(202) 239-0307

Got a call from these clowns today from a different # 414-37******. I could not get any information from them except for they call themselves WCCI.  Kept threatening to take me to jail. I just filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and if I get another call, will contact local law enforcement. Don't take their abuse or fall for their tactics.

For at least the last four years, possibly longer, a group has been calling former payday loan applicants advising them that they have defrauded a bank and are now being sued for non-payment of a loan.  The callers will claim to be calling on behalf of an attorney's office (name varies), the Dept. of Law and Investigation, ACS, or other similar combinations below:United Legal Processing DivisionMidline MarketingCrime Monitoring ServicesMonetary Crime DivisionU.S. National Bank Attorney General’s Office (usually in California)American Legal ServicesAffidavit Consolidation Services (ACS)You will be threatened with arrest, a costly trial and possibly worse.  In no shape, way or form can you be arrested for non-payment on a consumer debt.  Do not believe these threats, as they are without merit and cannot be carried out in the manner they allege.  Who are they? In the past when pressed by law enforcement for an address, the callers have provided the following information:David Morgan and****ociatesMorgan &****ociatesMorgan****ociates954-727-8481 1155 Northwest 85th Street Wintergarden, Florida  33150 (Address is likely invalid)The collector's MO matches a once legit collections agency called Ellis Crosby &****ociates.  Here are some links on them:http://www.budhibbs.com/collectorpages/ellis_crosby_and_associates.htmhttp://www.budhibbs.com/collectorpages/EllisCrosbyJudgment.pdfThey have been previously fined over $1.3 million for various violations.  They have been known to use phone banks in India to make their calls, which more or less coincides with the difficult to understand accent many of us detect when we are contacted.   The last time this group went by any "official" name was back in 2008:Ellis Crosby &****ociates / Douglas & Morgan****ociates4494 Southside Boulevard Suite #200Jacksonville Florida 32216Phone:  800-928-3536 / (904) 928-3536(Address is likely invalid)There are NUMEROUS consumer alerts out a***nst this group of individuals:Florida:http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/061107/met_176207561.shtmlKansas:  http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/01/ks_debt_collection.htmlColorado:  http://www.coloradoattorneygeneral.gov/press/ ... lls_likely_origRhode Island:  http://www.collectionscreditrisk.com/news/rho ... -3002135-1.htmlWest ******ia:http://www.w***o.gov/internetloanscam.cfmMissouri:On July 15th, 2010 a Public Awareness Bulletin was sent out by Missouri Information ****ysis Center.  "..received reports from individuals in Ohio and Illinois reference su****ious telephone calls they received. In both instances, the callers are reporting that a voicemail is received from a man, with a Middle Eastern accent, identifying himself as an officer working with the Financial Crimes Unit.  The message indicates that the reason for the call concerns a loan made by the receiver or someone in the receiver's family. The voicemail requests that a return call be made and a telephone number is provided. When a return call is made, the caller is asked to provide personal identifying information such as their date of birth and social security number.Reports indicate that the calls are frequent and persistent and that they even threaten arrest or legal action if information or money is not provided. It appears that the individuals making these calls may have access to some records connecting individuals and their relatives.  Missouri does not have a Financial Crimes Unit and all indications are that this is a fic***ious agency. If you receive a similar phone call, please be advised that it is a scam and please contact your local law enforcement agency or the Missouri Information ****ysis Center at 866-362-6422."Bottom line:Do not supply the callers with any additional information.  Inform them you have reported them to law enforcement and **** up.  If you haven't already, go ahead and report the calls to local law enforcement, your state's Attorney General and beyond.  Look up the local Secret Service ***nch's information in your area and get in contact with an agent there.  If you ever applied for a cash advance online, your information is out there.   Possible sources for the breach of your privacy are:* The scammers obtained your information from Teletrack - a reporting agency used by many cash advance lenders to determine their risk lending to you.  The service is able to tell cash advance lenders if you have existing loans with other companies, for example.  Many state laws prohibit borrowers from having more than two cash advances out at the same time. * The scammers created their own fake payday loan application site.  