303-747-5932

Officers with accents that give me the run around and claim that I have committed a fraud.  They are trying to scare me and others into believing that I can avoid legal action being brought against me by sending them money for something I didn't do in the first place!

Will call and harass you with every number you have and will threaten to send things to your employment address.... not your home.... your employment address and threaten to speak with your manager and supervisor if you give them a difficult time  ( having common sense  not to be taken in by them)  

Sad.................

An officer Anderson and called local polie who say that this is a scam

Someone from this number keeps calling my cell and my job. I can't understand what they are saying because of a heavy middle-eastern accent. He said something about I was going to be arrested.

called me saying that my husband and his family will suffer dyer consequences if phone call not returned in 24 hours. they [***] up because they are being investigated.

called and left a voice mail saying I had committed fraud and if I didn't return the call then good luck with the consequences. He had a heavy eastern accent. He then called my son and told him I owed somebody money and was being investigated for fraud and to tell me I had better call them. This is the second time this scam has happened to me and I didn't pay the first time either. If you owe a debt they still cannot get you for fraud or theft, they are just trying to scare you. and you have the right to see the paperwork that you owe the money before you pay not after. that is the law. I reported them the last time and will do so again. Don't let them fool you. let's put these people out of business.

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.

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

I have been receiving SEVERAL calls from the same man at my place of employment, from different phone #'s saying that I am in trouble, and being very rude. This time he said his name is Officer Davis and called from 303-747-5932. These calls are VERY harassing and could cause me my job! I do not know these people, have never done any business with them, yet they have all of my info. PLEASE help put a stop to this!!!!!! It is so aggravating/embarassing/annoying!!!!!!!!!!

Hello!

I have been getting these calls also. Do know where these pepole are from (what state)?

I was pulled out of class thinking something was seriously wrong by a man with an accent claiming to be "a federal officer" ...put this guy out of business!

303-747-5932 Some Indian accent telling me this is legal matters regardin a loan I took out and I did pay it pay and that they are the police, really now, I have no idea how these people got my info, my SS#, my address, my job, etc., DO NOT CONFIRM ANY OF THESE, they are trying to collect money from you. When you call back the number, it is busy but really now, which police is calling to come and lock you up for a loan.

I TOLD THEM DO NOT CALL ME BACK BECAUSE I'M GOING TO GIVE THE "REAL" A CALL AND LET THEM AWARE OF YOUR HARASSMENT.

I was at work about 2yrs ago and an indian accent called me about something like this and I was so freaked out, I was fretting, I was worried, I was there asking myself how could this be, I had instant stomach issue. I knew I didn't owe for a lone be he read all my information to me and I confirmed it. I called back I spoke whoever he said was his manager and they carried me on. I almost gave this guy my bank routing number and my bank account. I could not sleep, the next I decided to consult the lawyer and that's when he decided to assist me and try to get to the bottom of it then that's when we realize that these guys are fraud.

I hope the catch them and lock them away for life for doing this to people!

303-747-5932 Some Indian accent telling me this is legal matters regardin a loan I took out and I did pay it pay and that they are the police, really now, I have no idea how these people got my info, my SS#, my address, my job, etc., DO NOT CONFIRM ANY OF THESE, they are trying to collect money from you. When you call back the number, it is busy but really now, which police is calling to come and lock you up for a loan.

I TOLD THEM DO NOT CALL ME BACK BECAUSE I'M GOING TO GIVE THE "REAL" A CALL AND LET THEM AWARE OF YOUR HARASSMENT.

I was at work about 2yrs ago and an indian accent called me about something like this and I was so freaked out, I was fretting, I was worried, I was there asking myself how could this be, I had instant stomach issue. I knew I didn't owe for a lone be he read all my information to me and I confirmed it. I called back I spoke whoever he said was his manager and they carried me on. I almost gave this guy my bank routing number and my bank account. I could not sleep, the next I decided to consult the lawyer and that's when he decided to assist me and try to get to the bottom of it then that's when we realize that these guys are fraud.

I hope the catch them and lock them away for life for doing this to people!

I TOLD THEM DO NOT CALL ME BACK BECAUSE I'M GOING TO GIVE THE "REAL" A CALL AND LET THEM AWARE OF YOUR HARASSMENT.

I was at work about 2yrs ago and an indian accent called me about something like this and I was so freaked out, I was fretting, I was worried, I was there asking myself how could this be, I had instant stomach issue. I knew I didn't owe for a lone be he read all my information to me and I confirmed it. I called back I spoke whoever he said was his manager and they carried me on. I almost gave this guy my bank routing number and my bank account. I could not sleep, the next I decided to consult the lawyer and that's when he decided to assist me and try to get to the bottom of it then that's when we realize that these guys are fraud.

I hope the catch them and lock them away for life for doing this to people!

This is a scam... I first i though someone had used my information in a form of id theft.... These people are of middle eastern desent poor english skills..they harrass the callers... they are looking for quick cash....its a scam...

1-818-584-7339
1-303-747-5932
1-478-247-7114
1-412-387-7315

Please be advised these numbers are what the scammers use!!!!

Rhino will help you Paula!!!