not my collection bills.
Complaint
April Hutcheson
Country: United States
We have been at our phone number for the past 8 years. We have been getting phone calls for a Susan and George Smith for the last 8 years. We are not these people. We think they had this number before us, but they are still listed in some kind of directory with our number. we get collection call after call. some of decent and some hararss us and say we are lying. they won't tell where they get their info which I would like to know so I can try to change it. They say it's in some kind of government directory, but never say specifially.
Comments
They are the ones lying.
They aren't getting this number from some government directory. They don't even have access to the phone company provided directories used by law enforcement.
As you suspect, it was originally associated with the original debtors, and that information is either in skip-trace databases, or as part of the documentation on whatever account they are trying to collect on.
Forever more, there will be some information somewhere that will connect that debtor with their old number, and as long as some collection agency is trying to get a payment from them, they may end up calling your new number. As the old debt gets sold from party to party, the new debt collector will blindly call all the old numbers, even if the old debt collector stopped calling. There is no intelligence operating here.
If you want it to stop, you two choices are either:
1) become familiar with FDCPA and TCPA, and start suing the debt collectors who keep calling and harassing you, until you force agreements take the old debt out of circulation.
2) change your number.
That number is forever jinxed.
Many companies are misled into accepting the alleged "renewals." The illegitimate directory provider immediately sends an invoice for this service, usually in the amounts between $500 and $900 dollars, and threatens businesses with collections or credit report damage should they dispute the charges or decline to pay.
Don't be taken into this scam this is theft and its illegal!
This scam does get worse. Lets say you do pay one of these companies either using your credit card or by cheque, little do you know they reprocess your card a year later because they have all the info on file not only that but then they turn around and sell your company profile to another telemarketing office with your credit card information for a generous profit. They will even be bold enough to send you a final invoice to close off the account just around the time your getting your new credit card (as all cards are renewed after a few years)
If you've paid by cheque, what happens is a shocking discovery. Not only do they take your checking information, they get authorization to withdraw from the account many months later and send you a notice claiming they’ve taken fees for online services.
There are limits on how far telemarketers can go, that is why we provide information on how to put an end to telemarketer calls and more efficiently, how to correspond with them about your account and/or to dispute a collection action and can teach you what are your rights in terms of privacy.
You can find out more information on our website: www.spgconsultants.com
By informing each other, we protect each other