440-399-2139

I received a call from this number I did not pick up the phone because I don't answer numbers I don't know  they called my back 3 times in a row so I had someone else and the phone and who ever call could not speak english and told my brother that he was from some law firm and that someone is sueing me. first of all he had no right to tell anyone my personal business so I really think that this is a bogus call.

I just got a call from them also.  They are crazy. Stated I have a law suit against me and I would be be arrested and lose my job if I didn't pay them money from some loan that I know nothing about.  This is a scam.

I just got this call, an Indian man named Michael Davis,  apparently I had a loan deposited into my bank account which I didn't then they tried to take it back and the money wasn't there...I've called my bank to be sure not such has happened and as I thought it hasn't ...I did contact a lawyer just in case and he said it sounds like a scam and to not answer their calls give them no information and if and only if you get something in the mail from them that's when its real.

I got the same call I told them to stop calling me and they said why? When I told them they were fraud they started threatening me saying how many chances did I have and that they were going to go after my family if I didn't give them any money. I filed a report to the police.

I just got several phone calls at work from this number from a Steven Jacobs, who is Indian saying they were from Clifford Law Firm.  Exact same description as the person 'Kati' describes.  Except they said they were sending me several notifications through my  home email address and I was not responding.
The 'lawyers' name is David Jones.  And he threatened my employer is being contacted and a warrant is being issued for my arrest.

I went to the police today, they called the number from their landline, these people are VERY smart some how they made it where there phone had been "disconnected" , then i let the officer use my phone and THEY ANSWERED, the officer threatened them and they havent called since.... these people are crazy! they called my grandparents phone number, how they got their home phone i have nooooo idea, but they calle dmy grandfather a son of a [***].... CRAZIES! THEYRE GONNA END UP MESSIN WITH THE WRONG PEOPLE!

Hey I just want to confirm,  on my previous entry.  The caller Clifford Law Offices  is actually a real law firm.  Their number is 1-800-899-0410 and I talked with the assistant DA 'Gail/Gayle'.  She thanked me for filing a complaint against that 440 number. She informed me that they ABSOLUTELY do not condone this behavior, and to PLEASE report your 'threats' to her.  I also filed a police report.

Thanks.

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

A man with an Indian accent keeps calling.  He left a message saying that he has obtained an attorney against me and is suing me.??? He said that I had better call him back the second that I receive the message.  If I don't, all he can do, is wish me good luck as the situation unfolds.  Very nasty man.

Read my previous post. Per ABC News and the FTC, this is a criminal extortion ring operating out of India. Let them know this the next time they call and you are recording their conversation which will be turned over to the FTC and law enforcement.

This is crazy!  This is exactly what is happening to me right now!  I applied for a couple of payday loans, and I KNEW that's where this all stemmed from.  I have worked in law firms for over 20 years, and if they think they can threaten me with lawsuits with stupid phone calls, they are sadly mistaken.  Freakin' CROOKS!!!

OMG - I got that same exact voice mail!  He said just exactly that!  This is just getting ridiculously funny now.

I received the same call from an indian man name steven stating that my SSN is under investigation and I have a law suit against me. He called my job 6 times in one day. Before I called them back I googled the phone# and read all of these post so I knew what to expect. They ask for my SSN I told them I wouldnt give them that & ask who was suing me, he transfered me to the so called lawyer and he said I was being sued. I ask by who & he said I have a bad habit of cutting ppl off, I tould him that their company was a fraud & they have a bad habit of calling ppl at work. He then stated that " what did you say.. you suck d**k, you ride good d**k. I then cursed him out and he hung up. All of our calls are recorded and I will be sending this tape to the police.

I just received a call from this so called Eric Watson from this excite number. Saying that I was being sued by Advanced Cash USA. When I asked him for a date when I took out this so called loan he started yelling and screaming at me. He said that he was calling my local police and that I am going to be arrested. I contacted my Bank to make sure of this so called loan at this time they are not finding a thing what so ever. What is wrong with these people. I have also received a call from a so called Eric Thompson stating that he was with the Sheriff's Dept. but would not tell me where the Dept. was and this person was rude as well yelling and screaming at me. I have contacted my my local authorities about this, can anyone tell me who else to call?

I just got the same call. I explained to him that I had been discharged from my bankruptcy in June. He hung up on me. I can't stand scammers!!!!!!!

i just received a call from these folks and they were like i had some money deposited into my account, they were going to send it to the sheriff's office because i failed to pay back, his name was David also sounds like they were very unorganized about it and really didn't know anything, they're going to call my employer and get me fired and told me to listen to the music and enjoy my last day, i will call this gayle lady and make a report.

I have been getting the same calls on my work phone number.  They are all saying the same as everyone else.  How can I make them Stop?

This past Friday I had received a rather unintelligible message from 440-399-2139. The person kept getting my name wrong and spoke with a very thick accent. He also said not to disregard the call as I was "under investigation by the State's Attorney's Office." The manner of speech sounded very rude and unprofessional so I had a feeling some sort of shakedown scheme was underway. This morning I got a message handed to me to call a Steven Jacobs at that phone number. In this case, I was very nervous because the message also read "Attorney Office." From my work location I can't make a direct long distance call, but was able to make an on-line search into that number and found out that it is a scam, generally affiliated with debts from on-line payday loans.

My investgation also showed thay claim to be with Clifford Law Office, a firm in Chicago, while the phone number is from the Cleveland/Akron area. I called the law firm and found out there have many many complaints about this fraudulent operation, but with their operations outside the U.S., there's not really any legal recourse, but please continue to file the necessary complaints and defintely disregard their messages; it is a shakedown scheme. I have already filed complaints with Clifford Law Office, so that they're aware of it and they are supportive of us, along with the Federal Trade Commission, and am in the process of filing a complaint with my state's office of the Attorney General. It would also be a good idea to report the matter with the credit agencies, as there may be some possible identity theft involved. I also called the front desk at my workplace so that I am informed of their attempts at harrassing me, but the front desk is also now aware that this whole thing is a scam.

Over a week earlier I had received a call at work from 855-846-4570 and the "attorneys" involved, Steven Clark and Raymond Scott, said a lawsuit was being filed against me, along with having criminal charges filed because of an unpaid payday loan debt. This is gut-wrenching when hearing it for the first time, but the immediate red flags were that everyone in the "legal department" spoke with very thick Indian accents. After doing another search with this number I discovered it is also a scam.

Here you go I got this information from them. winston and associates 3222 superior cleveland ohio 44146.  They went to the point to call my job make false information and saying some wrong things.  Well I am a smart mom and called and had numerous people (police officers) investigate me fully and the name and number given.  If you want more information trick them I did.

PARCEL ID    102-28-010    Field Definitions
OWNERS NAME    YEE FUNG TOY FAM ASSO. CLEVE    
ADDRESS    03222 SUPERIOR AVE
CITY    CLEVELAND
ZIP    44114
Got this off the county website.  It is a 6 bedroom 2 bath duplex. These people need to be stopped I think I will call there landlord and ask them about it.  They can call my job and almost get me fired and threaten me and my family.  Well they better watch out this momma is mad. I actually do have a payday loan out and so I trout it was for real and sent them $577.79 and that took away from my kids meals.  Now having to borrow money from parents for food and my phone has been disconnected.  Lets see how they like it.