559-399-0838

Call say I owe money but would not give me the creditor who claims this or produce me any documents to that effect.  Say I have to give them my attorney's number and they will fax to him (could be a her).  I told them i was my attorney and fax to me.  When I call back they will not take my calls.

They really do not want to talk to an attorney - THEY REFUSE TO PROVIDE DOCUMENTATION BECAUSE THEY ARE CROOKS - NOT REAL DEBT COLLECTORS



PROTECT YOURSELF!  IMPORTANT INFORMATION YOU MUST READ – HOW THE SCAM WORKS AND WHAT AGENCIES TO REPORT THEM TO

LONG RUNNING AND KNOWN SCAM – ALL OVER INTERNET AND NEWS FOR  2 YEARS NOW


Fake Debt Collectors – Terrorizing Consumers

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5621205&page=1


MORE ON FAKE DEBT COLLECTORS
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-904-425-9141
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/call4action/17285785/detail.html
http://www.800helpfla.com/newsletter/2008/092008.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/01/ks_debt_collection.html  

http://consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/07/video_bill_collector_scam.html  NEWEST CONSUMER ALERT ABOUT THIS SCAM WITH VIDEO!  

http://www.wvago.gov/internetloanscam.cfm
If you are targeted by these criminals, be sure to report them to all the following federal and state law enforcement agencies (most of which you can do online or over the phone):
1.    The U.S. Secret Service is responsible for protecting the country's financial infrastructure and payment systems from international and domestic threats. Call or write your local Secret Service field office to alert them to the details of this attempted extortion. The addresses and phone numbers for the local Secret Service field offices are listed at http://www.secretservice.gov/field_offices.shtml or in your phone book.
2.    Alert the FBI at https://tips.fbi.gov Be sure to tell the FBI that you are being targeted by extortionists over the phone. And if the crooks claim to be law enforcement or lawyers, officers of the court or bankers, be sure to include that information in your report.
3.    File a complaint with your local police. Most police departments will take a report over the phone.  Be sure to tell them that you're being targeted by an extortionist and give them all the details.
4.    File a complaint your state's attorney general, the contact information for whom is at www.wvago.gov
5.    File a complaint online with The Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en
If these crooks call back, promise them nothing, pay them nothing and tell them nothing other than that you know they're a scam and that you've reported them to law enforcement. (And be sure to report them to all the agencies above each time they call you.)

By the way, here's just a small sample of numbers used by this particular group of scammers. Read the reports and you'll see the same pattern time and again -- phony organization names, thick foreign accents, and oddly worded threats that are so melodramatic and ridiculous that it's laughable:


https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-771-9249   Scammer posting here as GARY and GARRY JONES
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-860-4509   Scammer posting here as Mike Henderson
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-212-500-0839   Scammer posting here as Ricky
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-201-244-7722   Scammer posting as Carole, David Brown and Amanda
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-626-200-4646   Scammer false postings at this new number as silshan kanniue and Tina – preparing a new number to use.
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-424-354-4270   Scammer false postings as Rose
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-785-4479   Scammer posting as Robert
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-909-327-4870   Scammer false postings as Marry
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-646-274-1143   Scammer false postings as Karen Miller, Chichi and Tom Little
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-561-300-8018   Scammer false postings as Marco Polo and Covenant
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-226-7488   Scammer false postings as SAM, David S
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-706-7463   Scammer false postings as George
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-209-349-7382   Scammer false postings as Towanda Robinson, Shannon Walsh, Jack Dawson and Cynthia
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-760-514-0132   scammer false postings as Suzy01, Johanna Hall, Cindie McMellon, Michael Dublin, Mark Williams, Carol and Rio   (800notes removed some of the scammers posts because the all came from the SAME IP ADDRESS)
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-209-797-2212   scammer false posting as Jaison Connar
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-707-401-4056   Scammer false posting as John Carner, KSR
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-650-241-4604   Scammer false postings as jhon and Kevin
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-708-401-0535   Scammer false posting here as JHON
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-518-212-0219  Scammer false posting as Prince Christian, Arpit
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-718-705-8669  Scammer false postings as Alicia
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-707-633-2789  Scammer false postings as Rojer, Minni, Rhone, Smith, Lisa Jack, Julie, Sean, and Carol. – preparing a new number to use to steal money
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-205-294-6271  Scammer false posting as Thomas Jhonson
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-661-263-4011  Scammer false posting –ILLEGALLY claiming to be an attorney Charles F Robinson
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-321-684-4117  Scammer false posing as Harry Patt
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-518-565-0306  Scammer false posting as Wellvishers
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-678-791-4673  Scammer false posting as Sherrie Ann and Elvine Buris
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-305-390-0607  Scammer false posting as James and Mark
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-209-349-3112  Scammer false posting as Roger Brown
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-646-360-1702  Scammer false posting as STATE LEGAL DEPARTMENT

