818-666-1697

i got 40 calls from this number yesterday the guy was saying nasty thing and swearing at me

They have called 3 times at work, and the 3rd time just left a message to call them but no name was left, it it was a law firm, they would have left a name.

Recieving several calls in one hour from the company. Same thing as all the other posts. I took you cellphone and kept hitting redial for an hour. They started cursing and then would just hang up. Told them I was, recording the conversation. Sick bunch of people.

u [***] tilak, if u hv guts den call me on my no. 347-607-3650.............. u rascal

calling and harrassing my son saying he owes money for a debt which he does not owe.  I called the number and tried to get the name of the firm and they refused to tell me.  I told him I was calling the better business bureau and reporting him.  He replied "do what you want you [***] [***]" and hung up.  Each time my son has recieved a call from this number, they used a different name, which was that of an actor or a singer or some famous type of person.  I can't imagine so many hindu people with american names.  Threatened my son with calling his employer and getting him fired.  He did call the employer but my son made him aware of the situation.

just got a call and they called me and my aunt b*tches

I was told by State AG office, get all the info you can worm out of these people before you go off on them. tell them you are reporting them to the FBI fraud investigation team of your state after you get their name and address. These people are relentless.

I just call a call and message from a man that I can not understand. Telling me that I or my attorney need to contact them today. That is all I could get out of them. I did not call them back or did I answer the phone. It is the same people calling leaving messages that I cna not understand and using different names. They need to stop. I am on th do not call list. What good does this do????

they sick needs to be stopped bothering people called me said they were from a law frim like i believe that they need to get a real job

Another call for the scam call hall of fame. This number 818-666-1697 has called me 31 times. They claim they are calling from John Weber Law firm, the caller name is Jacob Taylor? With an indian/ arab accent? lol.. He says I owe a payday loan from 10/2011. I asked him with which one? He said, the payday loan company has multiple names. I asked, ok, well, I did have one, so whic company is it? He asked me if I had one with Cash-in-a Wink? I said no, He asked was it with Cashnet.Usa? I said nope, not that one, then he said Listen LAdy, you owe my client money! I am calling you to make you pay. I started to Laugh at him while he read his script and was getting angry. So he yelled at me, called my a dumb B----! And said, We will sue you! This is a 'law firm', do you understad now you stupid cow? I laughed even more, then he said we'll see who laughs nextwhen we come to your house with a sherrif and arrest you if you dont get paid. I will send a sherrif to your job even you dumb B----. I continued to agrgevate him by giggling softly. Then he asked why are you laughing? So I said calmly, you poor man, I feel sorry for you. He yelled, at me and why you sorry for me? I said, your probably sitting a dark stinky cubical,surrounded by other imagrants, making less than minimum wage, trying to earn a buck to feed your family, why dont yu see if McDonalds or Burger King is hiring? You'll probably make $9 bucks an hour, and make an honest wage, verses being so ashamed of yourself and the country your from, that you have to embarass yourself daily by pretending to be an American wth a fake American Name. How shamefull and disgraceful to your own herritage, as I laughed more. Then he yelled at me, and said I am not Ashamed, my name is Antigua Moha, you dumb cow. F--- you, I will sue you, then he hung up.....

Then he continued to call up 21 times there after and hang up on me...
So I called him back and asked if his job seeking efforts have paid off. Then yelled and told me go F--- myself, and hung up?????

Wow, what did I do? I just simple called back in genuin concern to see if he found a 'real AMERICAN job'????   HAHAHA HA

Note: if you begin to sound concern, ask them to speak slowly, and ask for the number in case you accidently get hung up, and then ask them to spell the name of the company, they actually do!!! ha ha.

Then if you laugh at them, they will gradually give you more information on themselves without knowing it.
Gee, I havent heard from them since, I wonder if they are sending the sherrif to my house or my job soon??????  
Good luck, but remember to report the calls to the proper authority.

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

I have read calls from this number on 3 occasions at work.  I only spoke with them once, the other times they got my voice mail.  The caller had an accent, claimed I owed money and threatened to send the sheriff to arrest me.  After the first call, I jabbered the number and this website call up so I knew it was a hoax.  It appears the telephone company should be able to do something to shut them down, considering how many people they harrass.  It's ridiculous.

BOY you must really be some kind of [***]. To Bad you didn't call my number AZZHOLE I would have put your call on a loop and let you try and figure it out ( I usually let it ride for about an hour, but if you're still an [***] about it I'd call you back and let it run all day .

As long as these morons pay their phone bill the phone company isn't going to do squat. Some has to develop a program to track the number down and at least report a location.

I to have recived calls from this number 818-666-1697 and others like it one even showed up on my caller ID as Borders Book Store and every time I put these number in to search them they all came from the same people, I have been left messages from the same person who has used the name's James Brown to Jose Gomaz, today at 5:49 pm he called again this time from the law firm of john weber out of the whole message that he left that was the only thing I was able to understand. I have been threat'en to have the sherrif sent to my home and my job. When I ask him his name he said it so fast and with such a heavy accent I couldn't understand him, I asked him to slow down and speek more clearly I asked him when did I take out this loan he didn't know and told me I'm the one who took it out so I should know, I asked who did I take it out with same anwer, I asked how much was the original loan was for same answer, he didn't know all he knew was the last four didgits of my ss# and phone number and that I owed 500.00 and some change. I told him until he can prove to me that I endeed took out this loan in writing sent by registered mail and to included answers to all the questions I asked not to call me again and that I am reporting him to my local Police Department and FBI Office. I don't know what he had to say to that because I hung up the phone.

A guy called from this number and hung up 3 times. So I did the same. Now, they are able to make it look like your work number calling. Threatened me that he was at my work place, which I new was bogus. Wanted to know if I wanted to settle a debt with him now or see him in court. I adsked him two questions. 1. What court house and room so that I can call to confirm. 2. Since you're at my work place describe the location at which you are standing. They hung up.

Ask for specific addresses and locations so you can contact the BBB.

Then they wonder why indians get a bad reputation.

If your dumb enough to give anyone you don't know any personal information, then you should be prepared to know how to deal with these people.

I've gotten a call today, from the number 818-666-1697. It sounds like the same guy who called me from the contact number 323-570-4065. They also previously called me from 814 326 9205. They guy who calls has the same voice and says the same thing to me each time, that if I don't pay a loan back that they're taking me to jail.

So the following phone numbers are associated with one another in this whole payday loan scam:

323-570-4065
540 650 7602
814 326 9205
818-666-1697

BEWARE of the SCAM Artists who call you from 323-570-4065, 540 650 7602, 814 326 9205 &
818-666-1697. Don't give them a penny. Instead, report them to the FTC.

Other numbers that has been reported as numbers they've used are:

302-861-8989
614-434-9886
619-752-7469
713-370-1109
713-900-660
718-819-7285
760-278-1861
803-412-7205
818-302-7558
866-516-0115
949-286-3973

Called at 640 am. I didn't answer but reading all the posts it seems they are scam artists.

I got a call from this # but i didnt answer now for sure im not answering anymore