786-752-3755

Received a voicemail from a certain "Mr. Allan Roberts" leaving threatening messages. This number registered as a "private number" on my cellphone but left his number in the voicemail. He has an Indian accent. I don't know how he got hold of my number. He has to be reported to law enforcement.

I agree.  The name of the company is something like Freedom Crown???  I got same call with 0000 number with this "call back" number from a David something Indian accent.  I want to find this [***] who called my work too and get him arrested.

This number called me and even knew my place of residence threatening me with a subpoena and crap. I wish I could find this mofo and put him in his place.

I called my bank and closed my acct as soon as I ended the call. I recommend this to anyone that receives a call from these people. Dexter Brown is the name he gave. He had my name, address, email, bank account info, social security number, and obviously my phone number. My neighbor is a police officer, she also received a similar call. Neither of us know how they got all of this info

Received the same call.  I believe it's a scam.

Got a call from this number today and they were saying I need to pay like 600 or go to jail.. They were very rude and were calling my job. They told me not to call their company again or they would call me work many times.

a ron williams called and said if i didn't send him money i will be arrested said i had a afadavid in his office said it would spend 30 days in jail is this a scam I'm really scared

i got a call from them to i was wondering if it was a scam

i have receieved numerous calls from 7867523755 stating that i will arrested on my job if i dont pay for a payday loan that i got over 7 years ago. man was very rude and nasty. told me that i needed to not speak until he was finished with what he had to say then i could then ask questions. said he was calling for MIcheal Sinclair and his name was Mr. Brown. being of Islamic decenst i find it hard to believe his name is Mr. Brown, they call everyday all day long. my loan waws with Insta Cash and when i ask when this was he couldn't provide dates for me just keep asking if i wanted to do jail time and that i needed to sent him a fax stating the i would never do this again(267-645-0472)fax number. that amount that i owed was 786.36.. i dont recall ever having a loan with this company.

yes it is they can not demand any money unless you receive paperwork in the mail. i have received the same phone call from a mr.officer jackson and said i had to pay an amount in two hours and if not i go to jail and they would take my son to . I contacted the police and they told me to tell them to remove my name from the list and do not call again. do not send money just tell them you are contacting the police they will hang up.

I have recieved phone calls from this number since Monday July 31st. He says is name is Dexter Brown and he wa from financal crime and that I had a payday loan out and I was not paying it and they have been trying to get ahold of me. He said there was a warrent out for my arrest if I didnt pay the $8000 or pay some kind of payment. He sounded foreign islamic very rude,calling me names yelling at me because I wasnt listening to him. He has all my personal information. He calls my job harrasses me there and calls even when I not working and harrases the staff. I canceled my debit card and will shut down my bank account but even cancelling that stuff doesnt mean he can harm in other ways. Its scary that he has all that information! The Dexter calls me non stop! Some one needs to find this a**hole and give him what he deserves. I dont even have a payday loan with this instacash thats were he says its from. Then I called the law enforcement because the calls we aweful and the police called this number and again talked to Dexter Brown and he said the exact same thing he told me and that it was going to go to his legal department. I recieved a call from this office and I would never have imagined that a police officer would go right along with this a**hole! What the hell I mean if our police cant even tell the difference then what the heck are they there for!  I mean the officer told me that I just need to pay the amount so that he leaves you alone. Well ok yeah lets give him my info and he can take my money and yeah he will go away because he got what he wanted! This has been very scary and  I hope that some one gets a hold of this guy  and does something because this is aweful to have happen to you!

I got a phone call from a Norman , Saying im going to jail etc over 1, 45.00 I said sir I did not ever put a   loan in for that ! He said well be looked to be picked up BUT IF ANYTHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN it is civil court not criminal . !

A Dexter Brown says he's from Financial Crime Unit has been calling my place of work since yesterday. Leaving threatening messages that I'll be sent to jail if I don't pay 976.00 to a instacash loan since they were the ones who pressed charges but they won't actually tell me how much I owe. If I don't pay up I'll be sent to jail either from my home or place of employment. Also they wanted me to give them my account information so it could be debted out of my account that is NOT going to happen. He also said that I need an attorney and pay fees up to $8,000.00 dollars. I already filed a report from local police they also told me it's a scam trying to get information out of you.

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.Call Type: Debt Collector

this same number clled my wife today and threatned her with jail time and said that he will spread the news to her job how she will go to jail for this he didnt id himself or tell her and amt it souded very funny do to this person being from another country i googled the number and found out this was a scam please contact us at 904-900-3992

Got that call today.I TOLD them to give me their number and i'd have my local PD call them back.She asked me why my lawyer can't do it..Now I know I don't owe money to the point that somebody would be chasing me,subpeona,loan sharks, whatever.. I especially know I never borrowed money from any Indian...

I received the same call and they said they were from I.F. Services Inc.  They have my information too.

I received the same message and unfortunately these people of india tribes have stolen money from my credit card without authorization.  They stated I owed money and I told them I don't.  I have closed all accounts,  Dexter Brown had called and asked not to be reported.  He is a thief.  Also they have given a number 302 894 3496 and called themselves not financial crime but I.F. Services In. They are also operating for Ameriloan too.  Be aware.  The person wanted me to take a picture of myself and send it to them and my credit card number.  I told them no and I am going to the police.  These people needs to be investigated immediately

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

got a message from allan roberts this morning marked restricted.message says call 786-752-3755 pretty much said the same as all yours ,calling my work (which i don't have) retired .harrashing my phone.gonna change my number again for the umteenth time.because they just won't stop.must give them a thrill i guess.
anyway the number just rings and rings.no answering.i hope they give up soon.i don't have a bank account anymore because of people like these..ignore and don't answer any calls you don't know