Who called from 2014787912

I recently had a conversation with Officer McCain. I asked him if he was from India. He denied it and slipped that he was in Teaneck, NJ. I called the Township police over there but they didnt seem to be interested. Perhaps some call recipients in Bergen Co. or those with friends in Law enforcement out there can get to the bottom of this annoying extortion ring.

This is the same guy who is now calling me from 772-409-6570.
"Officer John McCain or Chief Investigation Officer John Black"-calling from "United States Law Enforcement Office". (DO they NOT understand that impersonation of a Law Enforcement agent is a crime??)
Anyway, I guess he decided to leave NJ and move to sunny S. FL.....
Just more proof that these yahoos are scammers.  I have an article about these guys-they originate from India (I believe) and have somehow set up a way to make calls appear they are coming from US numbers.  Here is some info about it.

""Unfortunately, a scam related to payday lending has emerged in the past few months.  This is not merely lenders overcharging for their product.  Instead a series of companies is using information they obtained about payday loan customers to ROB people.

The Players:

In addition to making loans itself, Bahamas Marketing Group (5700 Broadmoor St., Mission, KS 66202-2402, 913-432-7444) controls the lending of approximately thirty-five other companies, known as the “disciples.”  Bahamas provides completed loan applications or “leads” to the disciples, who process the applications on software Bahamas controls.  The disciples fund the loans and collect the payments.  Eventually the loans go into default and the return code their ACH provider gives determines the next step.  In most cases, the loan is automatically returned to Bahamas for collection.  

At this point, “i-Collect,” a division of Bahamas (Phone – 866-856-1024; Fax – 866-856-1041.) enters the picture.  I-Collect negotiates sales of the debts to third parties.  Some go to legitimate debt buyers that operate responsible businesses.  But the rest are sent to United Pay Services for collection.  On several occasions, i-Collects manager both admitted and demonstrated to me that even after a “sale” she exercises control over whether and to what extent United Pay pursues a particular debt.

United Pay (4494 Southside Ave., Apt. 203, Jacksonville, FL 32216-5484; 904-565-1924 (among others), FEIN - 223443840) or “TUPS” is the focal point of the collection process.  The company is owned by Piyush and Shreya Patel who use the Jacksonville address as their home address.  However, the collectors all work for a subcontracted call center in Ahderabad, India, call Innovations Infocom.   The call centers are connect through VOIP technology that (a) causes a U.S. phone number to appear in their victims’ caller ID’s and (b) allows them to leave U.S. call-back numbers (including toll-free numbers) that automatically forward to India.  Payments made go to a Western Union account in Florida which we believe is controlled by the Patels.

How the Scam Works:

Originally, this was a straight, if obscenely unprofessional, collections effort regarding loans made by one or more of the following:

Access Processing
Antilles Ventures
Apollo Funding
Arrowhead Investments
Astro Lending
Bahamas Marketing Group
Bahamas Marketing Group (a/k/a Integrated and/or I-TJF) Crown Lending edollarsdirect (a/k/a MW Marketing) Electronic Payment Processing EME Marketing (a/k/a Dollars Direct) Fox Enterprises, Ltd.
FTR Processing
JD Marketing Group
JVC Processing (a/k/a Loan & Go)
Lazer Lending (a/k/a DJAT)
M1Y Direct
Magnum Z / Debt Doctor
Mesa Financial
Midland Marketing, Inc.
Nevis Marketing / Timberhole
Oasis Marketing Group
OSL Marketing (a/k/a CMG, FSM, SSM and/or DJR) Paragon Processing, LLC Platinum B Services Plaza Processing Power Funding Premier Processing Sagamore SGQ Processing SJM Marketing Summit Group Total Lending VC Funding Vince Enterprises

Callers would pretend to be federal agents, bank examiners and other powerful people and threaten immediate arrest unless the borrower immediately paid somewhere between 3 and 4 times the original loan amount.   Payments had to be made by Western Union Quick Collect to a location in Florida (presumably to be collected by the Patels).   Calls would be made 20 or more times per day to the same borrower, along with his/her employer, co-workers and references.  Profanity was commonplace and even physical threats unheard of.  Rarely would the caller identify which loan was in default.  

