888-378-7575

Caller was nice, yet bound to provide no options for me other than those prescribed from her client.

Called and left message "This message is intended for ........ My name is Bridget Paige.  I'm calling on behalf of the firm of Christian Nichols and Associates.  At this time you do have an extremely, extremely confidential matter here in my office that requires your immediate attention.  It is imperative that you or your legal counsel return this phone call immediately.  My number to reach is 888-378-7575 x2265.  Again, that number is 888-378-7575 x2265."  I don't know if this is a collection agency or a law firm?  Either or they obviously have our number confused for someone else.  I called back to this extension and got a recording.  Left message that I had no idea what this was regarding and left the number called.

Another call 07/29 and 07/30.  This time from a "Selma" - pretty much the same senario except states "if not hear from you today I wish you the best of luck with this matter".  What's wrong with these people?

I got a call from this place saying that I had till 4:30 to pay a bill from 2 years ago. When I doubted the validity of this request, I was told that legal action would be taken either at my home or my place of employment. When I asked why this was the first time I've heard of this and it was 2 years old I was given major attitude and told that eith I pay this or else! The woman called me at 8:24 am and woke me up! I asked her who she was and she told me her name was Regina Scott, a representative of this company. I asked if it was a law firm , she would not answer, I asked if this was a collection company, she would only say that she was reperesentative. She knew my last four and most of my information! When I asked her how she got this information, she would only say that I had till 4:30 or legal action would be taken. This is pure harrassment and I will be reporting this to the state attorney general

Tom;

I just got off the phone with Regina Scott. She would not send me anything in writing and had a digit wrong in my social as well. She told me I should hire a lawyer and wished me good luck. She told me she was not a collection agency or a lawyer,so I asked who she was and she told me was relaying a message. I called her back and asked her if she changed her mind about sending me something in writing. She hung up on me.

Someone keeps calling me from this number and harrassing me and my family

These people are stealing identities.

It's a scam, and all their threats are false and illegal.  The bottom line is, these are criminals trying to steal your money.

Here are a few news reports and government advisories warning consumers about this scam:

ABC News:  http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5621205&page=1
West Virginia Attorney General:  http://www.wvago.gov/internetloanscam.cfm
WTAE TV4, Pittsburgh:  http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/call4action/17285785/detail.html
Florida Commissioner of Consumer Services:  http://www.800helpfla.com/newsletter/2008/092008.html

This is a very active group of scammers, many of whom are calling from India (and probably other countries) and are in cahoots with a group of American pay day loan scammers. Typical of many financial scams of this variety, they usually demand payment via Western Union or MoneyGram or credit card. They use any number of phony names such as US National Bank, Federal Investigation Bureau, US Legal Investigation Bureau, US Federal Bank, Sonic Bank, Hopkins Law Office, Christian Nicholas & Associates, CashNet, Financial Crime Prevention, National Crimes Division, United Legal Processing, Morgan Associates, United Pay Services, National Processing, White Collar Crime Unit, David Morgan & Assoicates and many more.  These criminals also use many phone numbers from many area codes; they're probably using caller-id spoofing software and/or VoIP to disguise their real location.

These scammers attempt to extort money from consumers with a myriad of false and illegal threats, and alternately pose as debt collectors, federal and state law enforcement officers, lawyers and bankers. Their trademark is to use meaningless legalese gobbylgook phrases like "We are downloading warrants against you" or "We are filing an affidavit against you."  Other trademark phrases include threatening the consumer with ridiculous phrases such as "If you don't pay then only God can help you" or "If you don't call me back then I can only wish you good luck."

The main thing to remember is that anytime someone calls you demanding money to prevent your arrest, or demanding your lawyer's name so they can sue you, it is ALWAYS a scam. No debt collector (let alone criminals posing as debt collectors) has the authority to have anyone arrested for anything. (And it's illegal to them to threaten such a thing.) And since these foreign dirtbags routinely impersonate law enforcement, it's also important to remember that American law enforcement officers aren't in the business of debt collection.  (Debt is a civil, not a criminal, matter.)

A consumer posting a complaint about these same scammers at https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-718-831-7157 notes that 718-831-7157 is associated with an India-based "outsourcing" telephone bank.  Though a reverse search on WhitePages.com shows that 718-831-7157 is an unlisted land line in New York City, information on Debtbuyers.Com shows that that number is used by India-based Intellisourze. (Source: http://www.debtbuyers.com/debtbuyers.asp ) My guess is that it's a VoIP phone number.

This is another piece of the puzzle that fits in perfectly with other information about this scam. There are some reports on 800Notes that have suggested that the crooks behind this offshore scam are also the crooks behind the notorious Bass/Ellis Crosby & Assoc./States Predisposition scams in Florida and Georgia. The interesting thing is that the number of complaints on here about the US National Bank/US Legal Investigation/Federal Investigation scam skyrocketed *after* April 7, 2008 when Florida obtained a $1.3 million judgment against Ted Ellis Crosby, shutdown his operations and barred him from ever conducting debt collections in Florida (
http://myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsrel ... 5257424005858A6 )  There's certainly a good chance that the crooks placing these calls from India are doing so on behalf of the American crooks behind the Crosby/Bass/States Predisposition scams.

