First of all, everyone needs to remember this: it is ALWAYS a scam whenever someone calls you and says you're going to be arrested if you don't pay them money....always.
As for this particular call, the area code indicates that it's a cell call from an account based in Jacksonville, FL; and considering the nature of their threats and their tendency to impersonate law enforcement, my guess is that this is the Bass Pre-Litigation/States Predisposition scam.
Don't fall for this scam. This is a group of crooks that was originally based in Florida and, after the Florida attorney general filed a $1.4 million lawsuit against them, set-up shop in Georgia. Like many criminals, they go by various names: Bass Enterprises/Bass Pre-Litigation/United Legal Investigations Bureau/United Federal Bank/Impact Business Marketing/Ellis Crosby & Associates/States Predisposition Services/Jackson Phillips & Associates/Kirby & Associates and many others. And they often are calling about supposed PayDay loans.
Though their aliases vary, their method never does. Masquerading as bankers, debt collectors, police, or other government officials, these crooks call consumers and attempt to extort money with a myriad of illegal false threats. These threats are always phony and include arresting you, ruining your credit rating, serving you "papers" for a lawsuit and, yes, taking your children away from you. In one recent phone call to a consumer, these crooks even pretended to be on a walkie talkie coordinating a police raid of the consumer's home. Granted, this stuff is laughably ridiculous, but, sadly, some people fall for it.
Fortunately, law enforcement authorities and the press have taken notice of these crooks. Check out this excerpt from a recent article in the Florida Times-Union newspaper, and note the last sentence:
"Among the most prominent complaints: Claiming or implying to be attorneys or government agents, threatening arrest or legal action, claiming or collecting exorbitant debt amounts and using harassing or intimidation techniques such as repeated phone calls or calls to a debtor's place of work. In July, Attorney General Bill McCollum's office filed a $1.3 million lawsuit against the firm - also known as Jackson Phillips & Associates - and earlier this week , state attorneys won the first round of the battle in a Jacksonville courtroom by defeating the agency's motion to dismiss the case. A motion to shut down the firm while the case proceeds will be heard in January. The state is also working with Georgia officials to determine whether Bass is trying to escape Florida prosecution by moving across the state line to Folkston, Ga. Records at Folkston City Hall show that a business license was issued in June to Bass officials Frank and Evelyn Jackson to establish a collection agency called States Predisposition Services Inc."
Read the entire article here: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/120107/met_221875639.shtml
I don't know if the Florida attorney general knows it yet, but in addition to their Georgia address, States Predisposition has a listing back in Jacksonville which, not surprisingly, is the same address as Bass Enterprises a.k.a. Bass Pre-Litigation:
States Predisposition
6931 Lillian Road
Jacksonville, FL 32211
(904) 446-9236
http://www.yellowpages.com/listings/search_nearby/10320305358
Bass Enterprises
6931 Lillian Rd
Jacksonville, FL 32211
904-674-2482
http://yellowpages.aol.com/business/bass-ente ... ass+enterprises
And this is the first address they set-up in Georgia last year. It's questionable whether this is a real operations center or just a mail drop or telephone forwarding location:
States Predisposition
1204 South 2nd Street, Suite F
Folkston, GA 31537
(912) 496-7220
The other address that they've used in Georgia is merely a rented private mailbox at The UPS Store that's located in a St. Mary's, GA shopping center:
States Pre-Disposition Services Inc
6586 HWY 40 E
STE B-7 Unit 340
St. Mary's, GA 31558
http://www.whitepages.com/search/Replay?search_id=61241442612659447279&lower=25&more_info=1
Even though these were phony threats that were made against you, the attempt to extort money from you was very real. You should report these criminals to all the following federal and state law enforcement agencies (you can do most of these online):
1) File a report with your local police
2) File a report online with the FBI at https://tips.fbi.gov
3) File a report with Sid Barrett, Senior Assistant Georgia Attorney General at
[email protected] or 404-656-3202
4) File a report to Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum at http://myfloridalegal.com/contact.nsf/contact?Open&Section=Attorney_General and be sure to reference that it appears to be the same tactics used by the scammers at Bass Pre-Litigation/Jackson Phillips/States Predisposition
5) File a complaint with your state's attorney general. The contact information for each state's attorney general is listed at www.naag.org Just scroll down to the national map and click on your state.
6) File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission here: https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
If these criminals call you again, be sure not to tell them anything other than that you've already reported them to federal and state authorities and not to call again. After telling them that, I'm sure they'll huff and puff and make more ridiculous threats; just ignore them and report them to the law enforcement links I listed above.
In addition to reporting these grifters to law enforcement, you also have the option of suing them. For more information on this option and for other advice on protecting yourself from outlaw debt collectors, check out these websites:
http://www.naca.net/debt-collection-abuse/
http://www.fairdebtlawyers.com/
http://www.budhibbs.com/First.htm
http://www.myfairdebt.com/
http://www.consumercounselgroup.com/
http://www.creditlawnetwork.com/
Good luck.