I was contacted by the same person and threatened the same way. Unfortunately, I paid part of the money they said I owed. Who did you contact to have this matter investigated so I can do they same?

I have been contacted by this Anthony Chase.  I have gotten payday loans before from trusting companies and never had this type of trouble. Anthony Chase is a scam and unfortunately I sent part of the money they said I owed.  I plan on contacting the Attorney General and report these guys and see if I can get the money I sent back.

I received a call from this number and a man calling himself Anthony Chase threatening to have me arrested from not repaying a payday loan. They called me at work and on my cell.  Unfortunately I sent them part of the money they said I owed by Vanilla Moneypak.  I have since done some research and found out that this guy is a scam.  I have responded to other people complaints about being contacted by this person and another person with an accent stating that I have to call them immediately and or have my attorney call. Fortunately (or unfortunately in another way) I lost or misplaced my cell phone. So they can call until they are blue in the face. But I am worried about identity theft. Did these people steal my identity?

Probably. If you have ever conducted business online, your personal identifying information may have been hacked and sold to these criminals on the internet black market.

This is a criminal extortion scam operating out of India. They are making the calls utilizing VOIP and the names of legitimate firms to make it appear the calls are originating from within the US. There is NO "company" or "debt" and you will NOT be arrested. They are harvesting and/or buying consumers' personal identifying information from unscrupulous websites like the one you may have filled out an application with, and you need to do whatever you can to protect yourself. This includes: Notifying the FTC: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/, placing fraud alerts with all three credit bureaus, notifying your bank and employer and letting these criminals know you are aware they are attempting to extort money for a non-existent debt and have alerted the authorities.

ABC News released an investigative report on this scam in June. The FTC has indicted one of its ringleaders for criminal fraud:

Hey