For the most part these collection efforts were unsuccessful.  Most people realize that the FBI does not collect $300 loans.  Even if they did, the educational requirements and oral assessments necessary for entry into the Bureau would have barred nearly all of the collectors involved in this scam from entry.  In fact, the collection effort continued only because that one person in twenty that fell for the scam paid so much more than was actually owed that it was worth it to Mr. Tucker, Ms. Kent and the Patels to keep it in play.

But the scam has mutated further.  By purchasing delinquent loans, United Pay and Innovations Infocom come into possession of the confidential information of tens of thousands of Americans.  Because these consumers “owe” on at least one loan, collectors are able to convince borrowers they are in serious civil and criminal trouble over the delinquent account.  Collectors call and pretend to represent the “Financial Crimes Investigation Unit” (though many still lapse and claim to be FBI agents and/or employees of the “Ministry of Justice.”)   Although they occasionally identify the original lender, more often they claim the debt in question is from 2005 or earlier and that the lender was “U.S. Federal Bank,” or "U.S. National Bank - neither of which exists.  Invariably, they claim “an affidavit has been filed” and demand immediate payment of hundreds or even thousands of dollars to avoid arrest and imprisonment.  

In one recent variation of the scam, they claimed to be acting on behalf of a California attorney.  However, they refuse to give the name and the "Bar ID" number they will give does not correspond to any attorney listed with the California Board of Bar Examiners.  Even more ridiculous, the number they give for the "attorney" is one we KNOW connects to the Indian call center and they even answer it "U.S. National Bank" rather than as a law office.

But the worst is yet to come.  The person that gets scared and pays will be contacted again within weeks with more demands.  Why?  Because this is no longer about resolving debts.  It is about “plucking a pigeon” to borrow an old-fashioned phrase.  Payment only encourages them to continue the scam.  At least one person we know of has been bilked of over $4000.  

In another case, we settled two loans for a customer with a legitimate collection agency – only to see the settlement fail when these people called the client.  When she didn’t recognize the name “U.S. Federal Bank” she asked if they meant the two loans she was scheduled to pay later that week.  Of course, the collector, said they were. He then kept calling her office until reaching her boss and telling him that – as the owner of the computer she used to make her application – he was legally responsible for the debt.  Incredibly, her boss accept this outrageous, highly illegal claim and threatened to fire our client.  In the end, the client sent these thieves nearly triple what she had legitimately settled her debts at and still owes the actual creditors!

What you should do:
1) If a caller cannot speak English properly, he or she is not an FBI or other law enforcement agent.  But pretending to be one is a serious crime.   Hang up and call the REAL police.  Feel free to share any and all of this information with the appropriate law enforcement agency.

2) There is no U.S. Federal Bank or U.S. National Bank, so you cannot owe money to these "institutions."  Threatening imprisonment to recover an unlawful debt is extortion.  This felony should be reported to the REAL police.

3) Unless you used someone else’s identity to obtain a payday loan on the internet, YOU CANNOT BE IMPRISONED FOR NOT PAYING ONE.  We do not have debtors prisons in America and the FBI has better things to do than act as a private collection agency.  Again, this is harassment and should be reported to the REAL police.

4) Making outlandish threats like these is automatically a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  While Bahamas management has tried to claim that iCollect is a debt broker, neither the FDCPA nor the Federal Trade Commission’s regulations recognize the distinction they wish to make.  Bahamas Marketing Group, iCollect and United Pay are all “debt collectors.”  Consumer lawyers will take FDCPA cases on a contingency fee so you need not worry about having money to pay a lawyer.  If you are harassed – SUE THEM!  If everyone did that, they would be out of business in a heartbeat.""

I myself have contacted an attorney for further handling.
Good Luck.
Caller Type: Collection Agency