631-886-3004

They keep telling me I have a lawsuit against me.  I told them that I have a lawyer who wants their address but he won't give it to me but he keeps giving me the number he just called me on and says to call it back and I will get all the information.... Total scam!  He has an Indian accent and keeps hanging up on me when I press for information.  Funny that he says he's in the California area but the number is from New York.

Extortion Scam Related to Delinquent Payday Loans

Washington, D.C.
December 07, 2010  FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691

— filed under: Press Release
The Internet Crime Complaint Center has received many complaints from victims of payday loan telephone collection scams. Callers claim the victim is delinquent in a payday loan and must repay the loan to avoid legal consequences. The callers purport to be representatives of the FBI, Federal Legislative Department, various law firms, or other legitimate-sounding agencies. They claim to be collecting debts for companies such as United Cash Advance, U.S. Cash Advance, U.S. Cash Net, and other Internet check-cashing services.

According to complaints received from the public, the callers have accurate data about victims, including Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, employer information, bank account numbers, and the names and telephone numbers of relatives and friends. How the fraudsters obtained the personal information varies, but in some cases victims have reported they completed online applications for other loans or credit cards before the calls started.

The fraudsters relentlessly call the victim’s home, cell phone, and place of employment. They refuse to provide any details about the alleged payday loans and become abusive when questioned. The callers have threatened victims with legal actions, arrests, and, in some cases, physical violence if they do not pay. In many cases, the callers harass victims’ relatives, friends, and employers.

Some fraudsters have instructed victims to fax a statement agreeing to pay a certain amount, on a specific date, via a pre-paid Visa card. The statement further declares the victim will never dispute the debt.

If you receive these calls, do not follow the caller’s instructions. Rather, you should:

■Notify your banking institutions.
■Contact the three major credit bureaus and request an alert be put on your file.
■Contact your local law enforcement agencies if you feel you are in immediate danger.
■File a complaint at www.IC3.gov.
Tips to avoid becoming a victim of this scam:

■Never give your Social Security number—or personal information of any kind—over the telephone or online unless you initiate the contact.
■Be suspicious of any e-mail with urgent requests for personal financial information. The e-mail may include upsetting or exciting but false statements to get you to react immediately.
■Avoid filling out forms in e-mail messages that request personal information.
■Ensure that your browser is up-to-date and security patches have been applied.
■Check your bank, credit, and debit card statements regularly to make sure that there are no unauthorized transactions. If anything looks suspicious, contact your bank and all card issuers.
■When you contact companies, use numbers provided on the back of cards or statements

http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/paydayloanscam_120710

QUIT CALLING OUR PHARMACY THIS IS A BUSINESS NOT SOMEONE'S PERSONAL CELL PHONE OR HOUSE PHONE!!!!!! PEASE DON NOT PLAY ON OUR PHONE WE HVE TO KEEP OUR LINES CLEAR FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE MEDICAL EMERGENCIES!!!!

"This message is intended for ********* (me) . Dawn, the very second you receive this message I need you or your redeemed attorney of record to return the call. The issue at hand is extremely time sensitive. My name is Ricky James and hotline to my division is 818-337-3041. I repeat 818-337-3041. Don't disregard this message and do return the call. Now, Dawn, if you don't return the call and I don't hear from your attorney either the only thing I can do is wish you good luck as legal situation unfolds with you. Goodbye and take care."

"This message is intended for ********* (me) . Dawn, the very second you receive this message I need you or your redeemed attorney of record to return the call. The issue at hand is extremely time sensitive. My name is Kevin Peterson. Hotline to my division is 631-886-3004. I repeat 631-886-3004. Don't disregard this message. Return the call. Now, if you don't return the call or I don't hear from your attorney either the only thing I can do is wish you good luck as legal situation unfolds on to you. Goodbye and God Bless."

Ok, these are the two messages that I've received in the last few days. They are exactly identical except the names & numbers. Oh, and the second loser invokes GOD's name in vain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you get ANY calls like this from ANY number IGNORE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY ARE SCAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This guy keeps leaving messges in an accent that's hard to hear saying exactly what everyone else posted - that he needs a call back from our lawyer or "bad things will happen". Don't return their phone calls! The threats will only get worse.

Keep receiving calls from this number (often 3,4,5 times consecutively) but do not answer. Voicemails similar to "Dawn"'s. Funny how they claim to have filed a lawsuit yet I have not been served by process server, CMRRR.or rule 106.Ar.R.Civ.P.

REPORT THESE PEOPLE TO ICC. THEY ARE VIOLATING FEDERAL DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT. AGAIN, THESE ARE FEDERAL VIOLATIONS!!!! LET'S SHUT THEM DOWN.

If they do not identify themselves, they are bogus. Go to your state bar website, do an attorney search, and I am almost certain that you will not find these bozos as licensed attorneys.

I am in a payday loan repayment plan through a great company and have learned a lot about these clowns. MOST OF THESE CALLS WILL BE FROM UNLICENSED LENDERS.