Scam alert: Bogus debt collectors
By Leslie McFadden • Bankrate.com
Monday, Aug. 3
Posted 2 p.m.
Bankrate reporter Leslie McFadden contributed this entry.
This scam isn't technically about credit cards, but it is scary enough to post a warning. The Better Business Bureau issued an alert today saying consumers across the country are getting phone calls from bogus debt collectors claiming default on a payday loan. Of course, the consumer needs to pay a large fee to avoid arrest -- as much as $1,000.
The caller poses as a lawyer, and may threaten extradition to face trial if the consumer doesn't pay up immediately.
What makes these calls alarming -- and perhaps convincing -- is that the perpetrators reference the consumer's personal information, such as the person's Social Security number, driver's license number, previous bank account numbers, home address -- even personal references.
"The amount of information they have is really troubling," says BBB spokeswoman Alison Southwick. She adds that the amount of data points to a possible security breach.
Spread the word to your friends and family: Don't give out personal or financial information to an unknown caller. Scammers can spoof Caller ID to display different numbers, so trust your instincts over technology.
The BBB offers these tips:
•    Ask the debt collector to provide official documentation which substantiates the debt.
•    Do not provide or confirm any bank account, credit card or other personal information over the phone until you have confirmed the legitimacy of the call.
•    File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission online if the caller is abusive, uses threats or otherwise violates federal telemarketing laws or the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
•    File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau online if you believe a debt collector is trying to scam you.

Yep...they are harassing me also.  The scary thing is they have my social security number, phone number obviously, address, DOB.  They are rude and call repeated times a day.

This is an international "scam" ring and the Homeland security is wise to them.  They come in and out of the US and that is why it is hard to catch them.  Instead of arguing with them, tell them the homeland security would really like to talk to them.  You can get the Homeland security number easily off the internet.  I did call homeland security and the advice given was:  Tell them homeland security would like to speak with them, hang up on them, don't answer any calls you dont' recognise.  I wound up calling them back, and told them that homeland security would be interested in talking to them.  They started screaming at me and I never heard back!

Received a phone call today (person left voicemail) saying my name was used as a reference on a fraudulant loan and the loan was taken out by my daughter.  Stated that I should not ignore this because this is a legal matter. Lady stated she was from American Legal Services a law firm.   If my name was used as reference, how could I be in trouble legally?  Ladies name was Angela Anderson and she spoke very broken english.  Told me either I could call back or my daughter could call. I  thought it was very fishy that is why I looked up  this number on the internet.    I will report this call to the proper authorities.

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 just had the same call from this number. They are RUDE and they are saying i'm going to jail! They are telling me I borrowed money from Unite Cash Loans when I did not. I asked for documentation and I'm not getting anything. They could not even tell me when the money was debited to my account. I could not find ANYTHING in my bank statement. Unfortunately at first I was scared to death and fell for their scam! I sent in my ID but nothing else. I had to call Home Land Security and the Social Security office to let them know. I hope this does not happen to anyone else but I know it will. I was told by another agency that this is called The Indian Scam

We have this phone number for our son and some company named AMERICAN LEGAL SERVICES keeps leaving this number for Meagan Linticom. The guy leaving the message as says his name is DAVID KING but souds like he is from the middle east.  I have ca;lled them 2 times and aked them to stop.  I admit the last time I didnt give the guy much time to talk because he was trying to get information from me about who's phone it was.  He hung up on me and I called back and toled him I was going to report the company and he hung up again. I called once again and picked up and he said "do what you want mother&^%$!".  He hung up again.  I called back and before he could say anything I gave him my numger and said don't called my sons phone again.   He said ok sir I will pass this on to David King.

