calling practices

ComplaintsCollection AgenciesRPM - Receivables Performance Management

Complaint

0
sarah
Country: United States
I get a lot of Debt collection calls because I list my name/land line in the phone book with just a first initial.
In 2010 I had 52 calls from the debt collector for Bank of America for every name in the book attached to my last name - both male and female - some of which I couldnt spell.

Comments

  • 0
    tj
    Beware that this particular debt collector has a  history of complaints of attempting to collect debts from people who do not owe them, through abusive and harassing calls, and deceptively evading validation.

    Most strangers calling today are probably attempting some form of fraud.

    It's probably safer to have an unlisted phone number.

    Alternatively, you can get a box that inserts between your incoming line and your phones that effectively blocks all autodialed calls, eliminating most telemarketing and debt collection callers.  Basically, it plays a message (giving an access code to enter), and if the code isn't entered, it doesn't ring through.  Autodialers can't understand the message, so they can't ring through.
  • 0
    Sarah C.
    I have been having exactly the same problem as the other Sarah.  RPM called me last fall and went after me for someone's Verizon debt.  The debtor and I share the same very common last name and first initial.  It is my understanding that debt collectors have access to unlisted numbers.   Several weeks ago, I changed my phone listing to my first name and my late mother's middle initial.  My phone listing does not include my address.  I hope this will slow down the barrage of collection calls, none of which are for me.
  • 0
    Sarah C.
    | 1 reply
    I discovered early on that one way to make these debt collectors go nuts is to suggest to them that they got my number out of the phone book.
    • 0
      tj replies to Sarah C.
      They often do.  Or at least they use the electronic equivalent through phone number search services, or even just through Google.  Yet they will tell everyone they call that "you owe this debt", even when they know they are guessing.

      Their most common deception is to try to convince you that you don't have any right to dispute their allegation, with a long list of ready-made "reasons", known as "blowing smoke" in the industry.  Many are barely one step up from fraudulent telemarketers.

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