347-416-5035

Got a call today from a "Charlie Caprio" from ACS Legal Department.  Said to call (347) 416-5035.  

I did call and ended up talking to Daniel Lincoln of the legal department.  He had a very thick accent.  

It was alarming at how much information he had on me.  I checked my bank account and no mention of what he talked about.  He told me I took out a payday loan from Cash Advance USA for $350.00.  Even gave me a confirmation number from my bank of the deposit.  He said the deposit was made between February and September of 2010.  I asked him the date of the deposit and he couldn't give me that information.  DING DING DING.  He also said he is not required to give me proof of the debt.  RING RING RING.  Ah hah.

I asked him for his information:

Daniel Lincoln
ACS Legal Department
2135 Branke Street
Brooklyn NY

Just as Shelby reported the same happened...this Charlie person called I called back he kept asking me to verify my social and I wouldn'.  t I asked about the company.  I know it was a scam when he said I would lose my Social Security number..I told him I was reporting this to the police department.  They called a second time my Husband picked up and they started using extreme vulgar language.  At that point I called the police department and reported them.

Just as u guys stated a gentleman with heavy accent called my job today looking for me telling me he was coming to get me at 5pm and that I would be put in jail gave me info on a bank aCcount I never had and I never took out a cash advance which I didn't... I have. Contacted the police dept they advised me it was a scam pls dnt give them any account info or any money!!!dnt pay them any money at all!!

I received two phone calls today from this number. Brad Williams, with his very thick Indian accent,  told me my ssn and bank account were under state investigation. That if I called back he would explain the allegations against me. I called back and he asked me what number I was told to call. I gave him his number 3 different times. I said " you called me" what are the allegations. He put me on hold and never came back.

Yea, I got a v/m on my cell and at work from a guy at ACS as well telling me that they have been retained for a legal matter. and a judgment or lawsuit has been filed against my name and social.  Told me to call ASAP.  they can kiss my a$$ because I know it's a scam.  I never took out no payday loan.  What I have also learned as well is that some of the scammers create a fake payday loan website for people to go on and apply for a payday loan.  That is how they are able to get all your personal information.  So people, be careful when you go on websites or ask for a payday loan.  You do not know if they are fake sites for scammers to get your info or a real site.  My advice is to just go into a branch or a well known payday loan sites if you don't want your info taken by scammers.

I got this call from Charles Brown (Charlie Brown???) with so thick of an accent I couldn't hardly understand anything this guy was saying; however, I did catch that my social security number now has two pending charges against it and that legal action for fraud is being taken against me and all listed members of my previous loan. He said I was subject to being arrested and that I should expect to be contacted by local police in the next 24 - 48 hours. What I couldn't hear is where he was calling from (it was mumbled) and why he was calling. It was like he was notifying me of all these legal actions. He called my roomates phone number as well and left a message saying my roomate is liable and that he is required by law to contact Charles Brown and inform him what my SSN number was, where I work, and what my current location is. He also said to obtain my bank information or he would suffer fraud charges as well as me. I come to work today and there is a message on my work voicemail with similiar information, same guy, and I still can't catch where he is calling from or what he is asking. I know he wants me to call him at the number he keeps giving, but he said that this action is in place already, so I'm not sure what he needs me to call for. He did give me my last four of my ssn on the voicemail though.
Now, I've done payday loans in the past, and as far as I know I'm all paid up. I've always gone right in and paid the loan in person. I applied for an online loan one time and got 30 phone calls and emails from all these different places, so I assume that is where they got my info from and they must be using my references and calling them.
Either way, I'll call the police and ask, but I'm sure they will tell me the same thing that everyone on here has said. I doubt they will do anything about it as I don't know if it's illegal to tell someone they are going to be charged with fraud. They guy didn't tell me he was a police officer or anything on the voicemail. I might call from work and just record the call just for safe keeping, but by no means will I ever give this guy any information over the phone. I don't care if he has the right information and tells me what it is, unless he can tell me where I took a loan from and can provide me with ANYTHING that shows I have gotten money that I requested, then he's S.O.L. I would know if I had a payday loan or collection of some sort. And if I do and he treats me like crap, then I wouldn't do business with him anyhow. I'll call the company this originates from and talk to them for verification. I do know if they harass me over the phone and it is recorded, then I can file a complaint, and or file my own suit, because NO BUSINESS is exempt/nor its employees, from harassment.

