Phone Calls From Collection Agency?

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Understand, I only owe my Credit Union, & I pay my car loan everey month.

I never run a credit card balance. Never.


I've only taken out one formal loan in my lifetime, the abovementioned credit union loan. Everything else was borrowed from relatives.

But some collection agency has been leaving unintelligible phone messages on my land line.

Why would they be bothering me?

I haven't called them back.

[sevenwood]

My guess is that you've become a victim of identity theft. Someone has ordered something using your name and some sort of ID, didn't pay for it when the bill came due, the debt was sold to a collection agency, and now a bill collector is trying to get "you" to pay for it.

Something similar happened to my wife when a former cleaning service employee got hold of my wife's social security number and ordered some furniture delivered to her house using my wife's name. (My wife only found out about it when she tried to switch credit card companies, was turned down by the new company because of "her" bad credit rating, and tracked down what happened via the credit rating agency.) It took my wife five or six months to get her name cleared.

Unfortunately, I don't have any good advice to give you aboutthis situation. Hopefully others will have some.

[Bartman]

Or they are trying to collect on A Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor, and you are the only one they could find when their Bosda skipped town. At this point they are hoping that either you did a really bad job of skipping town, or that through your various relatives you can point them at the right Di'Chi. Until you can convince them otherwise, be prepared for continued harassment.

I did skip tracing in college, the amount of pain we were willing to put otherwise uninvolved people through to try and track down a deadbeat was significant.

[MaddyStrut]

Check your credit reports to make sure someone hasn't stolen your identity, but don't panic yet. I get these calls all the time and no one has stolen mine. Rather, they have a bad number. Either some deadbeat had my number before it was reused, or someone transposed a digit wrong putting my number in the system, or some other mess up happened.

If you ever answer the phone when they call, you can tell them the person that their number is wrong. But, be warned, they don't readily accept that. I've had to be very insistent, and it usually takes many calls.

[DrDeth]

They very likely are looking for your neighbor.

See, they use some sort of Identity Search system, like Lexis/Nexis. They look up the debtor, and there is a list of "potential neighbors". They then call all of them, hoping you will go next door and tell your neighbor you have been getting phone calls for him, which supposedly shames him into paying.

Totally illegal.

They are allowed to call you, and ask if he is your neighbor, but they can not identify themselves as a debt collection agency when doing so.

sevenwood might be correct, but it's doubtful. However, go ahead and get a free Credit report from annualcreditreport.com, use up one of the three companies you have- it's not a bad idea to do this every so often anyway, errrors creep in all the time.

[NinetyWt]

They also kind of fish around, if they can get you to answer the phone. One I've had trouble doing this is called something like Allied Interstate. You answer, and they say "Is Furd Burfle in?" "There's nobody here by that name" "Oh, sorry, I meant Fred Taylor" "Um, no". They go down some kind of list, hoping to hit on the name of someone who lives there.

My advice is, don't answer it. They will eventually stop calling.

[Chefguy]

I've found that they will not stop calling until you either return their call or hang yourself. I used to just hang up on the calls, but discovered that if I call the 800 number, a reasonable person usually answers and removes your name from their auto-call list once you assure them you are not the person they're looking for.

[DrDeth]

Originally Posted by Chefguy

I've found that they will not stop calling until you either return their call or hang yourself. I used to just hang up on the calls, but discovered that if I call the 800 number, a reasonable person usually answers and removes your name from their auto-call list once you assure them you are not the person they're looking for.

The Chef is correct.

[delphica]

Originally Posted by Chefguy

I've found that they will not stop calling until you either return their call or hang yourself. I used to just hang up on the calls, but discovered that if I call the 800 number, a reasonable person usually answers and removes your name from their auto-call list once you assure them you are not the person they're looking for.

This has been my experience, it is a little like a hydra, though. Once your number is out there associated with someone who has a lot of creditors, different agencies may start calling. (In some cases, even though I suspect they are affiliated agencies, removal from one doesn't seem to get you off all the lists.) But if you call the 800 numbers back, you can keep the number of calls down.

