I received a call from this number about 5 times today. Stating that i owe 499.00 to Southern USA, i do not know how this person got some of my information. I definitely don"t know who/what Soutern USA is. I filed a police report and changed all of my info, and even had credit alerts put on my credit files. So he WILL NOT GET ANYTHING FROM ME.

No need to have a heart attack...however, if this is your first scam call like this (and I take it because of the heart attack comment that it probably is) then you will probably start to get more like it.  The best advice I can give you is to change your phone number if possible, because it seems that when you get one scam call, you get MANY.  Changing your number will put an immediate end to the harassment.

these people almost gave me a heartattack.omfg

I got the call from this idiot claimimng to be a NYPD officer, i told him hes a scam..he said you will be arrested monday morning.i told him to BLOW ME MONDAY MORNING!

Consumers across the country report that they're getting telephone calls from people trying to collect on loans the consumers never received or on loans they did receive but for amounts they do not owe. Others are receiving calls from people seeking to recover on loans consumers received but where the creditors never authorized the callers to collect for them. So what's the story?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, is warning consumers to be on the alert for scam artists posing as debt collectors. It may be hard to tell the difference between a legitimate debt collector and a fake one. Sometimes a fake collector may even have some of your personal information, like a bank account number. A caller may be a fake debt collector if he:

is seeking payment on a debt for a loan you do not recognize;
refuses to give you a mailing address or phone number;
asks you for personal financial or sensitive information; or
exerts high pressure to try to scare you into paying, such as threatening to have you arrested or to report you to a law enforcement agency.

If you think that a caller may be a fake debt collector:
Ask the caller for his name, company, street address, and telephone number. Tell the caller that you refuse to discuss any debt until you get a written "validation notice." The notice must include the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor you owe, and your rights under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
If a caller refuses to give you all of this information, do not pay! Paying a fake debt collector will not always make them go away. They may make up another debt to try to get more money from you.

Stop speaking with the caller. If you have the caller's address, send a letter demanding that the caller stop contacting you, and keep a copy for your files. By law, real debt collectors must stop calling you if you ask them to in writing.

Do not give the caller personal financial or other sensitive information. Never give out or confirm personal financial or other sensitive information like your bank account, credit card, or Social Security number unless you know whom you're dealing with. Scam artists, like fake debt collectors, can use your information to commit identity theft ? charging your existing credit cards, opening new credit card, checking, or savings accounts, writing fraudulent checks, or taking out loans in your name.

Contact your creditor. If the debt is legitimate ? but you think the collector may not be ? contact your creditor about the calls. Share the information you have about the suspicious calls and find out who, if anyone, the creditor has authorized to collect the debt.

Report the call. Contact the FTC and your state Attorney General's office with information about suspicious callers. Many states have their own debt collection laws in addition to the federal FDCPA. Your Attorney General's office can help you determine your rights under your state's law.>

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt076.shtm

Even scam artists are outsourcing. On Tuesday in its first crackdown on fraudulent telemarketing in South Asia, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it was shutting down two California-based companies that used a call center in India to defraud Americans out of more than $5 million over the past two years.

Workers in India made threatening calls to Americans getting them to pay money on debts that they didn't owe, the FTC charges. At an FTC press conference in Chicago on Tuesday, fraud victim JanLaree DeJulius explained that she had received a call from someone claiming to be an enforcement officer from the (phony) "Federal Department of Crime and Prevention," who threatened to have her arrested and have her wages garnished if she didn't pay a bill of more than $730. The scam artists had gotten her name and information from a payday loan her ex-husband had taken out in her name.

"It was very embarrassing," Dejulius said. "He knew everything about me so I agreed to set up an installment." She is not alone. According to the FTC, more than 8 million calls were made since 2010 and at least 17,000 transactions processed across the United States related to the global scam.

On Tuesday under request from the FTC, a U.S. District Court in Chicago stopped the international operation, charging Varang K. Thaker and two companies he owned, American Credit Crunchers, LLC, and an affiliate Ebeeze, LLC, with violating the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

"This is a brazen operation based on pure fraud, and the FTC is committed to shutting it down," said David Vladeck, director of the FTC's consumer protection bureau. "Consumers should not be pressured into paying debt they don't remember owing. Legitimate debt collectors must provide consumers with both written information about the debt, and instructions for protecting themselves if they don't think they owe the debt."

According to the FTC's charges, Thaker used Social Security numbers and bank account numbers obtained from payday lenders to identify the victims for his scam. He outsourced the work to an Indian call center, where workers made threatening calls to American consumers to pay fake debt or collect on bills for which they were not authorized.

Thaker was not available when contacted by telephone on Tuesday. A woman who claimed to be Thaker's older sister and asked not to be named for privacy reasons said he is working with the FTC to help the Indian government pursue the fraudster call center operators. She also said he was innocent in the scam. "He was being used by somebody. He didn't even know where they got the information," she told The Huffington Post by phone. She said that her brother got 10 percent of the earnings from the scam operation.

