received call from foreigner possibly India decent. Very demanding that I give him my SS# and he would tell me who was suing me. Says his firm is American Legal Services and his name is Michael Shaw. Called me "honey" and said that if I didn't want to co-operate I could expect a visit from police on Monday morning with papers. Said several companies were filing suit against me. I asked him what SS# he had on me and he said he could not give out that info but did say my address. As I tried to call him back he took my call but threatened me and hung up.
Started getting calls at work and in my cell. Michael Shaw stated he was a lawyer and blah blah blah. Told me I need to send money To make this lawsuit go away (didn't know I was even in a lawsuit) told him I didn't have the $836.32 then when I said I have contacted my attorney and that he would need to speak to him he got very upset and told me that no other attorney could help me and that I was going to be arrested and lose my job just for me to wait and see and told me to watch my back because I will be arrested. And when you try and talk he get very upset and will yell, "let me complete" so if you say let you complete what that doesn't make since he gets very very upset. Also told him I contacted the local FBI and gave them his name (fake I'm sure) and phone number he screamed something and then hung up. Haven't heard anything as of yet but after reading these other post I'm sure I will hear from him again. If I do I'm going to ask what law firm he's at and where it's located because I'm actually in DC and would like to sit down and discuss everything (although I'm really in TN) and then maybe contact the police after that. I believe this is a real scam and I hope no one falls for it!!!
This is a criminal extortion scam operating out of India. They are making the calls utilizing VOIP and the names of legitimate firms to make it appear the calls are originating from within the US. There is NO "company" or "debt" and you will NOT be arrested. They are harvesting and/or buying consumers' personal identifying information and you need to do whatever you can to protect yourself. This includes: Notifying the FTC: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/, placing fraud alerts with all three credit bureaus, notifying your bank and employer and letting these criminals know you are aware they are attempting to extort money for a non-existent debt and have alerted the authorities.
Read this investigative report ABC News did on this scam:
Hundreds of thousands of cash-strapped Americans have been targeted by abusive debt collectors operating out of overseas call centers suspected of links to organized crime in India, law enforcement officials told ABC News.
The calls are part of a massive scam, one that appears to target struggling Americans -- especially those who have gone online to apply for payday loans. Armed with personal information from those pilfered applications, the threatening callers, who claim to be debt collectors poised to initiate legal action, have managed to pry loose millions of dollars from their victims -- even when the victims never owed money in the first place.
"This is what we call a phantom debt collection scam," said Jon Leibowitz, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. "It's a very pernicious and innovative new fraud."
Working through call centers in India, the commission estimates that the criminals have dialed at least 2.5 million calls, persuading already cash-strapped victims to send them more than $5 million. Some have reported receiving dozens of calls per hour. They are victims like Cindy Gervais, of New Orleans, who went online for a quick loan when her husband's car was hit by a driver who didn't have insurance.
Even though she paid the loan off, the so-called "phantom" debt collectors with Indian accents began calling to say she still owed money.
"He more or less told me that if I didn't pay, they were going to have someone on my doorstep to arrest me," she told ABC News. "And that they were going to contact my place of business, and tell them what kind of person I am."
At first, she said she resisted. Then the calls became more frequent, and started to ring on her cell phone, and at the grocery distribution company where she had worked for 27 years.
"I was more or less in panic mode because he told me there would be someone before noon at my place of business to arrest me and take me to jail," she said tearfully. "So I agreed to pay him."
After receiving scores of complaints, investigators with the FTC said they began tracking the calls, and following the payments. They alleged the payments led them to a California company run by an Indian-American named Kirit Patel, and that such scams would not be possible without American front men.
"I would say that all roads of this scam, or many of the roads of this scam, lead back to Mr. Patel," said the FTC's Leibowitz.
ABC News tracked Patel for weeks, from the suburbs of San Francisco to Austin, Texas.
Patel refused to talk. But his lawyer, Mark Ellis, said he believes it is far too early to pass judgment on his client. Ellis, a Sacramento-based attorney, told ABC News that Patel was hired for a nominal fee to set up an American shell company, and had no idea what the call centers in India were doing.
"I can tell you, he was as snookered by the people in India as anybody," Ellis said. "He's a 69-year-old man who is nearing his retirement who thought all he had to do was set up some corporations and everything was on the up and up. He's completely dismayed that he has become the lightning rod of this entire problem."
A close friend of Patel's also defended him in a brief interview at his home, saying Patel was not trying to defraud anyone -- he was just an unwitting, bit player in a larger scheme.
I was called from this number also. He said his name was micheal shaw , very rude & told me that I had 3 counts . He said I had to pay 4 to 5 thousand or I could pay $ 298 at that very moment to resolve the problem & I told him that I did not have it , so he said thank u very much & hung up .
Received a call from this number left a message that I needed to contact them right away or I would be arrested for a fraudent loan. I have taken no loans with any of these company's
They have left a voice mail on my phone as well and he said he was Michael Shaw and another time the Attorney General from New York Frank Murphy. the police say this is a scam down load a call blocker and the number they are calling you from.