I ALSO RECEIVED A CALL FROM 415-223-1180 FROM A KEVIN PATTERSON CLAIMIMNG TO BE CALLING FROM SOME ATTORNEYS OFFICE IN CALIFORNIA HE PROCEEDED TO TELL ME THERE WAS CRIMINAL CHRGES PENDING AGAINST ME AND I OWED SIME OUSTANDING BALANCE ON A PAY DAY LOAN WHEN I ASKED HIS TO EXPLIAN TO ME HOW HE GOT MY NUMBER HE BECAME VERY ENRAGED AND HUNG UP I TRIED CALLING BACK BUT HE KEPT HANGING UP ON ME I KNOW THIS IS A SCAM AND I AM GLAD TO KNOW THAT THERE ARE OTHERS BEING HARRASED AS WELL FOR A MINUTE I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME I NEED TO KNOW HOW TO STOP THEM.
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.
I got the same message to on my work anwering machine. They have called me before maybe about a month ago. When I told the guy with indian accent that he can speak with my attorney and when I was asking him questions he started calling me out of my name. I hung up on him, he called right back and said the police with be at my job to pick me up and good luck and screamed out Bi....th. then hung up on me. No police never should up. If the are calling from the States Attorney Office, they would have provided any information you ask for and they would have sent you documentation in the mail.
Its Monday and I cant wait for the calls to start at my work since they were also calling on Friday!! Do they not realize that Americans are smart enough to notify the employers of what is going on. I also went through this about a month ago and let them know that I knew it was a scam. So what??? they wait a month and then start calling again?? Dumb camel humpers. This is one of about 6 numbers that I have had dealings with, all 6 are using magic jack. BE WARE of any # calling to collect a debt as they are using this device which allows them make it look like they are calling within the US when actually they are thousands of miles from here and stole info from the internet. My company is waiting for another call! This is harrassment and they will be stopped! I am being transferred to another state in a couple weeks so I am just waiting to see how long it takes them to start harrassing me there too, seems like no matter how many times you have your number changed they keep calling even calling you by the wrong name...hahahaha...sometimes the dumb B cant even pronounce her own (supposedly) name (very American name)!
I ALSO RECEIVED A CALL FROM 415-223-1180 FROM A KEVIN PATTERSON CLAIMIMNG TO BE CALLING FROM SOME ATTORNEYS OFFICE IN CALIFORNIA HE PROCEEDED TO TELL ME THERE WAS CRIMINAL CHRGES PENDING AGAINST ME AND I OWED SIME OUSTANDING BALANCE ON A PAY DAY LOAN WHEN I ASKED HIS TO EXPLIAN TO ME HOW HE GOT MY NUMBER HE BECAME VERY ENRAGED AND HUNG UP I TRIED CALLING BACK BUT HE KEPT HANGING UP ON ME I KNOW THIS IS A SCAM AND I AM GLAD TO KNOW THAT THERE ARE OTHERS BEING HARRASED AS WELL FOR A MINUTE I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME I NEED TO KNOW HOW TO STOP THEM.