The FTC charges against Thaker are the latest in a series of police actions by the government agency to put an end to rogue debt collection operations that have become more frequent in the aftermath of the Great Recession. In January, the FTC struck a $2.5-million settlement with debt-buying company Asset Acceptance, LLC, charging that the company had falsely represented itself to customers, including making up phantom debts that customers no longer owed. Last October, the FTC filed a complaint against seven other fraudulent debt collectors, alleging that they had engaged in the same techniques -- demanding money from customers who owed nothing at all.

The growing number of Americans who are unable to pay their bills has meant there are more companies looking to profit from their economic difficulties.

Debt collectors have been taking more aggressive tactics as fewer people are able to make ends meet or are in a cycle of debt. More than 30 million Americans are in debt collection, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Since 2010, more than 4,000 complaints have been filed with the FTC and state attorneys general about fraudulent debt collection calls, the FTC said.

Charles Junitkka, a personal bankruptcy attorney who represents clients in the New York City area, said, "In the last few years, the desperation of the collectors and their efforts have intensified because of the economy."

This story has been updated to reflect comment from a woman who says she is the sister of Varang Thaker. Thaker himself was unavailable for comment.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/21/ftc- ... _n_1289751.html

Same company or person called me this morning stating  I will be arrested on Monday morning.  He stated his name as Officer John Matthews from the Crimes Investigation unit. Do these people really think we are that stupid.  They are nasty and yell at you so I yelled back and told him where to go. Anybody that gets this kind of call needs to report them right away.

just got a call today....same number - called himself Benjamin Franklin...idiot...yup trying to get me to western union money to a person in india.  They have already got me once with this, so stupid I know, but not this time.  Thanks to everyone who posted info about this number and why he's calling.

I GOT CALL FROM THIS SAME GUY THIS MORNING STATING THE SAME THINGS THAT YOU GUYS SAID. I CALLED HIM BACK AND TOLD HIM NOT TO CALL MY HOUSE AGAIN AND THAT'S HE'S NOT FROM A BUREAU OF CRIME INVESTIGATION. HE CALLED BACK AND SAID IF I THINK THAT'S HE IS A FRAUD WAIT UNTIL MONDAY MORNING THAT THE POLICE WILL COME TO MY HOUSE AND/OR MY JOB AND ARREST ME IN FRONT OF MY CO-WORKERS....IS THIS GUY FOR REAL.

I received phone calls from this number several times on 2/2 2012.  The man stated his name was Tom Martin from the Bureau of crime. He said I owed  southern usa for a loan that I supposable received some where between march and april od 2011.  He had my address, work phone, cell phone, social security number and where I banked.  He said if i did not settle out of court today that there would be someone at my house tomorrow to arrest me.  He wanted me to fax a letter to him stating that i would resolve this out of court and would payKansafm and that he needed a copy of my photo id and my debit/credit card number.

So what ended up happening

He stated that he was from some Bureau of Crime and Investigation about a loan I had supposedly taken out... he knew my ss# where i work and where i live.. he wanted my card # so i could set up a payment.. when i said i wouldnt give that information, he stated i will be arrested.. and i told him i will report him to the police and he hung up

This man called me 5 times total, but 4 times back to back and I finally answered. He stated that he was from some Bureau of Crime and Investigation about a loan I had supposedly taken out. And that I would be served at 9:30 with a subpoena and arrested. It's scary because he had the last 4 of my SSN#, my address, and the name of my bank!!! But that didnt stop me from giving this jerk a piece of my mind!!!

Calls my work telling me I need to paid an outstanding bill or I will be served summons and be arrested for check fraud.

I GOT A CALL FROM THIS PERSON AND THIS IS THE SECOND TIME HE TREATS ME AND SAYS THE SAME THING. I DO NOT OWE THE PERSON AND THEY ARE A SCAM I LOOK AT THIS NUMBER UP AND THE NUMBER IS FOR THE SAME PERSON AND THE NAME OF THE COMPANY IS THE NAME OF THE CITY WHERE THE NUMBER CAME FROM.  IT IS A SCAM.

This number called me about 6 times in a row. I am a day sleeper because of my work schedule. I told him to quit calling and hung up on him cause I was TRYING to sleep. He then called me back and said he was f****** my wife. Real professional don't you think. Would not tell me who he was with either.

I have been getting this same call on my cell and work phone. He is stating there is a federal investigation pending against me and my social security#. He has called me atleast 6 times between 8am - 12pm today. I finally answered after him leaving 4 messages and hung up on him the last 2 times

This guy is now calling my work and asking for me.  I am worried because he has the lst a of my social.  Is there anything I can do to stop this?  Should I do something to keep him from scamming me?

I got a call from these folks. Must be a scam as they say they are from the dept of justice, calling about an unpaid loan and I owe $500........lol, the dept of justice would have NOTHING to do with this. Damn shady characters that are hard to understand. Don't be fooled!!!!

I received a call from this number claiming to be a. Federal investigation agency and he had a warrant for my arrest. When asked to get there headquarters number they hung up on me. His name was supposibly Roger Smith