The "good luck as this situation unfolds" line and the vanilla-sounding alias names for the reps strongly suggest a South Asian fake debt collector. If you really want to know how they've found you and Gramma and the neighbor's pet ferret, think back to when you or someone related gave away a pile of sensitive data to strangers through an online application form.
To be clear, this is extortion dressed as debt collection. The agents' horrid threats are empty and their conduct is illegal. As early as possible it's critical to determine if your collector is domestic or yet another South Asian faker. The former you can sue into submission; the latter tend to be out of reach.
My notes from October 2011 on payday loan and "hot check" collectors are linked below.
http://800notes.com/forum/ta-429fb24ec2162e3/ ... -numbers-here-2
See also this FTC alert: "Fake Debt Collectors"
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0258-fake-debt-collectors
(former title: ''Who's Calling? That Debt Collector Could Be a Fake'')
The following will be useful if you have a US domestic collector calling, and will in general help you sniff out the frauds:
official FTC guidance and staff opinions on the FDCPA, PDF copy of the Act
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpajump.shtm
CFPB Q&A on debt collection practices
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/askcfpb/search ... bt%20Collection
Well I got the call today and so out of curiosity I called the number back and a woman answered...i asked what all this was about and she mumbled a bunch of stuff saying you will be arrested at your work tomorrow...HAHAHA!!!!! What! I said you are a scam artist and this is all a bunch of crap, she said something all I could make out was crap and she hung up on me.
I called again and again and they wouldn't answer. I called the local sherriff office and they said if I would like file a report I could...they think it is a scam as well.
I also got a call from this number. A man with an Indian accent telling me to call Michael. I kept asking why and said there was a case against me. Ok? Crazy people.
My wife was getting calls from this guy all the time about 9 months ago.At first she was very concerned and called the police. When we would call him back there was either just a beep on an answering machine or the mailbox was full. We kept getting calls from him using different names and phone numbers. Finally one night I answered the phone and talked to him for about 20 minutes. When he asked to speak to my wife "Susan Wood", I said, "this is Susan Wood" He said he thought Susan would be a woman. I said that I was not a woman and my name was Susan. He continued to talk to me giving me the same threats and I acted like I was really concerned. He started asking personal information and I kept giving him fake and very extravagant answers, such as how much I made a month... I would say $465,000... how much was the mortgage on my house I would say I paid $5 a month... Every thing he asked me I had some wild answer for him. He said he wasn't believing my answers, yet he kept asking. I gave him no real information, and he continued to call me Susan. I would then start asking him questions about where he lived and things about him. He kept asking stuff, it was hilarious. Finally I told him why he kept calling us using different names and phone numbers... I finally started sounding annoyed and not scared. I finally ended the call by telling him not to call the number anymore. My wife was laughing so hard hearing me talk to him, and it was really fun to me too. I would suggest doing the same if he calls. He didnt call again after that, until today when my wife got 3 more messages from him. I hope I'm around when he calls again, I need some more laughs... :-)