Here's the contact information for the phone bank in India:

IntellisOurzE BPO
701, Sapphier, Nr. Cargo Motors,
C.G. Road Navrangpura,
Ahmedabad - 9. (Guj.) INDIA.
E-Mail: info@intellisourze.com
Website: www.intellisourze.com

A check on the domain name "intellisourze.com" shows that the website and name registration was created on May 8, just one month *after* the Crosby scams were shut down in Florida:

Domain Name: INTELLISOURZE.COM
Registrant:  Pragra Infratech Pvt. Limited.
Email:  ankur.ranpariya@pragra.com  
908, Aksaht Tower, Nr. ICICI Bank
Opp. Rajpath Club, S.G. Highway
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India 380054
Tel. +91.7926871353
Creation Date: 08-May-2008
Expiration Date: 08-May-2009
Domain servers in listed order: ns5.znetindia.com ns4.znetindia.com
(Source: http://whois.domaintools.com/intellisourze.com )

Though scam calls from these crooks have been going on long before May 8, the frequency of complaints about these calls increased considerably after Crosby was shut down in early April.

This is conjecture, but appearances suggest that Crosby and company were originally running a two-pronged payday loan scam operation -- with some calls being made from Jacksonville, Florida and other calls being made from a phone bank in India (and possibly other countries); then, after the Florida Attorney General shut down the Crosby scams in Florida, the Crosby crooks transferred most of their scam efforts to the India phone bank.

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.naag.org

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/1-904-425-9141
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-336-553-3965
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-909-6789
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-925-262-1327
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-678-954-6346
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-341-4004
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-856-831-0640
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-949-743-1140
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-410-505-8128
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-917-464-2534
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-210-858-6602
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-775-2121
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-310-909-8245
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-949-743-1156
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-245-1402
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-245-0922
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-723-5572
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-904-425-2863
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-718-831-7157
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-904-425-2857
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-858-244-0444

It's a scam, and all their threats are false and illega. See my message below for deails and for information about reporting them to federal and state law enforcement.

Update -

The Florida Secretary of State's records indicate that "Christian Nicholas & Associates Inc." is inactive after filing for dissolution in 2006:
http://www.sunbiz.org/scripts/cordet.exe?acti ... es_filing_type=

In addition to filing complaints with the law enforcement agencies listed in my message above, be sure to file a complaint with the Florida Attorney General at http://myfloridalegal.com/Contact.nsf/Contact ... Economic_Crimes or call 850-414-3990.

Thanks EC. These people have been harassing me for weeks.  I had filed bk and thought they were collection agency.  They wanted my file # and I gave them my social....very stupid of me.  When I asked where they were calling from they refused to answer me.  Their previous voicemail said "CNA."  So I called them back....my attorney also called them but they wouldn't answer the phone.  I'm filing a complaint with the FBI, State Attorney General and FTC.

Glad to help.  Another complaint you can file is with the Florida Attorney General (who is very aggressive in pursuing debt collection scammers): http://myfloridalegal.com/Contact.nsf/Contact ... Economic_Crimes or call 850-414-3990.

Thanks for reporting these crooks!

Correction: the Florida Secretary of State link above doesn't work as a deep link, so just go to http://www.sunbiz.org/corinam.html and search the name "Christian Nicholas & Associates Inc" to view that inactive company's corporate filings.

Thanks EC!  Will do!  I hope these [***] get caught

Received a phone call last night saying this was Megan Clark from The Firm of C&A, gave the phone number 1-888-378-7575, ext 2108, ref 18713.  The caller was leaving a message for my daughter.  I returned the call this morning and spoke to this Megan.  First thing she did was ask if the last four digits were mine.  I told her I was calling for my daughter and the last for digits did not match up.  She indicated, she would talk her name off the list.  I thought about it for a moment, than called the toll free number back and spoke to the operator.  I asked if this was a legal firm or a collection agency and she would not give a answer.  I told her I did not appreciate getting a phone call saying I either call back or have my legal council call immediately and if not "Good luck in this matter."

I've been getting voicemails ON MY WORK PHONE! from this number saying they have a time sensitive matter, and that she can't help me unless I call her back, then wishes me the best of luck.  I got them a few times in the past, but they stopped for a few months.  Then, every day when I come into the office, there is a voicemail from them with the same useless information.  Not sure how they got my work number in the first place.  It's always an asian woman too, my little consultants?

I recieved a call last night demanding that I  or my lawyer to contact them at 1-888-378-7575 immediately, and the person was not nice at all. He had a forceful tone in his voice.

got a call from a Robert Bryant this morning. #904-562-2131. however the number on my caller id was different and so i called that one back. it was a disconnected cell phone. these people called me about two weeks ago and started telling me they were going to have me arrested if i did not pay. I kinda knew something was fishy then. I went to where i have taken out a payday advance and they said i owed nothing...Which i already knew but wanted to make sure. I'm going to call these people back and get as much information as i can and report them. I just wanted to add this name and number to the list. Good luck everybody and make sure you call the place that u took out payday advances from.

They have been calling me since Nov. telling me that they have a very important legal matter that they need to discuss with me. They do not even know my correct last name. When I finally talked to them last week they informed me that I had 1 day to pay a past due payment or they were going to forward to the DA. I paid the original amount of $300 and then they tried to make me pay additional $300. When I refused they hung up on me. They were calling me up to 60 times a day. They cannot speak english and act as if they do not understand what you are saying. If someone has had dealings with them like this please let me know. I don't know who they are or who they work for but I would appreciate it if someone knows something.

Well, here we go again.  Haven't heard from them since August.  Must have cycled 'round again!  Got a call yesterday and today.  Same message, "Important matter on her desk, you or your legal counsel needs to call, if not, wish you best of luck with this matter."  What matter?  Couldn't understand yesterday's name, today's was Jasmine! Unbelieveable.  Have read the information about reporting though so may just try that.