Collection agency calling DH's cell phone over and over

[LoveBWVVBR]

What should we do about this? DH must have the same name as somone who is in collections who has gone MIA. Some collection agency or possibly more than one (2 different numbers have come up) has been calling DH's cell phone for the past 2 days. The first time around whomever it was started asking him for his personal info (birthday) and he was like "I'm not giving out any person info". They hung up and then the second number started calling. We know that they are collection agencies because DH checked it on google.

We don't have anything in collections...not even close, nor do we have any old debt that was unpaid. I pulled DH's credit report last night and everything is listed as either paid in full or paid as agreed. Next to accounts in collections it says "zero" so it doesn't seem to be a case of identity theft where there are accounts that we didn't know about or anything. My guess is that this is a bottom-feeder company that is looking for someone w/DH's name and is just fishing off a list of names and phone numbers. What should we do about it? I told DH not to talk to them because they are dirtbags and we don't need to get involved with this garbage. However, they need to stop calling his phone! What do we do?

Also, a few years ago I got a call on our home number looking for someone w/DH's name. It was a collection agency. The lady was polite, though, and we were quickly able to verify that she was calling the wrong person. This person had the same name as my DH and was in collections over unpaid student loans. I wonder if it might be related???

 

[RMAMom]

Just tell them they have the wrong number. You don't have to prove your not the person they are trying to reach.

 

[richmond282]

Do NOT give out any personal info (sounds like DH isn't ) If they call back, I'd tell them "You obviously have the wrong perosn. DO NOT CALL ME AGAIN."

 

[SookieStackhouse]

Mine had the same problem, whoever had the number before him I am assuming had some debts... they kept calling for somebody like LaTonya (obviously not him). We actually just went to Cingular (yea it's been that long ago) told them what was going on and they changed the number for free. Never heard from them again.

We have an ongoing issue right now in fact where we have a collection agency calling our home phone asking for somebody else we have never heard of. I kind of escalated the problem, because I got really rude with the guy on the phone and used some language I shouldn't have, because he kind of got an attitude with me.

 

[skw444]

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/ManageDebt/SleazyNewDebtCollectorTactics.aspx

If you're contacted about a debt you don't owe:

Know your rights. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has prepared a fact sheet for consumers dealing with third-party debt collectors.

Get the name of the collector, its address and a telephone number. You can tell the collector on the phone to stop calling, but that won't preserve your rights under federal law.

Send a certified letter, return receipt requested. Make it clear the collector has contacted the wrong party, that you don't owe the debt and that you don't want to be called again.

Contact regulators. If the collector continues to call, seek help. Typically, your state's attorney general's office handles complaints against collectors. You can also complain to the Federal Trade Commission, which typically doesn't intervene in individual cases but may act if it sees a pattern of abuses.

Monitor your credit reports. If a collection agency posts a bogus debt on your credit report, dispute the item immediately with the credit bureaus. Include copies of the certified letter you sent the collector and any complaints you filed with regulators. Don't wait until you're about to apply for a loan to check your credit report; you'll want at least a few months' head start to dispute any errors.

Consider a lawsuit. Consumers can bring lawsuits against collectors that violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, either on their own behalf or as part of a class action. Contact the National Association of Consumer Advocates for referrals to attorneys who handle such cases.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/ManageDebt/SleazyNewDebtCollectorTactics.aspx

If you're contacted about a debt you don't owe:

Know your rights. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has prepared a fact sheet for consumers dealing with third-party debt collectors.

Get the name of the collector, its address and a telephone number. You can tell the collector on the phone to stop calling, but that won't preserve your rights under federal law.

Send a certified letter, return receipt requested. Make it clear the collector has contacted the wrong party, that you don't owe the debt and that you don't want to be called again.

Contact regulators. If the collector continues to call, seek help. Typically, your state's attorney general's office handles complaints against collectors. You can also complain to the Federal Trade Commission, which typically doesn't intervene in individual cases but may act if it sees a pattern of abuses.

Monitor your credit reports. If a collection agency posts a bogus debt on your credit report, dispute the item immediately with the credit bureaus. Include copies of the certified letter you sent the collector and any complaints you filed with regulators. Don't wait until you're about to apply for a loan to check your credit report; you'll want at least a few months' head start to dispute any errors.

Consider a lawsuit. Consumers can bring lawsuits against collectors that violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, either on their own behalf or as part of a class action. Contact the National Association of Consumer Advocates for referrals to attorneys who handle such cases.

OK, so we have to send them a certified letter then? I'm going to monitor DH's credit reports, and I'm considering placing a fraud alert with all 3 credit bureaus. He thinks that it's no big deal since they are clearly calling the wrong person. They are asking for his name and calling his cell #, though, so we think that they are just going through a list of people with his name.

 

[Planogirl]

We get calls and mail like this all the time because DH has a common name. We just tell them to stop calling and normally they do.

The problem with sending them a certified letter is that they then have your address. I suppose they could get that from a reverse search anyway tough.

 

[rhiansmom]

The people that had my previous number skipped out on their federal student loans. My phone number was tied to my address (which they never lived at) and I started getting certified and regular mail for them... all returned to sender.

One year later I finally changed my number for for another 2 years after that year I still got mail for them. I paid a monthly fee for my new number to be unlisted.

Good Luck!

 

[yrdlyprincess]

Never Never give ANY personal info...just tell them they have the wrong number and they must stop harassing you...get there name and phone number and write down how many times they call and days and times...but stand strong...credit companies suck (the life out of everyone!)

