567-248- 5449 got a call saying he was steve johnson from legal department with a case pending  to give him a call back after getting message it was very important indian accent broken english I have never called back. But he did have the last 4 digits of my SS# that he spouted off saying that is how he tracked me. I have not gotten another call as of yet

these ppl keep calling my work and my home threatening me to say that i owe them money and they will be taking me to jail if the money is not paid by a certain time and that i would loose my family.

A man called me at work and said that i was going to be arrested for an outstanding pay day loan he keeps harrassing me wont stop calling my work i do not have payday loans out wish it would stop

He keep calling my phone and work number cursing my co-woker .He speak bad English how do I stop this

i have received these same calls for 2 days now  i have had there numbers blocks by the phone company but there use other weard number to call-there are very nasty talk nasty and curse at me--here are the nubbers they use 052-700-040,527-000-40,567-248-5449,415-994-0000--what can we d to these a** holes to make them stop--i wish i could find out were there at and i would take care of the mater myself---

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

Multiple calls to my business.  Very foul language to whoever answers, male or female.  Telephone Co. will not help, completely worthless.  Absolutely coming from a 3rd world country and feel they are untouchable.
There should be a solution by law enforcement community but they are also worthless.

A man with a heavy estern accent called my work place and said his name was Anthony Bordon with a phone number of 567-248-5449 extension 7707 and was from FCI in Ohio.  I was not availabe to speak with him so I called back and he said he was from the legal department of the Federal Crime Investigation and a complaint had been filed against my social security number.  When I asked who filed the complaint, he said he was transferring me to his supervisor Steven Johnson.  I then proceeded to tell him that this was a scam and if he did not stop calling me I was going to report him to the Attorney General Office in my state. I then hung up the phone.

This guy with a heavy eastern accent called saying he was Steven Johnson from the US Attorney from this number. He threatened a bunch of legal ramifications, etc. I told him I was going to research his credentials prior to talking with him.

I knew he was bogus the minute he mentioned a current bank I have, which was not involved with any of the processes he is referencing.

said he was albert johnson, looking for an employee at our workplace. Rude, screaming, mulitiple calls.

Just got a call from this person at my place of employment also.

Calls saying hes federal investigations and ive committed crime and wanting credit card info to clear it up says hes gonna do vulgar things to my girlfriend and kids and kill us.

Indian accent man.  Very threating to collect money from an employee.  Called 100 times in one day.  Threated physical violence.

Very similar situation to the two people above. He had obtained my address, phone, and last four of my soc. Some co-workers and I were able to keep him (Albert Johnson,  Anthony Bordon, or whatever his name was) on long enough for police to arrive. The caller displayed zero respect for the police officer making various threats against his life. The caller called probably 30-40 times within an hour from two different numbers: 5672485449 & 2052700040. After we didn't answer the line after two of his calls, he quit calling..thank god what a waste of my time!!

A guy just called my phone talking about he will send people to my job in which i don't have a job, school, and my home. First i'm not in school right now so there for he cant send anybody to my school why because its summer time duuuuuuuuh!!! Second I get these type of calls all the time so I knew once he said Federal Crime Investigation Headquarters of United States I already knew it was a scam. If it was that important that would of sent a letter to my address or the company they claim is taking legal action would of call me before. Like I always do report this fakes a** company to my NC BBB and have blocked calls blocked from my phone line. I have better things to do with my time then to be sitting up here worried about a fake officer by the name of Tom Wilson

Guy with a heavy middle eastern accent called me at home and work and left a threatening message. He claims he is Officer Tom Wilson and left my address on my voicemail at home stating he will send an officer to my home to arrest me or at my place of work b/c a complaint was filed against my soc sec number. He left the last four digits of my soc on my vm. I have an outstanding pay day loan but was told you cannot be arrested for that.

So i got two calls in a hour saying that it is officer tom walker and they are going to bring legal action towards me, but they call from a blocked number which i never answer anyway. The first time he called i answer he said i just need your credit card information and we can clear this whole matter. I said what matter lasted i check i dont owe no one he started yelling and cursing and said he going to come to my job and arrest me. I said ok and hung up.

CALLS MULTI TIMES 2-5 MINUTES BACK TO BACK. ASKING FOR MONEY FROM CASH ADVANCE LOAN. WHICH IVE NEVER DONE! CALLING MY PLACE OF BUSINESS. TELLS ME IM GOING TO JAIL. INDIAN ACCENT BUT YET HIS NAME IS ALBERT JOHNSON. HE WILL START YELLING AND CURSING AND VOLGAR LANGUAGE. HAD THE POLICE OFFICER EVEN CALL AND HE CURSED AT HER AND TOLD HER TO DO HER JOB. NOT GOOD AT MY PLACE OF EMPLOYEEMENT AND PHONE CONTINUING TO CALL FROM THIS MAN.