One leg of this scam has been shut down:

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

"This message is intended for (me) . Dara, the very second you receive this message I need you or your redeemed attorney of record to return the call. The issue at hand is extremely time sensitive. My name is David Henry. Hotline to my division is 631-886-3004. I repeat 631-886-3004. Dont disregard this message. Return the call. Now, if you dont return the call or I dont hear from your attorney either the only thing I can do is wish you good luck as legal situation unfolds on to you. Goodbye and God Bless."

This David Henry guy left message on my cell and work! How rude! I called and it says to put my number, area code first ... cant even go through to talk to anyone ... weird!

I keep getting calls from these guys at work.  Mike Smith, and Ron Baxter, funny they sound like they are foreign guys, but hmmmm, they wanted me to fax them my Debit card number saying that I have been named in a lawsuit by a payday loan company.  Really?  Told me I owed them $901. I told them I would call the company personally and make arrangements.  He said, "How would you know who to contact?"  I said, "I will look up the company on the internet and contact their account dept." I am SO glad some of you posted out here about the same number and circumstances.  I told him at a certain point when he was talking about a prepaid card from Wal-Mart.  I said, "This just doesn't sound right to me."  They stopped calling when I told them I would call the company tonight. So if they call back I will be armed with, I know this is a scam!

This is the second number they have used to contact me and harass that I need to have my attorney call them regarding a lawsuit filed against me for an unpaid internet payday loan.I have no internet or payday loan.They have also called my place of employment stating they would be here to arrest me tomorrow.What a scam but scary that they have my info.My friend just had here bank account wipe out so please keep your eyes on your accounts

I have received calls from  this number and a 1-866. It sounds like all the above post. They have threatened me with arrest and jail. When I press for information they call me a lair. The Indian has used the name Fernando and Dan Foster. Today he said he would give me 1 hour to come up with the money. When he called back I told him he is a fraud and to go back to where he came from. I offered him my attonerys information and he hung up. I hope these people burn in hell for all the miserey they create.

SCAM

I received a call both at my job & residence today from an Indian speaking representative who claimed there is a legal suit against me for a payday loan. The rep who claimed his name was Chris, was unable to provide any information to me, but transferred me to his supervisor, Ron (who also had an Indian accent). Once again, these con-artists are able to obtain telephone service to promote illegal calls harrassing persons.

I had this joker call me like a stalker on my cell & eventually he got TO MY OFFICE.  Off the bat I knew it was a scam.  He just kept telling me he was calling from Brandon Smith law firm & that there was a lawsuit with me named as the prime suspect ( first off I'm sure they're called defendants ).  I immediately googled Brandon Smith law firm & I actually found one.... in SOUTH CAROLINA, the whole time this goof keeps telling me he's in New York but couldn't even give me his address.  Only said that he's transferring me to his supervisor who's authorized to provide all the info that I want.... yea right man way to really trick me w/ that one.... maybe their pay is based on how many transfers they get to their "supervisor"??  Anyway I told the guy I'm going to contact my attorney & as soon as I said that he hung up.  As soon as I got off the phone I googled this number & SHOCKER... found this website..... Thanks for the post!!  For a split second I was actually semi concerned....

I recieved a messgae saying there was deliquent payday loans and that it could be resolved in court or out of court.  I could barely understand any person I spoke to as they all had thick accents.  I asked to speak to a native English speaker and was only transferred to someone with an accent that was not as thick.  I told them I would have an attorney contact them, spoke to my sister she told me it was a scam.

I received this call fromYou have a new Voicemail message from: 631-886-3004.


"This message is intended to Danny McDonald Danny because I think that you receive(?) this message. I need you all your retail attorney off record to return the call as you at ten to eight extremely time sensitive. My name is adding(?) and the hotline to my division is 6318863004. I repeat that 63188630(?). Nolan this is Abby. Message delivered-them(?) to go out-how-dad's(?) if you don't return the call. All I don't hear from your attorney either the only thing I can do it. Miss you but it would ..."

This is the same person that called the person below, I get so sick of these scam calls.  Is there nothing we can do to stop this?

Thank you for your imput....I just got a call from that guy and told him that no one at the number he called works here and he immediately hung up, LOL

Rocky Anderson has called me and scared me and keeps calling from th631-886-3004. Told me go to Walgreens and get a Debit card and fax the info to him and I only had 1.5 hrs

i have recieved the call from this number they said i had a lawsuit against me and i needed to give them 600 dollars on a prepaid card and to fax them a note saying that i did not jean to do what ever then at the bottom to write the card number cvd on the baco and the experation date if not then they will get law enforecment call work and my paychek will be held and everything will go to them i asked them what company and they would not tell me anything they said that if i follow through with this i will be getting paper work when the det is paid when they called again my husband got on the phone and he told them that we were talking to a lawyer and then they hung up then proceeded to call my work

i am getting the same damn calls.....i hope the FBI gets these [***]....this is creepy....time to get anew phone number i guess...lol