Rcved call from individula with thick Indian accent who identified himeself as Officer Gunner with the Department of Crime & Prevention. He knew my name, address & last 4-digits of my ssno. I asked him for his badge number which he gave as 57J89. When I asked from where he was calling, he stated California with Headquarters in Florida. When I asked him for an address, he refused. I stated that unless he provided me an address, I would not continue the call. He refused and I accused him of perpertrating (sp) a scam. He became very agitated and hung up on me.
Rcved call from individula with thick Indian accent who identified himeself as Officer Gunner with the Department of Crime & Prevention. He knew my name, address & last 4-digits of my ssno. I asked him for his badge number which he gave as 57J89. When I asked from where he was calling, he stated California with Headquarters in Florida. When I asked him for an address, he refused. I stated that unless he provided me an address, I would not continue the call. He refused and I accused him of perpertrating (sp) a scam. He became very agitated and hung up on me.
A coworker of mine received a call from this exact phone number (831-301-4001) today around 1PM CST. She also reported that the caller was a male with an Indian accent. He had her name, home address, cell phone number, employer name, work number, and the last four digits of her social security number. He stated that she was being investigated for bank fraud and needed to fax him documentation showing that money had not been deposited in her account. When she continued to ask him questions he reportedly became very pushy and rude. If anyone receives a call from this number, contact either Monterey or Santa Cruz police, as the area code indicates that the number is based in one of these two locations.
The following is ec's post from: http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-718-831-7157
This is a very active group of overseas scammers who attempt to extort money from Americans with a myriad of false and illegal threats. They alternately pose as debt collectors, federal and state law enforcement officers, lawyers and bankers. They use any number of phony names such as US National Bank, Federal Investigation Bureau, US Legal Investigation Bureau, Hopkins Law Office, United Legal Processing, Morgan Associates, White Collar Crime Unit and many more. These crooks often use caller-id spoofing software and/or VoIP to disguise their real location and to make it appear that they are calling from American area codes.
(By the way, there are some reports on 800Notes that have suggested that the crooks behind this offshore scam are also the crooks behind the notorious Bass/Ellis Crosby & Assoc./States Predisposition scams in Florida and Georgia. The interesting thing is that the number of complaints on here about the US National Bank/US Legal Investigation/Federal Investigation scam skyrocketed *after* Florida obtained a $1.3 million judgment against Ted Ellis Crosby, shutdown his operations and barred him from ever conducting debt collections in Florida. (Read http://myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsrel ... 5257424005858A6 )
The main thing to remember is that anytime someone calls you demanding money to prevent your arrest, it is ALWAYS a scam. No debt collector (let alone criminals posing as debt collectors) have the authority to have anyone arrested for anything. (And it's illegal to them to threaten such a thing.) And since these foreign dirtbags routinely impersonate law enforcement, it's also important to remember that American law enforcement officers aren't in the business of debt collection. (Debt is a civil, not a criminal, matter.)
The bottom line is, these are criminals trying to steal your money. I suggest you do all the following (most of which you can do online):
1) The U.S. Secret Service is responsible for protecting the country's financial infrastructure and payment systems from international and domestic threats. Call or write your local Secret Service field office to alert them to the details of this attempted extortion. The addresses and phone numbers for the local Secret Service field offices are listed at http://www.secretservice.gov/field_offices.shtml or in your phone book.
2) Alert the FBI at https://tips.fbi.gov Be sure to tell the FBI that you are being targeted by extortionists over the phone who are posing as federal law enforcement. Be sure to give as many details as you can.
3) File a complaint with your local police. Most police departments will take a report over the phone. Be sure to tell them that you're being targeted by an extortionist and give them all the details.
4) File a complaint your state's attorney general, the contact information for whom is at www.naag.org
5) File a complaint online with The Federal Trade Commission at https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
If these crooks call back, promise them nothing, pay them nothing and tell them nothing other than that you know they're a scam and that you've reported them to law enforcement. (And be sure to report them to all the agencies above each time they call you.)
By the way, here's just a small sample of numbers used by this particular group of scammers. Read the reports and you'll see the same pattern time and again -- phony organization names, thick foreign accents, and oddly worded threats that are so melodramatic and ridiculous that it's laughable:
I also received a call at my home and work from a man with a thick indian accent stating he was officer John Conner/Gunner (?) with the Crime prevention Bureau. He said that I am in trouble for bank fraud for money that was desposited into my account. I know that I had no money deposited. They had all my information, including my deceased brothers name and phone number. He was very mean and pushy. He wanted me to fax my bank statement showing I had no money deposited into my account to a number in New York. This number is from California. Please be careful!!!
i got a call from 831-301-4001 this morning saying i was going to be arrested if i did not give him my card information and take care of a "pay day" loan that i didn't pay back. i never got a pay day loan . it was a man with an indian accent and i couldnt understand a word he was saying. he had my name address ss# and phone number. once i started asking him questions he became really rude and told me he couldnt give me any information. ITS A SCAM!! if you get a call from this # DO NOT give any info to them!!! They are looking to just steal from you! please contact your local police station and tell them about this fraud! im 24 yrs old and ALMOST fell into their scam until i looked up the "company name" and phone number on the internet and found out it was all a scam!