This same people have called and got $99.42 from me and cuss at me telling me that i am going to die and my family is too. Hopefully the FBI and the FCC can get this fixed. I have called both and some how they took it straight from my bank account. So i think the FBI can find out where it with. And get this stupid f****ng people.

Same man kept calling my office as well (at least 50 times in a few hours!!)....he has now stopped (at least for the time being!)...the last time he called we transferred him directly to Campus Police!!  Seems to have stopped him for awhile at least.

rude man calling stating I owe money. Called place of employment at least 50 time before 3:pm. Threatening co workers

Same number has called my work at least 50 times today!!!!  Swears they will keep calling until I either pay them (for a payday loan I no longer owe) or I transfer them to my manager.  I told them I would not, and they said -- "then you can just keep answering our calls -- all day long".  I said OK and hung up.  But they continue to call -- I guess this will go on until 5:00 when we go home.

A collection agency? who called my cousin's workplace at least 10 times in two days and refused to say who they represented and the name of the company he worked for. The individual called her boss and requested her wages be garnished. They would not provide any written documentaion. When a representative called the phone number the individual used vulgar language and threatened physical violence and still would not offer any info about the debt or the company

Oops!  My mistake -- it's the EXACT same number 8024!  Thanks for your posts -- very reassuring.

Message from nearly the same number - 508-556-8004 - Certainly a scam of the same nature as those above.  Calling my work number.  When I call back,  the number is "not in service."  Will never apply for a payday loan online again!

After my Fiance received numerous calls from these people claiming to be from some sort of investigation Department we researched this particular phone number that kept calling him. This is what we found.

If you have ever applied for any kind of pay day loan online that is more then likely how they got all your private information.

Dont actually worry about it and DO NOT pay them anything, They are not a legit company and this is just a horrible scam.

When my Fiance called at 2am and left a message and told them he had taken action and filed a police report and a report with the pay day loan agency that we took a loan from they stopped calling...have not heard from them since.


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.

OMG- it is the exact same thing- I did a few online loans and this is what happens.
He called my work over 30 times today and then told me to **** off and he was sending someone to lock me up. I went to the police near my home to file a complaint- they called the number and would not be given any info and were also cussed at.
I went onto my cell phone account and blocked their number. An hour later I was getting calls again from a number that now came up UNKNOWN.

What can we do as a group to stop this?

Hi, I received the calls as well. The only thing to do is change your number so he can stop calling. I curse this man each and everyday at least 10 times a day and it still does not work. He said he's going to send the police to my job to lock me up. Its a bunch of bull s*** with this gut. Just watch yourself on the internet, which where you put your info @ on the internet because thats how the receive it. I filled out for a couple of payday loans and thats how he has mine. Just be careful.

they wont tell me anything but there goin to sue me an not stop callin...

Unless someone finds out who and where the caller is, nothing can be done. If he is found, then he can face criminal prosecution (if he is in the US), as well as civil penalties (again if in US).

These people call everyday about an employee that works at this medical center. The employee talked to them but they don't give any info about what she supposedly owes. They tie up our lines and call every day. They say they are a legal company but never say the name of the company. They call everyday just to harrass the medical center and talk vulgar on the phone. I was told to call the local police dept, get a case number that way the police can contact the police in Boston and stop these harrassing calls.

I keep receiving phone calls at my work number from some "so called" legal company stating my social security number has been used in a fraud situation in Boston, MA.  I have told them more than once to stop calling me at my work but they do not listen.  They have my name, work number, and my last four (4) digits of my social security number; that is scary and uncalled for.  I know nothing about a fraud or legal situation against my; especially coming from Boston, MA.  I asked them to send me something in writing so I can handle this matter if there is really one.  I work for attorneys so I know a lot on how the legal system works.  What can be done about this matter?  Thank you!!

This man calls over 500 times a day. Not exagerating. At my workplace as well as my home and personel cell phone. He uses vulgar language. Threatens and is very disrespectful in every way possible. He calls using different numbers sometimes, including my own number, my husbands, and other family and friends. Im not sure if this guy is a threat to safety or not but he sure is a thorn in my side. I dont know what else I can do. He asks for money and poses as another company but when i went to pay him his business was very difficult and unprofessional leading me to realise that this is a scam. He knows he will get no money from me but still calls repeatedly.

My guess is that it's a member of a terrorist cell living in the US that's trying to bring the country down by interrupting the flow of business, trying to get people fired, fooling them into giving up their personal information then stealing from their accounts. It would be advisable to have the number blocked.
Here is a post on whocallsme that your cousin should read- it will help her deal with them: "Scams" c23 Dec 11) under 8043185476.

A collection agency? who called my cousin's workplace at least 10 times in two days and refused to say who they represented and the name of the company he worked for. The individual called her boss and requested her wages be garnished. They would not provide any written documentaion. When a representative called the phone number the individual used vulgar language and threatened physical violence and still would not offer any info about the debt or the company. Who is this?