People looking for a cash advance went to the site and applied, thus freely providing the scammers with their information for malicious use at a later time.  * The scammers were able to get into the database(s) of cash advance lenders - probable targets being Sonic Payday and Cashnet USA.   How to protect yourself:* Inform your employer.  You are likely getting calls at home and/or at work, so make sure your employer is aware the calls are part of a scam and to not take them seriously.  Advise the callers that they are no longer allowed to call you at work.  If they continue to call, do***ent the date and time of the calls you received.  Save voice mails left if at all possible.  * C****e your number(s).  For some this may not be an option, for others a one-time number c****e can be done free of charge.Be advised - any references you listed on your payday loan application will be contacted.  Let those people know that this is a scam, and they can disregard. * Use Google Voice.  Google Voice is a great replacement voice mail system for just about any phone number you use.  Messages can be transcribed and voice mail recordings can be saved as mp3 files.  Pro Tip - call the scammers with a Google Voice number before turning off your old phone numbers.  Make sure when you call you identify yourself so they can s**** up their script.  At any point after they have your information pulled up just **** up.  They will then s**** religiously calling your Google Voice number.  At this point, you are free to c****e your regular phone number(s) and enjoy not having these people ever call you a***n.  (And laugh at the fact these people are basically talking to a brick wall several times a day)The scammers c****e their numbers frequently.  Law enforcement used to think it was because the callers ran out of minutes on their prepaid wireless accounts or they were shuttered due to fraud, but now they understand it's simply to evade detection by savvy consumers online.  With the proliferation of VoIP, it's even easier for the crooks to stay a couple of steps ahead of law enforcement.  Below is just a sampling of the 30+ numbers that have been used in recent memory.1-201-244-77221-209-349-73821-209-797-22121-212-500-08391-213-256-04081-213-995-30391-281-763-04331-347-289-39021-347-844-68171-347-844-68311-424-354-42701-516-232-89051-516-232-89351-518-212-02191-561-300-80181-561-210-41851-626-200-46461-631-456-40411-646-274-11431-646-810-86351-650-241-46041-707-401-40561-707-633-27891-708-401-05351-716-442-28241-***-862-40801-718-705-86691-760-514-01321-760-563-53841-772-318-49381-850-201-11111-858-777-19771-859-908-22811-866-860-45091-877-226-74881-888-706-74631-888-771-92491-888-785-44791-909-327-4870So can they really do anything to you?It's not a simple yes or no answer.  Logic dictates that, if they really wanted to take you for a ride and drain your bank accounts, they already would have.  So, why haven't they?  Authorization.  Why do you think you are being called so much?  Perhaps it is because they like the sound of your voice?  No, they have to have your authorization to take any form of payment from you, period.  The callers know their audience, and that audience is typically a bunch of people that have applied for payday loans in the past.  Most of those people they call couldn't afford an attorney if they wanted one, and are so used to receiving collections calls that so long as they sound like a real collector, they will likely be perceived as one.Furthermore, they don't even really want to talk to your attorney - that just sounds official and scary enough.  A real attorney would take the callers to task and write them off as two-bit con artists.  The callers need you, in writing, to authorize payment a***nst the fic***ious debt they claim you owe.  Go ahead, ask them for proof you owe the debt - more commonly known as verification of debt.  See what they say.  A phone authorization carries very little weight, so if they have so****ing signed by you on file, you are done for - and the callers know that.  That authorization is the only thing these callers are doing by the book, and for good reason.  If they just went all ***** nilly and made an ACH debit from your checking account, without your written approval, you could in turn report the transaction as fraudulent to your financial ins***ution.  In about 7-10 business days, you would get the funds returned to your account.  Then the scammers would be up a***nst a bank and their team of lawyers and investigators.  Bottom line:If you haven't paid the callers a dime, don't.  If you planned on paying them to shut them up, just don't.  Remember - you are not being contacted by a legally licensed, ethically owned and operated collector.  Read up on the FDCPA - http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf - and know your rights.http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-646-274-1143/3