I got the same phone call scam today. I knew it was Bullsh##

Read this article about "American Legal Services" http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=7245502 Attorney John Russo is putting together a law suit. Maybe we could help him take these [***] under!Here is city of Oakland ,CA contact website http://www.oaklandcityattorney.org/AboutUs/ContactUs.html contact John Russo 510.238.3601

Note: 559 area code is just out side of Oakland, CA so this info must be accurate. I goggled  American Legal Services (website http://americanlegal.us/) and found there is now an office in Washington DC. I wonder if they moved office from Oakland, CA to Washington, DC. They where targeting immigrants from the Oakland Area, are they targeting Immigrants from DC area? I live near D.C.! Beware East coast.

I just got a call on my cell phone from these [***].  An indian guy said my husband was being investigated for fraud and that he used me as a reference so I will "be going to jail too".  At first it startled me but after reading all of this, I guess I'm going to just report them.  How can we stop them?

I called the FCC and they told me to call the Federal Trade Commision, and I did.
They took the complaint and advised me to call The State Attorney’s office as well.  Done.

My fiance and I are getting the same calls. It started a couple of weeks ago and is still going on. My fiance got the first phone call by a man named "Steven Johnson". He claimed she owed a pay day cash firm $502 dollars. She knew it was a scam and tried digging for more information so that we can turn it in. These phone calls went on for a better part of the day. He kept hanging up on her. At one point he told her to send the money to San Antonio Texas. She asked for an address and he said the address was "San Antonio Texas" that was it. We called our local police department and they suggested to get ahold of our wireless carrier and have the number blocked. I forgot to mention that the same man started calling my cell phone too. We ended up having that number blocked from both of our phones. All was quiet until tonight when he contacted my fiance again and said she was a part of a legal investagion where she had commited a fraud. Shortley after that he called my phone and said the one of my relatives or friends or family members had commited a fraud by using my name and that he would like for me to call him back try to get more information from me. My question is what do we do to get these calls to stop. We are tired of getting them, it is scaring my fiance. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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

Got a call from this clown, too...I gave him my atty's number and said it didnt matter ....hes still gonna sue me....whatever dude glad i read this website....thank ya'll

so a few months ago i went to a website called unitedcashloans.com i filled it out thinking it was ligit cause my fmaily was in need i t even asked for an electronic signature wish i did put down.they hacked my checking account and wrote fake checks using my siganture and routeing number.i caught on to that and stopped the accoutn from further usage..,now im being harrased at my home several times aday mostly i ignore the calls but this time they got my boss's personal work line and tryed reaching me through them.././so today i got wise and i typed in there name LEO MARTIN AND DAVID MARTIN i found nothing.so then i typed in the phone number 559-399-0838>i read these posts and i called them and asked if they new a angela anderson and immediatley they wanted to know who i was so i got cocky and told them i was on to their lil scam operation and i wasnt gonna be taken so they told me to fuk off fuk off fuk of fso i hung up...and called back told them my name and i wanted my name taken off their list they proceeded to ask where i got a message from i said my job they said can i have numbe ri said no i said u have my ip address my lisence my ssn u tell me what number u called. he got ignorant told me to fuk off agai i told him he could fuk off and called him a couple obsence words cause im no pushover.and ended my call i basically feel invaded like my identity was stolen and to you scammers ho are doing this to us get a life get a real job and earn ur own damn money

Got a call earlier from someone claiming to be, "Angela Anderson".  
Same story as y'alls...I contacted, wwwftc.gov. along w/the Chief of Police in Sanger, CA

I was told by "Ms. Anderson" that the company was American Legal Services
                                                                           600 Union Ave.
                                                                           Sanger, CA  92443
Phone # is:  559-399-0838

She got a little agitated when I told her this was a scam and they would get nothing from me or my friend.

We really need to get these people stopped.

This same number called me with a heavy Eastern accent and said her name was Angela with American Legal and that if I did not call her back or have my attorney call her then she would send investigators to my work to terminate me and that tomorrow morning would be a bad morning for me, but she said that she was not threatening me....What do you call telling me that I would be terminated?