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A lot of these bill collectors are very aggressive because they get a percentage. If the bill is very old the company they work for may actually own it, Verizon may sell it for pennies on the dollar to what they call a "junk debt" buyer and they only need to collect a small percentage of them to make a profit. Even professional debt collection agencies look down their noses at these types of operations because they give the industry a bad name. The tactic is to intimidate, scare and bully people into paying things usually much more than actually owe as the collector will add on their own fees which may or may not be legal depending on the original contract and your state laws.