Collection agency says I owe a debt...
Complaint
Althea Molette
Country: United States
I got a phone call yesterday, Jan. 26, 2010, from Portfolio Recovery Associates claiming that I owe South Western Bell an outstanding bill. Well, I’ve never had South Western Bell service. In fact I haven’t had a phone service in my name in a better part of 12 years and that wasn’t even South Western Bell. This person was rude and very unprofessional. When I tried to tell her that I’ve never had SWB service before, she immediately started yelling at me and conveying threats. After I ended the call by hanging up on her, I went on the internet to find a number for SWB but I kept getting directed to AT&T, so I called them remembering that AT&T had acquired SWB a while back. They said I didn’t show up in their data base and their records go back only five years. The lady I talked to at AT&T suggested that I was being scammed. After I spoke with AT&T I called the police and made a report. I also tried to call back the number that showed on my caller id and I got a recording saying this number wasn’t in service. It seems to me as though if a collection agency wants to resolve an outstanding debt they should make their number call back available. What can I do if they call again? This is clearly a scam.
Comments
There are a number of "bottom feeder" debt collectors who buy very old debt and try to force payment from anyone they can. They call it "debt collection", but combining sloppy and incompetent skip-tracing, and basically shaking down anyone with a similar name they can find thru abuse and harassment, is more of an extortion racket.
Federal statute of limitations on telecom debt is 2 years. ATT says you don't owe it, aren't even in their system, and it's a scam. In addition, abusive and harassing debt collection is a violation of federal (FDCPA) and state debt collection laws, so contact your state Attorney General to file a complaint. In addition, file a complaint with FTC, for abusive and harassing debt collection on an unowed debt, and for useing a deceptive inactive caller id in an autodialed call.
They are required to send you an FDCPA required notification within 5 days informing you of your right to request information on or proof of the alleged debt. Failure to do so is a violation of FDCPA. Should you receive any letter from them, send a dispute letter, certified return receipt requested, requesting proof that you owe it. As long as you send that within 30 days of receiving their first letter, they are prohibited from any continued collection until they obtain and send proof.
If you find their "ding" on your credit reports, dispute through the credit reporting agencies. It is illegal to report a 12 year old debt past the 7 year FCRA reporting period. You can sue them for violations of FDCPA or FCRA.
The Missouri Attorney General sued them several months back, alleging a variety of illegal and fraudulent practices.
http://ago.mo.gov/newsreleases/2009/Fradulent ... am_gets_busted/
"Attorney General's News ReleaseAugust 18, 2009
Attorney General Koster takes action against fraudulent debt collectors
--Koster says businesses tried to collect debts people didn't owe--
St. Louis, Mo. - Attorney General Chris Koster today filed suit against two debt collection companies that are operating scams to collect debts from citizens who do not owe the money.
Koster filed law suits in St. Louis against Portfolio Recovery Associates, a public company based in Virginia, and Professional Debt Management located in Kansas City.
Koster said Portfolio buys old and bankruptcy-discharged debt, often from another bad debt buyer, and then tries to collect, sometimes through court action. He said the company often is attempting to collect on accounts that are already paid or have been discharged in bankruptcy; sometimes they try to collect from the wrong consumer or for the wrong amounts. He said the company has threatened to garnish consumers' social security checks, which they have no authority to do, and has refused to provide consumers with proof that the debt is valid.
Koster said Professional Debt Management uses scare tactics, leaving messages on consumers' phones that there is an emergency. He said that like Portfolio, they attempt to collect on accounts already paid or from the wrong party.
"The Attorney General's office intends to take aggressive action to protect Missouri consumers," Koster said. "I am asking the court to issue a permanent injunction prohibiting these companies from violating consumer protection laws and to order that they provide full restitution to the people they have harmed."
Koster also is asking that the court impose monetary penalties and require the companies to pay all court costs. "
I wanted verification of charges so she's suppose to be sending forms for me to fill out for the info. I feel there fishing for more info on us to try some other Tatic. I'll play it for awhile to see thru there next attempt to scam me but I will get tired of them and report to whoever needs tobe contacted .
If they call you again, tell them that if they believe you owe this debt, FDCPA gave them 5 days to send you a letter identifying the debt and the creditor. Otherwise, cease calling.
Check your credit reports. If you find any errors, dispute them through the credit reporting agencies.
In order to sue a debt collector for posting erroneous credit information on credit reports, you must first dispute through the credit reporting agency, after which the debt collector is contacted. If they "verify" the error, instead of correcting or removing it, then you can sue them under FCRA.
They can get your SSN from your credit report, or through skip-trace services. Claiming to have it, or even having it, doesn't prove it's your debt, or even that it's id theft.
That is especially the case when they have also threatened to "send you to jail", since even if you did owe it, that would not be a crime. As you noted, it's past SOL, and can't even be legally reported on credit reports.
With this old a debt, they are most likely just calling people trying to panic them into paying without checking. They might as well be making it all up, and since they haven't provided any proof, how do you know they aren't? Those actions are deceptive and abusive, and violate state and federal law, specifically FDCPA.
Your banker and accountant are giving you good advice.
If you have further problems, or they continue to violate your cease communication notification, find an attorney with experience in consumer debt, FDCPA, and FCRA litigation. FDCPA allows the court to award statutory and actual damages, as well as attorney fees if you win.
You might try www.naca.net
I'd like to hear more about your experience with Portfolio Recovery Associates. I am a reporter at the Wall Street Journal and am currently working on an article about debt collection practices. You can reach me at (212) 416-2665 or via email, jessica.silver-greenberg@wsj.com
Thank you!
Jessica
I received a call from CRA this morning on both of my unlisted numbers, one a cell phone.
Caller stated that I needed to confirm my SS# and they would forward a "process" to me. I did not give my SS#.
When I asked the nature of the company, she would not divulge anything. However she did threaten me with legal action, told me I must have my Attorney call them, and this was a very serious matter. When I informed them that I was looking at on-line consumer complaints as we were speaking, the caller became very agitated and threatened me again with legal action.
I hung up.
I then filed a FTC complaint. If you are harassed you should do the same at:
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en
Today I received another call. This woman was much nicer. I explained to her that I have no knowledge of this debt and unless proof can be provided I would appreciate the phone calls to my cell phone to stop. She gave me an address and account number to mail a letter to.
I have never received anything in writing from this company. Just the phone calls out of the blue.
If you know you never had the alleged account, then their use of your SSN, obtained from any source other than original creditor account information, to "prove" you owed an alleged "debt", was a deceptive con, an attempt to divert you from disputing an unowed debt, and defraud you.
1) Harassing and abusive debt collection.
2) Attempting to collect unowed debts by harassing the wrong person.
There is also a consistent pattern in complaints of deception: threatening jail, a "partial payment" on an unowed account to conveniently keep it within SOL, repeated reports of using SSN to "prove" the debt, and other attempts to evade requested validation. This pattern indicates systematic deception in connection with "debts" they appear to know may be invalid, misidentified, out of statute, or otherwise defective. Their routine deceptive actions point to their knowledge and attempts to collect anyway.
This pattern appears widely in complaints on various sites against PRA.