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Be very polite and helpful in the collection process.
Ask them to mail you a pile of paperwork.
Act really stupid, and ask them to explain the same things over and over again.
Set up a payment plan, and change the details a dozen times.
Ask for their phone number and start calling them at random intervals.
Tell them how much you appreciate their help, and then tell them stories from 3rd grade.
Chatter about your date last night, and ask them if you think he/she is serious about you.
After you've kept them running in circles for a few weeks, tell them you really aren't the person they're looking for. You were just so lonely that you wanted to talk to anybody who would listen. Ask if they'll still be your friend.
I agree that it's a long shot, but the collection industry is very sleazy and they've been known to shotgun their credit bureau reporting in hopes of finding a hit. You probably won't find anything but it's better safe than sorry, plus if you do find something you can sue them for damages.
I'm not even sure I want to send them a certified letter yet. If I do that, then they've got my full name and address. At this point, as far as I know, they just have my cell number. I might just try the email approach first. Who knows..
I had this happen earlier this year with Chrysler Credit. They apparently typo'ed my phone number into their collection system and I was not the person that they were seeking to get money from. But the automated calls, and then the personal calls started coming at all hours, all days, and were getting more and more insistent to pay the account.
I started out being polite and trying to convince them that I wasn't the person they were looking for, and demanded that they put me on their "do not call list". Everytime, they put me on hold and had me wait while they did that ... and every time, the didn't. I'd get another call, sometimes the same day.
It was apparent that they thought I was just trying to screw them around as the person that owed them the money. I finally had to get rude and abusive to get to a "manager". Of course, they just turned me over to another collector who played that role ... and the calls kept coming.
I finally went to my local Chrysler dealership and explained the problem I was having with the unwarranted harrassment. The FI manager put me in touch with the head of Chrysler Credit, and I called him and explained the situation. They investigated and "discovered" that neither I, my address, or my phone number were in the paperwork for the account; it was truly a typo for my phone number.
By then, I was pretty pissed off, and was getting very rude and verbally abusive with the phone callers. I finally reached a lady who represented herself as the manager of the collection division, and she got an earful. She claimed that their collection tactics were not "harrassment", but she couldn't get it through her head that it's harrassment if I'm not a person that owes them any money.
At long last, the credit department manager got in touch with the collection division and verified for them that they were in error calling me. And the calls finally stopped.
In the meantime, I'd contacted the State AG and a lawyer. The state has a complaint on file, and the lawyer mentioned that there are damages we could pursue if I wanted to spend the money to chase them. At that point, I just dropped the matter ....
But it was less than a pleasant 4 months of harrassment. I made it real clear to Chrysler that I'd never buy another one of their products after being treated that way. That collection group didn't even have the courtesy to at least call an apology .... Course, I did have some very rude comments about the collection manager's anatomy being what she was before she hung up on me at our last call.
But the long and short of it at this point for the OP is that there are federal penalties for collection agency harrassment, and many states allow damages to you if you're being harrassed or the collection agency doesn't follow strict guidelines. Talk to a lawyer and see if they're interested in pursuing some easy money ....
Location: 23.7 million to 162 million miles North of Venus
23,625 posts, read 12,543,921 times
Reputation: 10485
Quote:
Originally Posted by JBower
How could they do any of these things with just my phone number? The people using my phone number don't even use my name. I really don't think this is ID theft, just someone gave the collection agency a fake number (in this case, mine).
I'm didn't post those remarks because I thought it was ID theft. If I had suspected that then my answer would have dealt with that issue.
My reason for posting what I did about checking your credit reports was because of this comment made by you ... "Ihavesamelastnameastheguy".
Collectors have been known to go by the closestmatchwhen trying to collect a debt. IF the collector manages to browbeat the closest match into paying, they consider it a victory because then they will search out the true debtor hoping for a double payday (chances are good they already are calling/dunning the true debtor too).
CRA's have been known to allow things to be placed on the credit reports of the closest match.
