I have received numerous called from this number. The guy who calls, aka Micheal Smith, Kevin Brown, Charlie Brown, Fredrick Garcia or Garcha, had a thick Indian accent. He states that he has my SSN, date of birth, driver license number, home address, and bank account information, and that if I don't pay money now I'd have go to court that very day even though no bill or collection notice of any kind was sent to me. I report the number to the FTC, but they keep calling threatening to take me to court or send me to jail. Once I called the number during working hours and an Indian women answer. I ask her for the name of the business and she said, after I asked her to repeat it seven times, "Monetary Legal Associates, Washungton DC". The number is a California number, and there is no monetary legal associates listed anywhere. If they call you, I would request a copy of the bill or collection notification. if not sent, they are breaking the law each additional time they call you. And , please don't give the any personal information, supposely they already have it.
I had this same problem supposedly the man names was Samuel Bishop he called from 818-275-4512 and left several messages I called back they said it was from a payday loan company and I was going to jail within 48hrs they had my name email address social etc...I asked who they were they never said and that they were calling to get my attorneys number so that they may be contacted....Oh not to mention that this collection was on my credit report..I kind of got worried because i did take out a payday loan and it was repaid..,,but as I thought about it...why would it go into collections first before they would contact me....
Washington, D.C.
December 07, 2010 FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691
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.
Some fraudsters have instructed victims to fax a statement agreeing to pay a certain amount, on a specific date, via a pre-paid Visa card. The statement further declares the victim will never dispute the debt.
If you receive these calls, do not follow the caller’s instructions. Rather, you should:
Notify your banking institutions.
Contact the three major credit bureaus and request an alert be put on your file.
Contact your local law enforcement agencies if you feel you are in immediate danger.
File a complaint at www.IC3.gov.
Tips to avoid becoming a victim of this scam:
Never give your Social Security number—or personal information of any kind—over the telephone or online unless you initiate the contact.
Be suspicious of any e-mail with urgent requests for personal financial information. The e-mail may include upsetting or exciting but false statements to get you to react immediately.
Avoid filling out forms in e-mail messages that request personal information.
Ensure that your browser is up-to-date and security patches have been applied.
Check your bank, credit, and debit card statements regularly to make sure that there are no unauthorized transactions. If anything looks suspicious, contact your bank and all card issuers.
When you contact companies, use numbers provided on the back of cards or statements.
These people call and the number appears as zeroes in your caller ID. If you have an answering service or voicemail, they leave 818-275-4512 as a call back number. In this case they said they were calling for someone who is not part of my household and apologized when I said that person has not been at this number for over 10 years.
This seems to be a good way to get these people off your back.
They say they are a law firm but "Monitoring Crimes Division" sounds totally bogus.
Judging from the variety of names given to other people here, it sounds like these people are not legitimate.
When you get an unsolicited phone call from anyone who wants money, information, or any other action from you, and you ask them to put it writing and send it to you by mail, you will stop most bogus requests because a legitimate business has a process to send you mail and a criminal or boiler-room operation will not. Even if it is a legitimate business, they are going to be much more careful about what they put in writing and you won't be dealing with the kind of threats and exaggeration that you are much more likely to hear over the phone.
In general, if the phone number you see in caller ID is blocked or unknown to you, let it go to voicemail and if they don't leave a call back number or you aren't happy with the message they leave, you are under no obligation to call back.
Telemarketers and scammers will only waste so much of their time with people who don't answer their calls, and they will move on to easier victims.