 

[wtrmlnlabs]

I've had this a couple of times. They should stop calling after you tell them they have the wrong number or shortly after that. I think we got calls for about 3 days... somehow we were actually never home those 3 days and they were all messages left on our machine. The last day I wrote down the number to return their call if they called again, but the calls just stopped. I wouldn't fret too much yet. Try just explaining it's the wrong number a couple times and then worry about the certified letter thing. Good luck, hope it's settled soon

 

[Leajess99]

Also, if they continue to call after you have told them they have the wrong number than file a complaint with your state's Attorney General. It works nicely to get them stopped and you don't have to write the letters and such.

Another option is to call the cell provider and ask them if they can block the number due to the harassing calls. My friend had to do this.

 

[LindaB73]

My husband got calls like this for a while. A random woman apparently made up a phone number for her applications and it happened to be his. When he told them he had no idea who this woman was they weren't surprised and stopped calling. Very irritating

 

[Ericandus]

My husband must also have a very common name, we get collection calls all the time that aren't ours! Almost every time it is as simple as answering the call and politely telling them they have the wrong person. I usually verify information such as a middle initial or a year of birth. (which I do not feel is giving out too much personal information...I would never of course give full birthdate or social security number). These collection agents are simply doing their jobs in tracking down what people owe. If everyone was honest and paid their bills, no one would have to get calls like that!

 

[mlynn]

Tell them you are going to call the police and file a complaint if they keep calling.this is what I did for a company that was looking for the people who used to live here. They googled my address and found my number.They kept calling I told them I was calling the police and they stopped.
But they asked me where the people moved too.I said I don't know i just bought the house from them. I also told him that there was no way he got my number from the old owners because my number was NEVER connected to them. He argued with me that it did. Then I told him that he was a liar and thats when I told him about calling the police.

Then I found a family member of the old owners and told them this company was doing this.(found them on Facebook.)

 

[spacemountainmom]

We had this problem when we first got dd a cell phone. She was 12 and kept getting calls for "Chris". She hadn't answered any of them because we had told her to not answer any calls from a number that she did not know. They left some really nasty messages on her phone.

Finally, they called one day when I was nearby so I answered her phone. The guy tried getting nasty with me and I told him that he was calling and harrassing my 12 year old child and we had no connection to "Chris". I then told him if the calls didn't stop immediately, I would be contacting the AG and the local police and did he really want to get in trouble for harrassing a minor child??? I then asked the guy for his name and direct phone line so I could point the authorities in the right direction. He apologized and the calls stopped immediately.

They are just big bullies and honest people need to stand up and tell them they won't take it. Good luck and hopefully they will get the point soon!

 

[marmalade]

My husband must also have a very common name, we get collection calls all the time that aren't ours! Almost every time it is as simple as answering the call and politely telling them they have the wrong person. I usually verify information such as a middle initial or a year of birth. (which I do not feel is giving out too much personal information...I would never of course give full birthdate or social security number). These collection agents are simply doing their jobs in tracking down what people owe. If everyone was honest and paid their bills, no one would have to get calls like that!

This is what should be done. Just because they are bill collectors and have a "bad reputation" doesn't mean you (not you OP) have to be rude back. There is no reason you can't politely say I think you have the wrong person and verify some simple information to prove that.

Seriously, do you really think these bill collectors want to call the wrong number? No, they want to either find the person who owes the debt or someone who knows how to contact the person.

 

[gulf breeze]

We don't have a commom name but it turns out there is someone in our state with my DH full name. We've gotten calls from collection ag. several times for the other guy. They were being rude and after several times of explaining they had the wrong person I looked up the company name . After seeing how many reports that had been filed with the AG the next time they called I asked to speak to a manager and told them with all the complaints filed against them already did they really want to add another one??? They haven't called in a while but I'm sure when the list is sold to another company it will start again. Oh, I didn't give them info but I did ask what was the address of the other guy. Then I said if you would have taken 2 minutes to google it you would have seen the area code you just called isn't for that address.

 

[PatMcDuck]

Last year, I began to get calls and letter about a old debt from a doctor. It WAS my "debt" but it was 3-4 years old. (I went round and round with a Drs office, they coded a visit wrong so my medical insurance would not pay; I could not fix it, THEY had to. They use an outside biller. The office said the biller had to fix it, the biller said they cannot change a code, we went back and forth for over a year, and by then, after a year, it is too late for my insurance to pay it anyway. I was ticked off, and eventually the DR agreed to waive it.)

I left this practice, for this and other reasons. I heard nothing for 3 years, then the calls started. They must have sold some old uncollected "debt" to a collection agency. I had all my old notes, but never got a letter from the dr in writing releasing me from owing the "debt", lesson learned, I should have asked for one. (participating dr in my plan, we had no copay, no coinsurance, we should have owed $0 if they filled in the claim right!)

My point being, it sometimes IS a person's debt, just not what you expect.

 

[elcodfish]

We had a debt collector calling for someone we didn't know. They started threatening us about paying and talking about how my husband probably took out a loan without me knowing for this guy and calling me names. Then they started threatening to have the police come to my house, something they do not have the power to do. I actually started recording it on my cell, and told him that I had his phone number and I was recording everything he said and that I would be calling the police. He quickly hung up and never called back...

 

[01spirit750]

This is what should be done. Just because they are bill collectors and have a "bad reputation" doesn't mean you (not you OP) have to be rude back. There is no reason you can't politely say I think you have the wrong person and verify some simple information to prove that.

Seriously, do you really think these bill collectors want to call the wrong number? No, they want to either find the person who owes the debt or someone who knows how to contact the person.

Actually, all the bill collector wants is the money. They do not care who they get it from. If they can scare you into paying then that makes their job easier then trying to track the real person down and trying to get them to pay.