FTC Cracks Down On Indian Call Center, Fraudster Debt Collectors (FINALLY!)

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

"...help the Indian government pursue the fraudster call center operators."

THAT'S the key.   If the US government can't get the Indians on board to crack down on these gangsters the FTC's efforts, however well intentioned, simply will not work.   And let's face it, if the Indian government really cracks down (and that's a pretty big "if,") the telescammers will simply move to the next offshore, call center rat hole and start all over again.    That said, the FTC seems sincere about stopping these crooks; I sure hope they are successful.

E spectrum services out of mumbai is running this scam. The owners are Jagdish Kanani, Manish Patel and    Parvez Khan. Manish Patel and Parvez Khan are working with global eservices, mumbai. The indian gov should investigate the above mentioned people as they give a bad name to the BPO industry in India

If the Indian government worked with our government, these frauds would be easily caught. We need more co-operation with the Indian government when it comes to finding these criminals. Joint force task should be set up to find them and bring them to justice.

If they use spoof card or voip technology, there should be a way to track them back to their orgin and this can be done through court orders. They think they can hide but no they cant. Even if they hide, they wont hide for long.

Don't jump for joy just yet.  

There are a ton of american debt collectors who have outsourced their debt collection phone banks.  NCO likes Guatemala, flooding these banks with nonexistent debt to collect.  Remember this?:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/business/worldbusiness/24debt.html

Encore likes India.  I'd bet that there isn't a single debt collection agency in this country that doesn't outsource, to varying degrees.  Why not outsource?  You've got a willing and motivated work force - poverty is a huge motivator - that knows nothing about US law and even if they did, they are beyond prosecution.  Besides, they need the money.  Even if they did suspect that what they were doing was morally, ethically, legally wrong, who are they going to complain to?  The criminals that invent these debt portfolios?  How far do you think such a complaint is going to go?

Before anyone gets all happy happy about this apparent inroad to stopping Indian crime, remember that these phone banks received their business from criminals here in the US.  This isn't going to go away until those American criminals are brought to justice.

Exactly

If you are being harassed by a Debt Collector, please record their phone calls and conversation and save it for later on, you can use this against them.  Also file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the FTC. The BBB is faster than the FTC, they usually send a complaint letter or email to the Debt Collector in less than 24 hours.

But the BBB is not a governmental agency, just an organization set up by businesses as a sort of CYA.  It is infamous for giving bad ratings more readily to non-members.

I was scammed thousands of dollars by these people.  Was going through a dose of Chemo and weak, but still no excuse.  I am glad they finally got them.  Now have an american woman calling saying same stuff.  I took out a online loan from a few companies.  I thought maybe I did not pay it back in all the medical bills.  They charge over 1,500 dollars to Heel Comfort Inc Newington CT.  What can I do to get money back.  Any  help would be great. Thanks

i want my own justice,it wont be a trial of peers either. these scumbags need to be degateated and hummiliated in public. if public executions were brought back we wouldnt have half the crime we got now prisons are over crowded to many appels bein filed by death row inmates NO you did the crime see ya by.

Many Companies such as Zeus Inc , DAINC , KS INC, americanrecovery , debtrecovery, pdl collect etc are involved in the same business.
E Spectrum Services in Mumbai [Dahisar] is the root of this SCAM.
Mr Jagdish Kanani is the person who should be arrested..
Call FTC helpline and gave all namees of these companies..
You all also call and report a complaint against these scammers

"Degateated"?  No such word.  If you mean "decapitated," I would agree.

The BBB works in conjunction with ALL government agencies, including Attorneys General, Dept. of Banking, Law Enforcement, FTC, Consumer Protection Bureaus, etc.

BBB's are extremely pro-active in assisting victimized consumers AND businesses ...use your heads...BBB has been around for 100 years....they MUST BE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT!!!!!

'gemk'


Contact the CT Attorney General's Office in Hartford, CT @ 860 566-7868 or 860 566-5374.  The name of the company is actually, "Heal Comfort."