THIS IS AN EXTORTION SCAM. Scammers pretend to be law enforcement (police, sheriff, Feds, AG's Office, fake cop agencies with made-up names) and may be using bought/hacked/phished loan application data to extort money or personal info for fictitious crimes.
The real DEA warns about fake-DEA extortion scams here http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/2010/denver111010.html
The real FBI warns about payday loan extortion scams here http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/paydayloanscam_120710
The real FDA warns about fake-FDA extortion scams here http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2009/ucm195814.htm
The real FDIC warns about fake-FDIC extortion scams here http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/specialalert/2010/sa10131.html
Report to the Internet Crime Complaint Center http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx , the Federal Communications Commission http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm , the Federal Trade Commission https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and your state AG http://www.naag.org/current-attorneys-general.php as appropriate.
March 15, 2012
Scam alert. If you receive a call from a Rebecca Haines with the Department of Investigation Litigation Department, this is a scam. She will call you and tell you there is a claim against you from the past but she can not tell you what it is regarding. She will give you a claim number and toll free number to call which was 888-521-2153 and you are supposed to request a release order for the claim. This claim will be for some type of payday or installment loan that you may or may not have taken out in the past. They will threaten you with litigation and call relatives and freinds telling them that they are trying to reach you to serve papers on a claim. If you get a phone call similar to this investigate it thoroughly before paying money to anyone.
THIS IS AN EXTORTION SCAM. Scammers pretend to be law enforcement (police, sheriff, Feds, AG's Office, fake cop agencies with made-up names) and may be using bought/hacked/phished loan application data to extort money or personal info for fictitious crimes.
The real DEA warns about fake-DEA extortion scams here http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/2010/denver111010.html
The real FBI warns about payday loan extortion scams here http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/paydayloanscam_120710
The real FDA warns about fake-FDA extortion scams here http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2009/ucm195814.htm
The real FDIC warns about fake-FDIC extortion scams here http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/specialalert/2010/sa10131.html
Report to the Internet Crime Complaint Center http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx , the Federal Communications Commission http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm , the Federal Trade Commission https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and your state AG http://www.naag.org/current-attorneys-general.php as appropriate.
I got a phone call yesterday evening from a gentleman who called my moms house demanding info on me. She refused to give it and said just give me what I can give her and she will contact you asap. I got the info and when I called the number given the recording said thank you for calling Nationwide. aI talked to someone who said I was being charged with fraud they wouldn't give me a case number or verify if it was me or not. Now given this gentleman called my mom again this morning and demanded my info she told him I was contacting a lawyer he hung up. Don't know how he got my number when I called the 1888 number given.
these people pretending to work for the department of investigastions called my relatives looking for me saying i had outstanding warrants and demanding info on me! Isnt it against the law to reprsent urself as law enforcement?????
Yep. And--these criminals could care less if they are breaking the law:
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 from unscrupulous websites like the one you may have filled out an application with, 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.
ABC News released an investigative report on this scam in June. The FTC has indicted one of its ringleaders for criminal fraud: