FTC: International Bogus Debt Collector Phone Scam Swindles Millions From US Residents
U.S. authorities report they have broken up a phone scam in which callers in India posed as debt collectors to bilk millions of dollars out of more than 10,000 U.S. residents.
Officials say callers used threats of arrest or the loss of their jobs, and that the first-of-its-kind investigation may have only uncovered the tip of the iceberg.
The investigation revealed that from 2010 to 2012, $5 million was paid in 17,000 transactions to accounts controlled by the alleged fraudsters. The targets included people who applied for loans by punching personal details into a payday site but whose applications were rejected, Federal Trade Commission official Steven Baker said.
Furthermore, more than 20 million calls may have been placed over the past two years, with collectors demanding between $300 and $2,000 per call.
just a fyi that there is a huge and never ending amount of fraud and scam calls from the "312 " area code"............
HERE IS SOME HELPFUL INFO , SO WATCH OUT !!!
some are landlines...many are cell phones...some are spoofed and linked to offshore foreign countries !!!!
we've traced back most of these numbers to offshore foreign call centers and scammers working out of , but not limited to..... in INDIA / THAILAND / AFRICA / JAMAICA ETC....
here's a few other numbers posted from the same area code offering a wide variety of scams / collecting for non existant " payday loans "....free money / scam giveaways / $1,000's in free gov't money......... etc etc.....stories change out all the time......and the usual nonsense!!!
** mysteriously call to claim they have several thousand of dollars to send you....just provide you bank account and credit card right away etc etc.........scam scam
several of these are the usual long ongoing scams such as : you have won a free walmart / bestbuy gift card....or you have won a free ipad etc......all long ongoing scams
312-473-1012 ( offshore foreign call center ? ) poor english and violent on the phone! claim to be giving away $1,000's in free cash....just give them all your personal info etc....
I have received several calls from seemingly 2-3 men with heavy accents from a mid eastern country claiming I owe for a payday loan. They constantly call my cell and claim the authorities are taking action. When I told them to send me the original documents, I haven't heard back from them. It's truely a scam and not a very good one. They are unprofessional. They sent a Word document telling me to enter my credit card information to authorize them to pay $375. They call themselves INV Cash. Phone # 3124731012
I have been getting calls the past week from 1-904-410-3886. I called them back and was told by a man with a very heavy accent that I took out an internet loan in September 2010..(I didn't) and that legal action was going to be taken against me. When I told him I did not take out a loan he told me.."Then don't pay it and see what happens!" and hung up on me!
I called him back and he then barraged me with all of my personal information- name, birthday, ssn, bank account number and address!! Said I owed 542.00. I asked for the name of the company and he just said "Payday Loan" company. I told him again that I didn't take out the loan and could he send me some documentation from the company?
He told me he had no such information and that it is up to me if I pay or not, but that legal action would be taken against me and I would end up paying 5000.00 then.
It was obviously an attempt to scare me fraudulently! I told him as much and he told me that I would find out tomorrow, at 10:00 am what was going to happen to me.
I told him I was going to call the authorities and hung up on him. He really freaked me out!
I can't believe they had my bank info. I closed my checking account and wonder if I should change my phone numbers. Horrible that these evil people can upheave our lives so much. I wish someone would catch them and shut them down...
The following are instances where you should consider filing a complaint against a telemarketer.
If you:
Have been on the Do Not Call Registry for at least 31 days and are contacted by a telemarketer who is not exempt.
Receive a telemarketing call that you believe is a scam or is misleading.
Are solicited to pay a fee to join the National Do Not Call Registry.
Are not put on a company's internal do not call list after requesting to be.
Have received a junk fax without having an existing business relationship with the sender.
You will need to compile as much information about the company as possible to include with your complaint: the company's phone number as transmitted through Caller ID or your fax machine, or provided verbally by the telemarketer, the name of the company, and date of the call or fax. If the telemarketer says it is calling on behalf of another company, you can ask for the name of the telemarketing company in addition to the name of the company on whose behalf they are calling. Read our Telemarketing Script for more details.
Do not forget to provide your phone number on the complaint, especially if you are listed on the National Registry. If you are complaining about a junk fax, be sure to provide your fax number on the complaint. Both the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission can fine telemarketers up to $11,000 per violation.
Complaints may be made to Federal Trade Commission (FTC):
FTC: International Bogus Debt Collector Phone Scam Swindles Millions From US Residents
U.S. authorities report they have broken up a phone scam in which callers in India posed as debt collectors to bilk millions of dollars out of more than 10,000 U.S. residents.
Officials say callers used threats of arrest or the loss of their jobs, and that the first-of-its-kind investigation may have only uncovered the tip of the iceberg.
The investigation revealed that from 2010 to 2012, $5 million was paid in 17,000 transactions to accounts controlled by the alleged fraudsters. The targets included people who applied for loans by punching personal details into a payday site but whose applications were rejected, Federal Trade Commission official Steven Baker said.
Furthermore, more than 20 million calls may have been placed over the past two years, with collectors demanding between $300 and $2,000 per call.