I received a phone call from a man with a very thick Indian accent claiming to be Steve Johnson, legal representative from Sonic Cashnet Bank. He claimed I had defaulted on an internet payday loan two years ago and would have charges pressed on me in court tomorrow if I did not call him back at 619-342-0094 and do an EFT payment over the phone for $1,320 within three hours. I either had to pay, or an officer would show up at my door at 11 AM tomorrow morning and cart me off to the courthouse, where I would be charged formally with violation of federal banking regulations, collateral check fraud, and theft by deception, and ordered to pay $5000.00 plus attorney fees, court costs, processing fees, etc. I actually thought this might be real, except I hadn't defaulted on any internet loans. But, this Steve Johnson knew my sister's name, the last 4 digits of my Social Security number, the last 4 digits of my checking account number, my bank name, my company's name, and my email address.
He did not know, however, the name of the internet site that was supposedly charging me with this complaint, the amount of the loan which had been initially taken out, or even what part of the country the 619 area code (where he was supposedly calling from was). I asked for information about my "case" and he refused to give it to me. He refused to transfer me to another person or department, and could not tell me what account or reference number this was filed under. He also refused to give me any information about the "case", stating it was unlawful to do so. I had him repeat the phone number and his name, and told him my lawyer would be contacting him, and he hung up on me.
I Googled Sonic Cashnet Bank, and it led me to dozens of fraud reports, including this site. Please do not give personal information or banking information over the phone, and never pay anyone over the phone, unless they are an established place of business with which you have done business in the past. This is a scam. I contacted my local police, and they have no record of there being any "warrants" or "charges" against me, and if anyone does show up at my door, I am to call the police again.
I Googled the name Sonic Cashnet Bank and was
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