FTC targets phone scam

JanLaree Dejulius considers herself a savvy consumer, but she still fell victim to a phone scam.

Dejulius, an administrative assistant in Las Vegas, said she agreed to transfer $763 after receiving a call in April 2010 from someone who knew details about her family and that a relative had taken a payday loan. She said she sent the money after the caller identified himself as a government official and said she would be arrested at her workplace if she didn't pay.

"I was intimidated enough not to want to get arrested," Dejulius said Tuesday at a Federal Trade Commission news conference in Chicago.

Dejulius was just one of 10,000 U.S. residents who were victimized by an international phone scam in which callers in India posed as debt collectors. The callers apparently coordinated with someone in the U.S. to obtain personal data taken from payday loan websites, the FTC said.

Over a two-year period the phony collectors typically demanded more than $300 from each victim, but sometimes asked for as much as $2,000. At other times, the callers said they were filing a large lawsuit against the consumer because of the delinquent payday loan or would have the consumer fired from their job, according to the FTC.

"This is a brazen operation based on pure fraud, and the FTC is committed to shutting it down," said David Vladeck, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "Consumers should not be pressured into paying debt they don't remember owing."

Vladeck said legitimate debt collectors must provide consumers with written information about their debt, and instructions for protecting themselves if they think they don't owe the debt.

As part of its crackdown, the FTC charged American Credit Crunchers, an affiliate of Ebeeze LLC in Villa Park, Calif., and the companies' owner, Varang K. Thaker, with violations of the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. No criminal charges have been filed.

About $5 million was paid in 17,000 transactions to accounts controlled by the alleged fraudulent companies, the FTC said.

According to the FTC's complaint, Thaker obtained information -- often including Social Security or bank account numbers -- about consumers who had inquired about, applied for, or obtained online payday loans. FTC officials said many questions were still unanswered, including how so much payday-loan information was obtained. Thaker allegedly withdrew thousands of dollars paid by victims, which ended up in his accounts.

Neither American Credit Crunchers nor Ebeeze have a current phone listing. A federal court hearing is scheduled for next week in Chicago, the FTC said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at csieroty@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.