Payday loan scam from Iraq; beware

A scam is a scam is a scam, right? Well some time ago, I got a voice message from the Osborn Law Office in Houston Texas.

It went pretty much like this;

“Mr. Weiner, there is a warrant out for your arrest due to the non payment of a payday loan for $500.00 taken in 2013. You need to pay that plus the processing fee of $350 to cover court costs, or a the warrant will be served this evening. Please call 281-220-6049 and have your credit card ready. You must call within one hour or the warrant will be served and you will go to jail”

So after a brief 10 second fit of worrying, I immediately went to the website atwww.creditcarma.com to look up my credit. Low and behold, there was nothing like what they were speaking of.

Now it was time to have some fun. I called “them” back, and immediately noticed the foreign accent and could hear some Arabic in the background, as well as an echo, which may or may not have been from communication satellites. When I told him that I knew nothing of this, he put me on with his manager Sam. Gee, he sounded the same.

I asked him if he had the last 4 of my ssn as xxxx and he said yes, when in actuality mine ends in yyyy. Then I asked for the docket number and what court it was from. He replied the one in my town. I said “Boston” he said yes. I said good thing I don’t live there. He said the deputy sheriffs will be there in one hour to arrest me. That obviously never happened.

What did happen was my calling back, using a made up name, a fake phone number and fake financial charges. He then gave me the same routine. I then how is that possible? He said it just is. I then explained how I just gave him a fake name, phone number and financial data and repeated my question. I then gave a ridiculous, almost evil laugh and hung up. Over the next several hours, since I have that kind of time when I don’t sleep, I called back again and again and simply said “how’s it feel to know you got caught?” He simply yelled (expletive) you.

My last call to him was the next morning. I said that he wouldn’t hear from me again, but I just wondered why he hated America so much that he wanted to rip our citizens off.

He went as far as telling me his name was Azim and he was from Iraq. He told me he loved America for getting rid of Saddam Husain. I said “Well why rip us off? Why can’t you get a real honest job in Iraq?” Azim told me the honest jobs don’t pay enough.

All the Texas Attorney Generals’ office could do is investigate. As of today, the number is still active, and is still answered as “Law Office”. As Azim put it, his “Civil Disobedience will still continue.

Learn more about scams by contacting the FTC or BBB.