotten 2 pay day loans 2 years ago and paid them back timely so I knew I didn't owe anything to anybody.

I hung up on him realizing right away it was a scam but they called back and left a voicemail.  On the voicemail, he gave me previous address.

I called the Sheriff's department and reported it to IC3.gov as suggested.

Thanks to "The Saint" and everyone else on here for the good information. I am repeatedly getting harassing calls from an Officer Ray McKenzie (funny because the "guy" is definitely NOT American - he's Pakistan) at my work, and my cell#, who says they are coming to arrest me, my manager, AND my references at our place of business at my courthouse. I work for a federal judge you idiots!  Come on down here, I dare ya!  Our court security officers will escort you out of the building!   He says I need to pay $80K if my court case is lost. The idiot doesn't know I work for the courts and know what DUE PROCESS means. I am ignoring their calls.  I got the call from the same guy saying he was coming to my house last week to arrest me. They never came. I do owe 2 payday lenders (One Click Cash, and Nationwide Cash) but was in a payday loan settlement program, so who knows how these idiot scammers got my information. I've applied for payday loans thru a bunch of companies. I've learned my lesson.  I sure don't owe $80K!  More like $500.  It's ridciulous these people can get away with this. It's total harassment.  I can ignore them on my cell# (i never pick up a call I don't recognize the #), and at work they leave me voicemails. Maybe after a few years of not talking to me they'll give up, because I'm not calling them back.  About a month or 2 ago, I got the voicemail message.  I called the company because at that time I thought it was a collection agency on behalf of the 2 I owe $ to, and told them to mail me a copy of the debt I owe so my settlement company could pay it.  They said they couldn't mail anything to me. I knew right then it was a scam. Thank GOD I never gave them any bank information. They can just keep calling & wasting their breath. Not getting a dime from me.

Kudos to "Sam" for giving the most intelligent and informative posts on this scam. READ, Bookmark and use as needed:

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-631-456-4041/2

I have been receiving phone calls from this group since late April / early May of 2010.  There is a good chance that they also attempted to contact me roughly two years ago before I entered into Chapter 7 Bankruptcy protection, as I faintly remember hearing the same script more or less.

As others have stated, the callers are difficult to understand.  Generally speaking their command of the English language is quite poor and their accents are hard to follow. At times they will get certain words or phrases mixed up.  It would be funny if it wasn't for the fact that they had:

a) Your SSN
b) Your home address
c) Your work address
d) Your banking info
e) Names, numbers and potentially the addresses of "references"
f) A complete and total lack of ethics and a basic understanding of the FDCPA.  

I have personally filed reports with the following agencies, often with limited (if any) success:

Local Police
my state's Attorney General's office
FTC
FBI
Secret Service

Generally the local police won't be able to help much.  The callers are using a combination of prepaid cell phones and VoIP, making them difficult to trace.  Also at their disposal are various spoofing tactics being implemented to catch people off guard - meaning the number that appears on your Caller ID isn't the number that is calling you for starters.  Without gaining a subpoena for the billing information for the numbers in question, the local police won't be able to get very far.  

My state's Attorney General's office couldn't offer much assistance either.  I received a form letter in the mail that my complaint was received and I would be contacted if they needed additional info.  It was more or less the same information I obtained from the FTC.  They each advised me not to give the individuals over the phone any account information or to authorize payment.  That's just common sense, though.

I never got anything from the FBI, either.  There is a good chance that since I haven't suffered a monetary loss that my concerns are low on the totem pole.  I hate to say this, but that is truly the case. Unless you were in the hole for a $1,000 (or more) you aren't going to get much more than "sorry to hear about your situation, change your phone number and move on".  I seemed to get some activity from the Secret Service.  I spoke with agent Doug Zloto. (Google him, referencing threads like these plus his name and you'll find his number also)  He seemed to care a bit more than the average person, but after giving him access to my Google Voice account, there has been no further activity from him that I'm aware of.

In the meantime I changed the wireless number the fraudsters had access to, they have no direct way to get a hold of me.  (Calls at work have ceased for some reason)  That in turn resulted in my "references" getting phone calls from the crooks.  Here is a word of caution for women that have been getting these calls - don't say anything and just hang up.  The callers are quite abusive towards women callers.  Why?  Possibly the culture.  If they are Indian / Pakistani, women are second class citizens there.  You will be treated like garbage.  This happened to a family member when she was trying her best to be extremely nice over the phone.  

The callers currently attempt to reach me through the female family member and an unused Google Voice number that they managed to find of mine.  I keep the Google Voice number open because, well, I can't delete it yet.  So, about every day, 4-5 times a day for the last week, I get voice messages from them.  It's usually just two full messages though - the other calls are broken up with static or they are attempts to read the script until the callers then screw up.  Really, they are that adamant on getting the script 100% that they will hang up mid-sentence and call back 30 seconds later.  

At this point it's a stalemate with these people.  

1) While they have the lion's share of information on us, they can't really do anything with this information.  

Why?  Think about it.

If they were to ever take funds out of your account without authorization, it's fraud and worse (for them) it is traceable.  That's why they won't do anything with your information, contrary to threats they make.  The money from your account has to go somewhere, and either your bank or a law enforcement agency can determine where the money was routed.  As a bank customer you are protected - you'd get the stolen money back in your account after 7-10 business days and the bank would be temporarily out the funds deducted from your account while they conducted their investigation.  The bank, along with law enforcement, would track down the fraudsters and apprehend them.  The fraudsters do not want to incur the wrath of a bank, just extort money out of you.  Remember that.    

Your authorization would absolve the bank from any and all liability, leaving you holding the bag.  Never give them authorization for anything - for all you know the call is recorded.  

2) We have no information on them.

