More Recent Debt Collection and Related Scams

Not all debt collection agencies are thugs harassing for money, but the reality is they do exist. Some scams are not really scams in their own right. The company could be making a mistake. Make sure you understand your rights in your state and country. Sometimes a debt collection agency that is contacting you is not even real, and the perpetrator is looking to steal your identity for future credit card fraud. Here are some things you should be on the lookout for.

• Mistakes. These happen all the time. Someone has a similar name to you, and you start getting harassed by debt recovery services company. Understand if you do not have the debt, you do not have to do anything. Check your own credit report and see if anything exists. If you know you do not have this debt, you should write a letter to the company and threaten them with legal action. Harassment is a very serious crime, and it could cost the agency dearly.
• Harassing your family members. Some agencies will try to tell your family members, they are responsible for your debt. Your debt is explicitly your own. It cannot be transferred to someone else, unless they signed as a guarantee to your loan. Again, your family members should warn the agency that they are breaking the law.
• Fake collection companies. Believe it or not, they do exist. Someone collects money and knows you have a loan or debt, and then they proceed to act like they are a debt collection agency. Whenever you are contacted by a debt collection agency, get full details of their company and do some research. Some of these companies may also try to imitate your utilities company. They will use an account for you to pay outstanding utilities bills, which actually don’t exist. Some of these companies will even issue a range of fake documents such as court orders.
• Phishing. This is a common practice among those looking for your personal details. They may have collected part of your details and need more to complete the whole identity for fraud. They then contact you and you call back and try to explain you do not have this debt. During this process, you give out information about yourself, and they tell you it is someone of the same name and not to worry about it. Now they have everything to abuse your credit card or other details. Phishing is getting more sophisticated, as there are more barriers of protection against this. Those who do this may come at you from a number of angles. Pretending to be debt collection services is one of the strategies used.
• Internet Hosting Scam. This is another way some people will attempt to scam money out of you. They will imitate your ISP, and as they have your details from a simple ‘WHOIS’ lookup online, and then will tell you monies are owed on your account. If you ever get approached by anyone you should always contact your direct supplier and also check for the details of the debt collection agency.

If you are ever contacted by a debt collections company, think twice, and be very careful about giving any information out.