Scammers try to bully Hoosiers into paying up

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Indianapolis police are looking into a rash of harassing phone calls across the city. They think scammers from overseas are trying to separate people from their money.

IMPD has received 20 complaints since the beginning of May about phony debt collectors calling some people as many as 14 times a day to badger them for funds they don't owe.

In similar cases across the country, most people being called have applied for or received payday-type loans, but the loans have been paid off.

"These scammers are representing themselves as government officials, federal agents, attorneys and even police officers," says IMPD Detective Dan Kepler.

In the seven cases investigated, two of the victims sent money to the scammers, who often use heavy-handed tactics like the threat of arrest.

One woman, who recorded her call, was repeatedly told she owed $585 but she was not to whom.

"What happens if I don't make the payment?" the woman asked the caller.

"If you don't make the payment? If you don't make the payment I think tomorrow morning at 11 a.m., the local sheriff's department will be in touch with you and serve you all the paperwork," responded the caller.

24-Hour News 8 tried to contact the scammers but found the number had been disconnected.

"We just ask that people use common sense and not send people money that you don't know or don't have any information about what they say you owe them," reminded Det. Kepler.

Mike Cogdill of West Lafayette says he’s taken a number of calls.

"She was telling me that I owed all this money on a payday loan that I didn't take out,"

"(Another caller) said it was something like $900, that they had federal agents standing by and they would track me down," he added.

By federal law, debt collectors must provide written documentation about the debt. If it isn't provided before a phone call, it must be provided within five days.