PROTECT YOURSELF!  IMPORTANT INFORMATION YOU MUST READ – HOW THE SCAM WORKS AND WHAT AGENCIES TO REPORT THEM TO LONG RUNNING AND KNOWN SCAM – ALL OVER INTERNET AND NEWS FOR  2 YEARS NOW Fake Debt Collectors – Terrorizing Consumers http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5621205&page=1MORE ON FAKE DEBT COLLECTORS http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-904-425-9141http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/call4action/17285785/detail.htmlhttp://www.800helpfla.com/newsletter/2008/092008.htmlhttp://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/01/ks_debt_collection.html   http://consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/07/video_bill_collector_scam.html  NEWEST CONSUMER ALERT ABOUT THIS SCAM WITH VIDEO!  http://www.w***o.gov/internetloanscam.cfmIf you are targeted by these criminals, be sure to report them to all the following federal and state law enforcement agencies (most of which you can do online or over the phone): 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. And if the crooks claim to be law enforcement or lawyers, officers of the court or bankers, be sure to include that information in your report.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.w***o.gov5.    File a complaint online with The Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=enIf 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 a***n -- phony organization names, thick foreign accents, and oddly worded threats that are so melodramatic and ridiculous that it's laughable:http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-771-9249   Scammer posting here as GARY and GARRY JONES http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-860-4509   Scammer posting here as Mike Hendersonhttp://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-212-500-0839   Scammer posting here as Ricky http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-201-244-7722   Scammer posting as Carole, David Brown and Amandahttp://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-626-200-4646   Scammer false postings at this new number as silshan kanniue and Tina – preparing a new number to use.http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-424-354-4270   Scammer false postings as Rosehttp://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-785-4479   Scammer posting as Robert http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-909-327-4870   Scammer false postings as Marry http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-646-274-1143   Scammer false postings as Karen Miller, Chichi and Tom Little http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-561-300-8018   Scammer false postings as Marco Polo and Covenanthttp://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-226-7488   Scammer false postings as SAM, David Shttp://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-706-7463   Scammer false postings as George http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-209-349-7382   Scammer false postings as Towanda Robinson, Shannon Walsh, Jack Dawson and Cynthia http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-760-514-0132   scammer false postings as Suzy01, Johanna Hall, Cindie McMellon, Michael Dublin, Mark Williams, Carol and Rio   (800notes removed some of the scammers posts because the all came from the SAME IP ADDRESS) http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-209-797-2212   scammer false posting as Jaison Connar http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-707-401-4056   Scammer false posting as John Carner, KSR http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-650-241-4604   Scammer false postings as jhon and Kevin http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-708-401-0535   Scammer false posting here as JHON http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-518-212-0219  Scammer false posting as Prince Christian, Arpithttp://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-718-705-8669  Scammer false postings as Alicia http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-707-633-2789  Scammer false postings as Rojer, Minni, Rhone, Smith, Lisa Jack, Julie, Sean, and Carol. – preparing a new number to use to steal moneyhttp://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-205-294-6271  Scammer false posting as Thomas Jhonsonhttp://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-661-263-4011  Scammer false posting –ILLEGALLY claiming to be an attorney Charles F Robinson http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-321-684-4117  Scammer false posing as Harry Patt http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-518-565-0306  Scammer false posting as Wellvishershttp://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-678-791-4673  Scammer false posting as Sherrie Ann and Elvine Burishttp://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-305-390-0607  Scammer false posting as James and Mark http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-209-349-3112  Scammer false posting as Roger Brown http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-646-360-1702  Scammer false posting as STATE LEGAL DEPARTMENTScam alert: Bogus debt collectorsBy Leslie McFadden • Bankrate.comMonday, Aug. 3Posted 2 p.m.Bankrate reporter Leslie McFadden contributed this entry.This scam isn't technically about credit cards, but it is scary enough to post a warning. The Better Business Bureau issued an alert today saying consumers across the country are getting phone calls from bogus debt collectors claiming default on a payday loan. Of course, the consumer needs to pay a large fee to avoid arrest -- as much as $1,000.The caller poses as a lawyer, and may threaten extradition to face trial if the consumer doesn't pay up immediately.What makes these calls alarming -- and perhaps convincing -- is that the perpetrators reference the consumer's personal information, such as the person's Social Security number, driver's license number, previous bank account numbers, home address -- even personal references."The amount of information they have is really troubling," says BBB spokeswoman Alison Southwick. She adds that the amount of data points to a possible security breach.Spread the word to your friends and family: Don't give out personal or financial information to an unknown caller. Scammers can s**** Caller ID to display different numbers, so trust your instincts over technology.The BBB offers these tips:•    Ask the debt collector to provide official do***entation which substantiates the debt. •    Do not provide or confirm any bank account, credit card or other personal information over the phone until you have confirmed the legitimacy of the call. •    File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission online if the caller is abusive, uses threats or otherwise violates federal telemarketing laws or the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. •    File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau online if you believe a debt collector is trying to scam you.

