Uses telemarketers who pretend you applied for a payday loan and have been approved, and just need to go to holidaylenders.com and enter an approval code. From there I'm sure your identity is phished and harvested, as neither myself nor others posting about it at various sites ever actually applied for such a loan.
(From research on this type of scam I learned that sometimes the victim *has* applied for a payday loan at one or several places, but a scam site was amongst them and now their info is being sold to other scammers. Also there can be subsequent scam collections calls, which often succeed because the victim really did obtain a payday loan somewhere and thinks the threats are related to that company.)
Washington, D.C.
December 07, 2010 FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691
— filed under: Press Release
The Internet Crime Complaint Center has received many complaints from victims of payday loan telephone collection scams. Callers claim the victim is delinquent in a payday loan and must repay the loan to avoid legal consequences. The callers purport to be representatives of the FBI, Federal Legislative Department, various law firms, or other legitimate-sounding agencies. They claim to be collecting debts for companies such as United Cash Advance, U.S. Cash Advance, U.S. Cash Net, and other Internet check-cashing services.
According to complaints received from the public, the callers have accurate data about victims, including Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, employer information, bank account numbers, and the names and telephone numbers of relatives and friends. How the fraudsters obtained the personal information varies, but in some cases victims have reported they completed online applications for other loans or credit cards before the calls started.
The fraudsters relentlessly call the victim’s home, cell phone, and place of employment. They refuse to provide any details about the alleged payday loans and become abusive when questioned. The callers have threatened victims with legal actions, arrests, and, in some cases, physical violence if they do not pay. In many cases, the callers harass victims’ relatives, friends, and employers.
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http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0078-advance-fee-loans
http://www.fraud.org/scams/direct-marketing/advance-fee-loans
Payday loans
http://www.paydayloaninfo.org/state-information
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Please do file reports with the FBI, your state attorney general and Department Of Justice,FTC & FCC..