law enforcement and investigation

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Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 4:48 am

Good evening colleague scam baiters.

Unfortunately I wasn't baiting but was found anyhow.

I received several phone calls from different people with different names for weeks now. They all claim a case is filed against me and that I have to pay back a certain amount of money that I should have received as paydayloans. (I don't even have a boss, and am on no ones payroll. As a matter of fact, I do not even have a social security number wich they would need to be allowed to give me a loan.) They all claim to be officers and to call from "law enforcement and investigation", threaten with arresting, visiting, approaching family, and know name, address and tax ID information.

After a number of calls they give a phone number that has to be called for more information. Eventually they give you a fax number to send a dept declaration to. THAT is the legal part. Because many people are so impressed by these guys that they effectively do send these document. (Stupid, but hey, the profile of people applying for paydayloans is not higly educated and clever.) At that moment lawyers go to court to sue you and collect the depts you have admitted to.

It is very clearly a scam, and I am not seriously worried. But am VERY interested in assistance in finding out how I can track down where these people are really located, or even better, their identity.

Who can help?

Scam sam.

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 6:15 am

Hi skamsam!
Welcome to Eater.
My advice would be to call the cops.

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 3:33 pm

Hi Fartina,

Thanks for your reply.

The thing is, going to the police is not going to stop them. I am much more interested in scaring the ship out of them the same way they do to their victims. Don't underestimate these guys, they are really bad criminals stealing mostly from innocent people who already don't have a lot of money, so won't be able to afford a lawyer. (Why else would they apply for a payday loan that is going to cost them 70% interest or more)

A number of facts. According to the information on the internet I estimate that they are quite successful.
They can afford to pay for structural harassment by phone and have a lot of staff for doing so.
They can afford legal assistance for the dept collection in the US.
They have received several request from the US authorities to identify themselfs and even have had cases filed against them but never showed up in court or gave propper ID. Although it is unclear who was sued they just change the phone numbers and go on with their business.
On the websites writing about the issue it mentions hundreds of victims.
Numbers of "dept" collected vary from a couple of 100 dollars to thousands per victim.

Let's face it: This is a well organized criminal organization. But the tools they use can be used against them too. I don't have the technical knowledge for that. So I need assistance.

Personally I was requested several amounts between 1890 and 1200 dolars. I still laugh my head of when I see another one of their numbers apearing on my phone. If I'm in the mood I answer them. Usually I tell them their mother would be ashamed of them if she really knew what they were doing to make a living. Or I tell them that they are going to be sued for being part of a criminal organization while their bosses are making millions and they take the risk.

It's so much fun to get them to waste their time by replying to my input. I just love it. Best responce so far: "I am going to cut you up in pieces." My answer: You can't even get a visa to come to the states or afford a ticket. Go find yourself an honnest job.

Anyway, anyone with the knowledge: Contact me please!

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:10 pm

Honestly, call the police. To find out anything about people like that, you need to be able to follow phone records. You'll have to get lots of information that just isn't available to the general public. And obtaining such information without police assistance could land -you- in legal trouble instead of them, since you'll most likely have to break into a phone company's computer. Even then you would need pretty detailed knowledge about how the phone system works to see if they were calling you from a spoofed number.

Anyway, short answer, call the police even if you don't think they will do anything. They might surprise you, and they are the only ones with real access to the information you seek.

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:54 pm

Hi Talespinner,

Thank you for your reply. I understand your concern. It is correct, they have a couple of benefits over me. More funds, more people, more knowledge. And they could surprise me yes. But I am convinced they will neverappear on my doorstep. As far as the cyber crime goes, it is very simpel: All information they have on me so far can be found in the public domain. They could find that in the yellowpages etc. What I understood from others being harassed by them it is the same. And it would not be financially beneficial to them to pursue anything else then the scam they are already doing. Their business is finding people who are so scared that they pay them. Even if there is no real dept.

At this moment I am thinking along the lines of mobilizing people in such a way that it becomes uninteresting for them to continue their business. How? Simple, if we can make as many people as possible call the numbers they refer their victims to, their lines keep busy and they simply loose too much time, benefit goes down, and motive to go on disappears. There is already a number of websites where people can submit the numbers they are using. Good start. Now let's start beating them back.

Can it get me in trouble legally to do this? Might be. I'll look into it. The fun part is, they would have to identify themselves before they could sue me. I would love that! As I said, their tools we can use too.

Skamsam.

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 9:13 pm

If they claim to be trying to collect a debt they are subject to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and are counting on your ignorance of that act.

Some things they won't tell you: you cannot be arrested for not paying a debt; debt is a civil, not a criminal, matter. They must tell you on whose behalf they are trying to collect. They must verify the debt in writing.

If they call again ask for the name of the company, the name of the person calling and tell them you do not recognize the debt. At that point they must send you written verification of the debt. If they are just trying to scam you, my guess is that they will disengage and you won't hear from them again. But take notes and record the date and times of all contacts.

Some have suggested calling law enforcement. If they persist I would recommend you contact your state's attorney general's office and file a complaint.

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 4:48 pm

@skamsam et al

I have used the following link to get my info deleted from the internet

http://www.spokeo.com/

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 Apr 2011 Posts: 3

Omg I can't believe there are others out there getting these calls!! I have No clue where they got my info but they got my friends numbers and called them too! They also knew the last 4 of my social! When I realized it was a scam I told the to f off and I haven't heard from them again the number was out of california

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 Apr 2011 Posts: 3

Omg I can't believe there are others out there getting these calls!! I have No clue where they got my info but they got my friends numbers and called them too! They also knew the last 4 of my social! When I realized it was a scam I told the to f off and I haven't heard from them again the number was out of california

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 6:35 am

http://www.ic3.gov/media/2010/101201.aspx

Seems like some people found a use for SSN and other info to make a scam that actually works.

I'd have to say it would be scary to get calls from home and the scammers know all your details and that of your relatives and friends.

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