901-328-7180

My co-worker received a call for me and the gentlemen stated that his name was Sam Bishop and that he was from Crime Prevention and that is was important for me to return his call asap!! I was not at work at the time the call came in but she took his name & number for me!!

I received a message from Sam Bishop advising that if I did not return his call I would face legal action.  I tried to call this number back and was told that my call could not go through.  I have no idea who this man is and have never heard from him before.  I haved no idea why he is calling me.

Judging from the previous reports about this caller, it's a typical debt collection scam. As the other reports indicate, this caller claims he's with the "Department of Crime Prevention"; there is no such thing.

These type of crooks attempt to extort money from their victims with a myriad of false and illegal threats. They alternately pose as debt collectors, federal and state law enforcement officers, lawyers and bankers. And they use any number of phony official-sounding names such as US National Bank, US Legal Investigation Bureau, Hopkins Law Office, Morgan Associates, White Collar Crime Unit, Department of Crime Prevention, etc. They also crooks use caller-id spoofing software and/or VoIP to disguise their real location. And many of them are calling from overseas.

One thing to remember is that anytime someone calls you demanding money to prevent your arrest, 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 dirtbags routinely impersonate law enforcement, it's also important to remember that American law enforcement officers aren't in the business of debt collection.  What's more, debt is a civil, not a criminal, matter.

The bottom line is, these are criminals trying to steal your money. I suggest you do all the following (most of which you can do online):

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 give them all the details.

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://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

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 few 800Notes links with reports about similar scams. Read the reports and you'll see the same pattern time and again -- phony official-sounding organization names, foreign accents (most of the time), and dramatic false threats of arrest and lawsuits.

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/1-949-743-1156
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

Update:

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 (Read 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 who are posing as federal law enforcement. Be sure to give as many details as you can.

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://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

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/1-925-262-1327
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/1-949-743-1156
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

ABC News just did an investigative piece on this particular scam operation. Here's the report:  http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5621205&page=1

It's a debt collection scam. And all their threats are false and illegal.
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. They 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 gobblygook phrases like "We are downloading warrants against you" or "We are filing an affidavit against you." Another trademark phrase is to threaten the consumer with something like this ridiculous phrase: "If you don't pay then only God can help you."
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, Hopkins Law Office, United Legal Processing, Morgan Associates, United Pay Services, National Processing, White Collar Crime Unit 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.
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.)
The bottom line is, these are criminals trying to steal your money.

Technomine CallCenter
Sarovar Plaza,
Near Girish coldrink
CG Road
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Owners: Kunal Nayak ,Viral Nayak and Parixit

I suggest that you ignore their threats and turn the tables on them by doing the following:

1) Give them nothing, and tell them nothing other than that you've reported them to federal and state authorities.

2) File a complaint online with the Federal Trade Commission here: https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

3) File a complaint with the consumer affairs division of your state's attorney general. The contact information for each state's attorney general is listed at www.naag.org  Just scroll down to the national map and click on your state.

4) Since these crooks are using a telephone phone to extort money from you, report them online to the FBI at https://tips.fbi.gov/

5) Contact an attorney to defend your rights and pursue these crooks. There are plenty of consumer law professionals who work on contingency in matters like this. Here are links to websites that either provide attorney referrals or are law firms that specialize in suing outlaw debt collectors:

Consumer Credit Advocate Bud Hibbs - http://www.budhibbs.com/First.htm
National Association of Consumer Advocates - http://members.naca.net/findanattorney.php
Warren & Vullings, LLP - http://www.fairdebtlawyers.com/
My Fair Debt - http://www.myfairdebt.com/
Consumer Counsel Group - http://www.consumercounselgroup.com/

Ridiculous scammers! Called me at work as well! Strong accent, but his name was Alex Smith. I asked if he thought consumer were really that stupid to which he replied "yes, stupid". I asked him not to call back. 360-215-1654 was the number. Please call as many times as you like. Give these jacka$$es a dose of their own medicine.

I received a call from Dept. of Crime Prevention, and the man's name is Roger Stone.  When I called the number, an women with a heavy Indian accent answered and wanted to know my last name and the number that I was called on.  I advised the woman that they called me and should have that information.  I requested to speak to the person that called me.  They threatened to arrest me. They stated wanted my attorney's name and they even gave me a case number.  I asked who I got the loan with and they advised that i got a loan with payday cash.  They had my personal information which they could have gotten from loans that I have had in the past and paid back.  The names given were a Roger Stone and Kim Jones.  I asked where they are calling from and they stated California.  The number given was 661-347-6528.  I believe they buy cell phones and use them for a while and then get rid of them.

I received a call from 052-901-233 is what the caller id says, he says his name is Ryan Burke from Legal Department Prevention told me, i was going to be arrested and filed 3 different charges for not paying back a payday loan. ( I NEVER TOOK OUT). I hung up on him he called me back 8 times in a matter of minutes. Left me a nasty voice mail said he was going to send the authorities to my job, if i did not stop acting childish. He had my social and everything, what do I do? The number he gave me to call back was 814-324-2010