[Mtgman]

So, I get a series of calls from Fairlane Credit, about a 1990 Ford Ranger. I don't own a 1990 Ford Ranger, never have. Turns out they're looking for Mt h man, and not Mt g man. So I tell them they have the wrong number. They keep calling for two months, mostly while I'm at work, and they won't listen to my wife at all when she says there is no Mthman at that number, and never has been. Apparently she wasn't forceful enough. One day I was at home either sick or on vacation when they called. I made them give me a supervisor who, are you ready for this, told me he couldn't delete my number. The system wouldn't let him have a record without a number in it. I told him I didn't care if he put his number in there, but if I heard from them again they would be hearing from an attorney.

Never heard from them again.

But that's not the good part.

A couple years, and a household move, later. I get a call.

"Hello, Steven? This is Dad."

At this point my dad has been dead for twelve years.

"Excuse me?"

"Steven Lastname?"

"Yes."

"This is Dad."

"Excuse me?!?"

"Steven Wrong-Middle-Name Lastname?"

"Ah, nope. Not that guy. Heard he bailed on his truck loan though. Looks like that's not all he bailed on. I hope you have more luck finding him than the collection agency did."

Enjoy,
Steven

[HookerChemical]

Originally Posted by delphica

This has been my experience, it is a little like a hydra, though. Once your number is out there associated with someone who has a lot of creditors, different agencies may start calling. (In some cases, even though I suspect they are affiliated agencies, removal from one doesn't seem to get you off all the lists.) But if you call the 800 numbers back, you can keep the number of calls down.

Add one more "Me too!"

I think my phone number belonged to a deadbeat before I got it. I routinely get collection calls on it after almost two years with it. They're certainly not calling for me because I don't use the line for anything. Some of the more obnoxious calls left an 800 number to call and didn't stop until I called it to tell them they have the wrong number. Those have stopped now.

[Eva Luna]

I've had this happen a few times. Every single time, it's because my deadbeat sister has given my name as a reference, without my knowledge or consent. I just return the call and tell them that I did not consent to my sister giving my name as a reference, to stop calling me, and that I am not responsible for her debts, period. So far it's worked on the first try every time.

[The Devil's Grandmother]

Originally Posted by Bartman

Or they are trying to collect on A Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor, and you are the only one they could find when their Bosda skipped town.

We had trouble with this a while back. Apparently some guy with my husband's fairly common first and last name checked a phone book and gave our address as his own to the navy just before he went AWOL.

Check your credit report to be sure it's not anything terrible.

[Katriona]

Originally Posted by The Devil's Grandmother

We had trouble with this a while back. Apparently some guy with my husband's fairly common first and last name checked a phone book and gave our address as his own to the navy just before he went AWOL.

Check your credit report to be sure it's not anything terrible.

We think that's what happens with Mr. Kat periodically - the debtor's first name is a common nickname derived from Mr. Kat's name, and the same last name. We sometimes get personal mail for him too - wedding invitations, photos, that kind of thing.

[madmonk28]

I had a problem like this, but it was the person who had our phonenumber prior to us.

[Chefguy]

Originally Posted by HookerChemical

Add one more "Me too!"

I think my phone number belonged to a deadbeat before I got it. I routinely get collection calls on it after almost two years with it. They're certainly not calling for me because I don't use the line for anything. Some of the more obnoxious calls left an 800 number to call and didn't stop until I called it to tell them they have the wrong number. Those have stopped now.

Same here. The number we got when we moved here seems to be on many lists, but they have pretty much tapered off to only once in awhile. It's always for the same asshole though. I'd sure like to be able to tell them where he is.

[NinetyWt]

The person they are looking for at my number is usually our son's ex-wife, who owes many creditors. She apparently has been giving our number out as recently as last fall. I recently sent her a message saying that if she didn't stop I'd take legal action.

I don't know if there is actually anything I can do, but maybe she doesn't know that.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

I'm clean & sweet. No frauds or ID theft, no unaccounted for loans or accounts.