The closest match could be made from only one thing or it could be a mixture of several things that are the same or that are similar. For example, if the innocent persons name, address and SSN is - John Smith, 456 N Main Anytown Texas, 123-45-6789 .... and the real debtor is - Jane Smith, 4567 N Maine St. Anytowne Arizona 123-45-6798 .... any one of those would be considered a closest match and John Smith just might be dunned and harassed for the bill that Jane Smith owes.
Sure it's possible that they had not placed anything on your reports and had not made either a hard or a soft inquiry (I am truly hoping that they hadn't). But it's also possible that they had done at least one of those things. It would be better to find out for sure, rather then do nothing and find out after you've been denied credit because of it. If, at a minimum, there is a soft pull on your credit reports then you will know for a fact that you are being pursued because you are "the closest match".
If you hadn't taken advantage of the free annual FACTA credit reports yet, you can go to annualcreditreport.com, which is the FTC's website, and follow their instructions for ordering your free credit reports.
I'm didn't post those remarks because I thought it was ID theft. If I had suspected that then my answer would have dealt with that issue.
My reason for posting what I did about checking your credit reports was because of this comment made by you ... "Ihavesamelastnameastheguy".
Collectors have been known to go by the closestmatchwhen trying to collect a debt. IF the collector manages to browbeat the closest match into paying, they consider it a victory because then they will search out the true debtor hoping for a double payday (chances are good they already are calling/dunning the true debtor too).
CRA's have been known to allow things to be placed on the credit reports of the closest match.
The closest match could be made from only one thing or it could be a mixture of several things that are the same or that are similar. For example, if the innocent persons name, address and SSN is - John Smith, 456 N Main Anytown Texas, 123-45-6789 .... and the real debtor is - Jane Smith, 4567 N Maine St. Anytowne Arizona 123-45-6798 .... any one of those would be considered a closest match and John Smith just might be dunned and harassed for the bill that Jane Smith owes.
Sure it's possible that they had not placed anything on your reports and had not made either a hard or a soft inquiry (I am truly hoping that they hadn't). But it's also possible that they had done at least one of those things. It would be better to find out for sure, rather then do nothing and find out after you've been denied credit because of it. If, at a minimum, there is a soft pull on your credit reports then you will know for a fact that you are being pursued because you are "the closest match".
If you hadn't taken advantage of the free annual FACTA credit reports yet, you can go to annualcreditreport.com, which is the FTC's website, and follow their instructions for ordering your free credit reports.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, how could they pull my credit report when they don't even know my name or address. All they have is a cell #. ? Seems like a stretch to me.
Location: 23.7 million to 162 million miles North of Venus
23,625 posts, read 12,543,921 times
Reputation: 10485
Quote:
Originally Posted by JBower
I guess what I'm trying to say is, how could they pull my credit report when they don't even know my name or address. All they have is a cell #. ?
And .... you know they don't have your name or address because ..... the collector told you that? Yeah, I guess everyone knows collectors never lie
Quote:
Seems like a stretch to me.
I never said it was set in stone that you are the closest match, I only said it was a possibility. As far as being a stretch, nope. Try saying that it's only a stretch to the thousands+ people who have had to deal with, or who are currently dealing with, the damage done from being the closest match. Read collectors websites where they crow about doing exactly that. That is, if you can push your way past the pet poisoning threads and the trying to drive people to commit suicide threads.
Along with most of the others who've answered in this thread, we've only tried to give you information that could help you protect your interests. But I believe that you had made your decision on how to handle the problem before you even created this thread. So, all I guess I can do is to leave you with is one last little tidbit....
Quote:
I might just try the email approach first. Who knows..
Emailsarenotadmissible as evidencein acourt of law.
Emails not being admissible varies from state to state. In MD emails are subpoenable and admissible. They may also be requested from governments in a Freedom of Information Act request.
I had a similar situation when I first got a cell phone a few years ago. The previous holder of the number owed just about everyone and I got calls for two years asking for her.
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