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

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

Another call this time from a Daniel Lincoln threatening me with legal actions.

I received a call from ACS with the number (347) 416-5035 with a thick accent threatening me with legal action. It's definitely a SCAMMER.

Do not even waste your time calling these people back.  It is a scam.  I've learn my lesson about applying for stuff on line.  If you need a payday loan...go into a local office.  Changing my number...

Mr jackson is calling for a payday loan to get money.  He won't leave a message just hangs up.

I have been getting these calls for almost 8months at my job. Finally I called the police to file a harassment charge.come to find out these people are scams . How can I stop them from calling a job which is a medical facility. Its out of control telling people to [***] off and all kinds of things that's not acceptable. Loser.

I have been getting these calls for almost 8months at my job. Finally I called the police to file a harassment charge.come to find out these people are scams . How can I stop them from calling a job which is a medical facility. Its out of control telling people to [***] off and all kinds of things that's not acceptable. Loser.

this number is trying to collect  some kind  payday loan and i never had any kind of affiliation with then i believe they are scammers..

This is a scam and it's disgusting. I don't want them to call my cell phone or my office phone.

I received a call from Oscar Brown at 347-416-5035 and he informed me the same.  I have never taken a payday loan from this place, nor have I applied for one from there.  When i told him to send me proof, he said he did not have to.  Same MO.  I informed him that I had a right to see the documentation and he got mad and got vulger then hung up.  Definately a scam.

I got a call from David from acs legal department at work. He tells me I took out a loan for 575.00 from cash advance usa. I have never did buiness with these people and I told them that. I told him I cant understand him and he was being very mean.He  told me my social security number and drivers liceans was under investigation. I called them back and everytime i tried to ask him a question he was cutting me off. I even called this cash advance usa and i got someone and he wanted all this information and i told him no that i thnk this needs to be given to the police and he hung up. his accent was hard to understand to. how do you get them to stop calling your work. I have contacted the FBI and the police the attorney  generals office and all i get is to get a credit report to see if there has been anything. i haven't got it yet but i put a fraud alert on my credit reports all three of them. How do people expect you to trust anyone anymore.

I got a call from an unknown number who asked me to call 347-416-5035.
I researcged this number and found thay they are scammers.
I called that number and when I told him that I know what they do he ursed me out.
He said F*** the police, I will call you a hundred times a days and they cannot do anything about it.
Is there any thing I can do abou tthem???

Not much except to report to the Internet Crime Complaint Center http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx , the Federal Communications Commission http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm , the Federal Trade Commission https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and your state AG, as appropriate.

I received a call at my place of employment today and since i was not here he asked to speak to my manager and when he was connected all he told her was his name was Michael Lee from ACS Legal Department and said for her to have me call him. This started a year ago i was told i had 24 hours to respond or i would be sued and he to had alot of information on me and when i asked for proof of my lawsuit pending he said he would have detectives come pick me up from work and take me to the station. First of all when you sue someone you have to send them proof of lawsuit and 2nd a detective is not going to take time out of fighting crime to pick me up to show me papers at a station. When i told him he was full of (excuse my language) [***] and if he kept bothering me i would take action on him he disappeared. He has changed his name a few times and location along with the number. At one point he called said to call his boss back at the same number and i told him why cant you get off your butt and hand him the phone he got mad but agreed and of course it was same man who got on the phone. They wont send me proof of anything its all bogus and am frankly tired of it i dont know how to block them.