[Fear Itself]

Probably a wrong number, or your name is similar to the deadbeat they are looking for.

[DrDeth]

Originally Posted by Fear Itself

Probably a wrong number, or your name is similar to the deadbeat they are looking for.

Or like we have been saying, she has a neighbor who they are looking for. And note that today, there's a number of scamster "collection agencies" who try to collect old no longer valid or even paid off debts.

[LurkMeister]

Originally Posted by NinetyWt

They also kind of fish around, if they can get you to answer the phone. One I've had trouble doing this is called something like Allied Interstate. You answer, and they say "Is Furd Burfle in?" "There's nobody here by that name" "Oh, sorry, I meant Fred Taylor" "Um, no". They go down some kind of list, hoping to hit on the name of someone who lives there.

My advice is, don't answer it. They will eventually stop calling.

I got a call from them a week or two ago; I didn't answer and they didn't leave a message (I later looked up the number from my Caller ID, which is how I knew who it was). When they called back I few days ago I answered and got someone with such a heavy accent that I could barely make out what he was saying who asked to speak to Flgthnu Wjbtvcvh, or something like that. I replied that no one by that name lived here. He seemed to have trouble understanding what I meant, so I repeated that no one by that name was at my number and hung up.

[A Monkey With a Gun]

Call block is a free service with most land line providers. Just dial *60 and you can block the collection agency from calling you.

[Snnipe 70E]

Originally Posted by Chefguy

I've found that they will not stop calling until you either return their call or hang yourself. I used to just hang up on the calls, but discovered that if I call the 800 number, a reasonable person usually answers and removes your name from their auto-call list once you assure them you are not the person they're looking for.

I have had this happen several times. The messages they leave are usually rude. So when I so answer or call back I am not in the best mood. After I explain that I have never done business with the copany they are calling for I usually get a sorry for the call I will make note of your statements and remove your name from or call list. And that is the last call.

[Snnipe 70E]

Originally Posted by NinetyWt

The person they are looking for at my number is usually our son's ex-wife, who owes many creditors. She apparently has been giving our number out as recently as last fall. I recently sent her a message saying that if she didn't stop I'd take legal action.

I don't know if there is actually anything I can do, but maybe she doesn't know that.

She may not be giving out your number. My son messed up his credit, lost his house and moved in with us. So there was a period of time when his address was the same as ours. Now two years latter I sometimes I will get a call fro my son from a collection agency. I inform them "he does not live here you have the wrong b------.

Side note.
Credit agencys and banks look at address. My youngest was living with us when he got married and moved out of state. we both have bank accounts at Wells Fargo. When he put in a change of address with the post office the bank recieved a notice from the post office of the new address. The bank changed the addresses of all accounts with the same address. That was two years ago this month. the bank sent the intrest statement of my loan to my son's address. Another call to the bank with the statement if they can keep us straight then I will have to change banks to a bank my son does not have an accoutnt with.

[Yorikke]

A few years ago, my wife and I tried to rent an apartment, with very good credit. We were denied. We inquired with the agency, and they said that my wife was notorious for renting, then skipping out. It turned out that they were checking her NAME, and ascribing all results to her. No, they didn't check her SSN. her name is pretty common, along the lines of "Laura Smith." So she was "responsible" for all acts by Laura Smiths ever, apparently.

We straightened it out, but what a clusterfuck...

Joe

[CanvasShoes]

Did you recently get a new phone number? I did and the guy who had the number before me apparently owes quite a few people. I had to tell one company to quit calling me at least 5 times (including following their stupid little "push 3 or whatever if this is not you and you don't know this person). I finally did some internet research which described the selling of debts to companies which try to collect by any means necessary, even if they don't even have the correct "Laura Smith" as mentioned above.

Write and/or call them and invoke the Fair Credit Reporting Act. And keep a sharp eye on all of your credit cards and accounts.