i had this guy thurston free and dan thornberg call my husband it is over a payday loan we took out over  a year ago. he knew the ballance of the loan . they also went to the extent of calling our neighbors to find my husband. they told us they needed the money by 5pm that day our it will be turned over to our state. he also said there r 2 federal charged a***nst him and he will go to prison

we have been getting calls from a man named thurster free saying that we owe on a loan and if we dont pay were going to jail i told him your a big scam and he is still calling. but thanks to you all are money is safe.

I got the exact same phone call as you guys, but my message came from a woman, and she gave a 312-788-9391 as a call back...."Investigator Free" then answered, and ran that same script as all of you....including the charges.....I think I am going to report them as well.

My husband got a call from this number today @ work. The mans name was Mike. He told my husband that he would come to his work and embarrass him, to take him to jail, that his debt was a class 3 felony. He told my husband that he had to wire him 350 dollars. And then he'd leave us alone. He also did not want to send any Do***ents Of this so call debt! I looked up the # in google n found this page. We reported him to the fbi, local police, atterney general, and federal commession's office for identey theft. This bas**rd is going down! it's a scam! If he's a smart man he wont call a***n!

WE JUST GOT A CALL AT MY HUSBANDS WORK FROM THIS NUMBER THREATENING TO TAKE MY HUSBAND TO JAIL.  THIS IS A SCAM I AM REPORTING THEM TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT

This person has been calling me for months. First it was like four  times a month and now its everyday. I keep telling them not to call me anymore. They keep calling. The last time i let the answering ma****e pick up and there was just music playing on it. I tell them that i just talked to them and they tell me that it wasnt them it must have been his partner which is a lie. I recognise the voice. Same person has called every time. They are looking for my brother. I told them his cell number and what state he is living and they still call. They are very rude

I got a call from this number also and he said he was Investigator Thurston Free, claiming there were 2 charges a***nst me.  He said he was located in Washington DC and gave an address of 111 Corporate Square, Badge #16450.  I googled the address and found nothing.  He also called my place of work and said he had talked to my boss.  I have already been ripped off once by people like this.  Don't know where they get their information, but it is a scam, getting people to wire money to them.  I am reporting them to the local police and attorney general's office.

This man keeps phoning our company for a person who doesn't work there anymore.  Previous to yes****ay's call, we were contacted regarding the company WCCI and found that they weren't exactly legitimate.  There was a WCCI listed but I believe it is in a foreign country.  This former employee phoned me right after the 1st call and I asked her about WCCI/John Lomax and she knew nothing about this company or this person.  She doesn't owe any money (is debt free) and there is no reason someone should be attempting to contact her using the wording that he was using.  Apparently, our call center is receiving these phone calls and forwarding them to myself and other coworkers in the department.  Now the man has a name of Thurston W. Free.  Ladybug, you are correct.  There was no company name mentioned this time.  Each time he has reached voice mail and not spoken directly to myself or my coworkers.  At the end of each message left, he states "Good Luck".

Said his name is Investigator Thurston Free

I just got calls from this same number. He called 4x in a row but I don't answer numbers I don't recognize. He said his name was Thurston W. Free and that I am a person of interest. He didn't say what company he was calling from

He called me at work and absolutely refused my offer of repayment of my debt at the rate of $100.00/mnth.  Says I will be arrested at work.  When my account goes to someone honestly representing themselves and willing to take payments, I'll be ready!

Report this lowlife to your local police, your state's Attorney General's Office and the FBI. He is a scam artist..He is calling you from his cell phone and is violating several laws, including impersonating a federal law official.

I have receive several phone calls from 202-239-0307 name given was John Lomax stating I will go to jail if I did not wired a certain amount of money to him, he stated that he was a federal law official.

This is a scam..The phone number is a cell phone number. This is not a legitimate agency or even a company. It is a bottom feeder..I questioned the name of his company and he said WCCI.. that's a radio station u dumb a**..Report this s-bag to the local authorities, Attorney General's office and the FBI. He is violating several laws, with the worst being impersonation of a federal or law official. Wonder if low life can scam from a prison cell?????

We have received several calls on our cell phones asking for a family members whereabouts. John Lomax was who he claimed to be. He also knew how we were related as well. He stated that our relative was going to go to federal prison if he did not contact him today. These are scammers and we have every intention of reporting them.

Said that I owed money to my husband and said that they were going to come to my work & embarass me today. Had a lot of my personal information. Who can I report them to?

We just got a call from this number.