Seriously, this has been going on at least since 2008, possibly longer than that based on some accounts. (6 years??? Holy crap!)  You would think someone would have slipped up by now.  Sadly, they haven't.  We can continue to grow our own intel on them and compile lists of aliases and phone numbers used, along with paraphrases of scripts used in order to educate other victims.  I'm actually putting together a site now in the meantime where I'll host audio files and lists of previous numbers used.  800notes.com is great, but no two calls are exactly the same.  It would be nice to have a site dedicated to the scam and how it works.

So that's where I am with these calls.  I have suffered no monetary loss, though I have been harassed both at home and at work.  They threaten me with arrest and other "fun" things in order to get me convinced I have to pay them.  My friends and family have been targeted and local and federal law enforcement agencies haven't been able to put a stop to things.  So, it is what it is.  I am out a wireless phone number I had for roughly six years, which is terrible since I was using that line when looking for a new job.  

Whenever I'm bored I spoof my number using Google Voice and return the calls.  I've called them the poster children for birth control, etc.  Basically a lot of nasty things that I'm sure the moderators here wouldn't appreciate me repeating - bottom line nothing nice.  I always like to close saying their parents must be real proud knowing their sons weren't man enough to get real jobs.  That usually gets a decent response.  

Way I see it - they can't do anything to me. (Despite a threat yesterday that my life would be f'ed up)  They can threaten all they want but my credit is frozen and my bank information has changed.  I've changed the only number they could really access me directly on and I've instructed my employer and family to not answer the calls.  I just call and harass them now when I find a few extra seconds.  What's the worst they can do to me?  Charge me with harassment?  

Nope, then they would have to identify themselves.

Oh, and don't bother contacting Cashnet USA about the calls.  Their "fraud" department could honestly care less.  Their "investigation" is merely a means of buerocratic CYA.  I would even be surprised at this point if actual law enforcement is involved in any shape, way or form at this time.  

There is a good chance that the information these crooks have on us was obtained from Cashnet USA - either from a database leak or from a collector that was once authorized by Cashnet to call on delinquent customers.  The other chance is they have access to Teletrack, and pulled all of our information off of there.

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

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.

PS--The FBI sent out a Press Release on this scam just last week:

Extortion Scam Related to Delinquent Payday Loans

Washington, D.C.
December 07, 2010  FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691

? filed under: Press Release

The Internet Crime Complaint Center has received many complaints from victims of payday loan telephone collection scams. Callers claim the victim is delinquent in a payday loan and must repay the loan to avoid legal consequences. The callers purport to be representatives of the FBI, Federal Legislative Department, various law firms, or other legitimate-sounding agencies. They claim to be collecting debts for companies such as United Cash Advance, U.S. Cash Advance, U.S. Cash Net, and other Internet check-cashing services.

According to complaints received from the public, the callers have accurate data about victims, including Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, employer information, bank account numbers, and the names and telephone numbers of relatives and friends. How the fraudsters obtained the personal information varies, but in some cases victims have reported they completed online applications for other loans or credit cards before the calls started.

The fraudsters relentlessly call the victim?s home, cell phone, and place of employment. They refuse to provide any details about the alleged payday loans and become abusive when questioned. The callers have threatened victims with legal actions, arrests, and, in some cases, physical violence if they do not pay. In many cases, the callers harass victims? relatives, friends, and employers.

Some fraudsters have instructed victims to fax a statement agreeing to pay a certain amount, on a specific date, via a pre-paid Visa card. The statement further declares the victim will never dispute the debt.

If you receive these calls, do not follow the caller?s instructions. Rather, you should:

Notify your banking institutions.
Contact the three major credit bureaus and request an alert be put on your file.
Contact your local law enforcement agencies if you feel you are in immediate danger.
File a complaint at www.IC3.gov.
Tips to avoid becoming a victim of this scam:

Never give your Social Security number?or personal information of any kind?over the telephone or online unless you initiate the contact.
Be suspicious of any e-mail with urgent requests for personal financial information. The e-mail may include upsetting or exciting but false statements to get you to react immediately.
Avoid filling out forms in e-mail messages that request personal information.
Ensure that your browser is up-to-date and security patches have been applied.
Check your bank, credit, and debit card statements regularly to make sure that there are no unauthorized transactions. If anything looks suspicious, contact your bank and all card issuers.
When you contact companies, use numbers provided on the back of cards or statements

http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/paydayloanscam_120710

hello look the only reason they stop calling you is now they got your account number. I was a dumn as you and i will never do that again at all. Once they have your account number you are really f***. They are not from Federal Credit union yes this is all a scam. banks do not call you they sent letters to you. If i was you i go into the bank where you got this loan from and talk to them. Look the FBI is well away of the scams they are doing I am sorry for this but go into the bank you got the loan. Merry Christmas

Hello sorry you getting call but look i ahve been getting calls to never give out anything over the phone at all. I been getting thoes calls to and not all are coming from the same number. I never had a loan out and never would just all of this is a scam.

i got a call from the same number.they are  Federal Credit union who handles legal process for 150 pay-day load company. i paid the loan amount now they are not calling and they forwarded all the documentation to my mail address on my loan.

Today 11/23/10 I recevied about 6 calls from this person and on my caller ID its just a bunch of letters like lakuvws,efunsvzn,sfivsxrg and hoaqbmab and no number. When I answer it they say they want to talk to my husband because there is a law suit against him. This man does not speak good english and can hardly understand what he is saying. I asked what his name is and he said Sean Paul and the phone number is 281-661-4005. He called agin 3 more times when I told him my husband was not here, so I stoped answering the phone but they dont leave a message and they call back every minute tell someone answers the phone. Who are these people. They are driving me crazy. This has been going on now for about 3 weeks.