I'm another "Laura Smith" and a few years back, I had a very nasty conversation with some idiot child from Bank of America, she kept inSISTing that I had a balance on my account roughly three times my actual balance, and that I'd agreed to pay a $500 dollar payment on "My" account.

I kept trying to tell her my real account information and she kept arguing "NO! you owe THIS much, I have your account RIGHT ON MY SCREEN (you stupid shiftless money-owing person you) and "yes you do, because we had a conference call with you and your father Peter Jackson on XYZ date and he agreed to lend you the money to pay an initial payment of $500" and so on.

Me: Um...no dear, my father's name is James Johnson, not Peter Jackson and he doesn't live in Virginia he lives in California.

She just kept getting madder and madder and saying "I can SEE your account right HERE, I KNOW you owe this money, you people......". And I kept saying I do have an account there, but MY account is current and the balance is NOT $XXXXX.XX, and my address is NOT [address she kept insisting I lived at].

She finally (near screaming pitch now) she says "Yes you do, and ISN'T your home state Alaska!? And isn't your last name "Smith"? and ISN'T your SS# XXX-XX-XXXX?!!!!!".

Me, "no, that is definitely not my SS# and shouldn't you have asked ME to verify my last 4 rather than blurt out some stranger's entire SS# to me over the phone"?

Click.

I called back immediately, got a supervisor and described the entire conversation, from his end of the conversation, I'd say that the young lady was going to be making a trip to the nearest UE office before the hour was up. The most idiotic part? I'd originally called them to make a routine payment.

[Zago]

Like a previous poster, I must have inherited a number from a deadbeat. I screen calls so I wouldn't pick up but once in a while, after weeks of calls I'd pick up just to tell them they were off base. So they quit calling for a while but I'm guessing the debtor moved on to another collection agency because the calls would resume. This song and dance went on for about four and a half years - haven't heard from anyone in a few months.

[elfkin477]

The entire time (3 years) I had my first cell phone, I got weekly calls from a London collection agency for a gal named Heather.

[Projammer]

I'm amazed at all the people here reporting on collection agencies behaving in a reasonable manner.

I once had an agency coming after me for a debt by someone that had apparently rented a duplex before me and had bought some high end photography equipment before skipping out. Nothing I told them would convince them that I wasn't Bozo McDebtor.

I finally said enough and sent them a Cease and Desist letter with item 5 edited to state that I was not the person they were looking for.

[missouri65]

Originally Posted by Projammer

I'm amazed at all the people here reporting on collection agencies behaving in a reasonable manner.

I once had an agency coming after me for a debt by someone that had apparently rented a duplex before me and had bought some high end photography equipment before skipping out. Nothing I told them would convince them that I wasn't Bozo McDebtor.

I finally said enough and sent them a Cease and Desist letter with item 5 edited to state that I was not the person they were looking for.

Someone named Ricky previously had my cell number. The same agency called for him multiple times a day. Nothing happened when I told them it was a wrong number. They hung up on me when I asked for a supervisor. I sent a cease and desist, and got a call the same day. I told them I'd sent the cease and desist, and they said if I wasn't "Ricky" I couldn't send a cease and desist. I told them they were wrong. After the letter was signed for, I never got another call, but just telling them it was a wrong number was not effective. Those people were evil and rude, and utterly unreasonable. Throughout the whole time I dealt with them, they never bothered to tell me Ricky's last name.

In the past year, two or three agencies have called me looking for different people on my land line. I called them back, told them it was a wrong number, and didn't have any more problems. I guess the reasonableness depends on the collection agency.

[Jackmannii]

Originally Posted by MaddyStrut

I get these calls all the time and no one has stolen mine. Rather, they have a bad number. Either some deadbeat had my number before it was reused, or someone transposed a digit wrong putting my number in the system, or some other mess up happened.

One time when Mrs. J. and I were renting a house, we got a bunch of messages on the answering machine from some outraged people in Pakistan demanding their money. I suspect they were after the landlord, as he turned out to be a notorious deadbeat.

These days I would take the Pakistanis-pissed-off-over-mistaken-identity thing a bit more seriously.