Jul 26, 2011
So I just talked to "David" (don't know if that's his real name but he finally broke down when I called him on every imaginable number that I could find on the internet for this scam). And he told me what the gig is. This is a SCAM, they admit it, they harass people and eventually people give in with their checking account information, credit card information, more personal information, you name it. He broke down and told me this after I used 3 phones and called every number that I could locate for them repeatedly until they wanted ME to leave them alone.
But it's like what normal collection calls do, they provide lots of harassment to put pressure on you to make it so you leave them alone. We have laws in this country though that you can't make up claims that aren't true when doing a collection. Clearly, these people do, so it's quick to figure out that this is off-shore.
For me? I have time on my hands so I kept calling them back. They claim they are in the UK. I was honest with him that collection companies in the US usually aren't even this harsh with their harassment, so I thought their scam quickly unravels. But their initial claim to me is that they are from a payday loan place. I have applied and used online payday loans in the past, and now I won't because clearly that's how they got my information. But it's interesting... he's very offended when I called him "Indian" but ended up laughing when I called every number I could find to call them. This would be a great 20/20 story or newsmedia story if someone had a blog.
At the end of the call, this "David" invited me to call him back so that he could explain more. I doubt I'll call him back at this point, as he leveled with me that it's a scam.
Here's how to unravel them for the reader who is reading this:
- call them on every number you can find for them on the internet. They are at:
714.441.8691
213-995-3041
914-373-7038
(at least). You can find even more numbers to call them by looking further online.
When you get a call from them (or anyone claiming they represent an attorney) demand to get their BAR number. If the attorney's office won't give it to you, they probably aren't an attorney.
If they hangup on you, do what I did. Keep calling them back with every number you can and be relentless. Unfortunately, since this is some offshore place, there's not much that the local or state police can do. The Federal authorities can do something if it's a country where extradition is possible, and it's easy to get a US number with a vonage box these days, so it's not hard for offshore people to do this scam. I recommend to warn your friends and relatives but also BE RELENTLESS BACK. Keep calling every number you can find for them. When they hang up on you, call them back. Spend a 1/2 hour of your life making their life miserable until they tell you what's going on. By pressuring them in return, my hope is that they will find that it's not worth doing this scam and go onto other criminal things that they do.
WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T GIVE OUT ANY INFORMATION OVER THE PHONE.
Lastly, this "David" said he was doing this (when I simply asked him "why?" -- he retorted quickly that he hated Americans. I asked him "why?" but he couldn't give me a good answer. He used some strong language about Americans I won't do justice here to repeat. Just be vigilant everyone, be very vigilant.