As many as 10,000 Americans may have been scammed by an international phony debt collection ring based in India.

The Federal Trade Commission says the callers used data gathered from payday loan web sites to claim the victims owed money, and threatened them with arrest if they didn't pay. The victims, mainly people already in financial trouble, paid anywhere from $500 to $1200. The total amount paid over the past 2 years may total $5 million.

No criminal charges have been filed, although the FTC has charged the owner of a California company; some of the money wound up in his accounts.