posted August 25, 2016 10:52 PM            

There have been several scams with credit collection agencies. Nasty people!

I had one call me last week. Claimed they were a Lawyer Referral Service, that that someone at my number requested a referral.

I said no.

Then they changed the story a bit and said that my neighbor had used me as a reference on their resume to get a job and listed my number as a reference.

They gave me the address... I said, wow, that seems very close, let me put the phone down a moment and go out to check addresses for you... It was my next-wall neighbor's apartment address.

They told me her name!

I go back out and knocked on the door and asked if anyone with first name of "{name}" was using my number as a reference for them?

Neighbor said no, not at all. They didn't even have my telephone number.

I go back to the phone line...
Then they changed it a bit further, and said my neighbor had listed me (my number) for a credit reference applying for a credit card.
{There was laughing~snickering on the line, and I calmly asked to speak to their supervisor. They switched it to him.}

This bully d-bag gets on the phone, says he's a 3rd-parter collection agency. Their debt was sold to him. My neighbor was in-default of paying their debt. They had taken a loan via card for amount of 3,300.00 and he told me he had a whole file on them, and they had no right to privacy and the man could tell me any private information on these people I wanted to know. It's public knowledge because it's a defaulted debt.

I copied information, went to my neighbor, and gently told them what he said. They said they have no such creditcard, and never took out a loan for that amount. ... I said it might be a good idea to call a lawyer friend?

Using googlemaps, etc, you can find info on everyone! Lists of people who have rented next door to you, etc. You just put the address in search bar, and can find all kinds of things, for free.

Then after that, I got a call from someone who talked to me as though they were a long-lost friend, making a contact with me and that I just didn't recognize who he was.... It ended up being a younger guy who's punchline was to ask me to canvas my friends, and keep HIS number 'just in case' any one of them, or myself, ever needed a Lawyer Referral. I was supposed to 'keep' his number for him, and give it out to people as a referral.... Wha????? *click, hang up*

I've been getting two other calls on my little cell phone, for the past few months, on almost a daily basis-- both are computer voices with mean tones, saying they are collecting debts.
.. There was a news story on TV (maybe a month ago now) about a man who was pursuing them using his attorney. ...

So, I guess they'll get stopped after a while...? But many people get upset. Seniors are a bit target.

There's a way online to type the number in question in the search bar-- when you do, you'll see companies listing and identifying numbers that are harassments and nuisance calls.
... You can help by adding to the information gathered on these numbers, anonymously and for free. It's cool... You can even see graphs on how they're all connected, with some. How they identify themselves, the phrases they use.

Calls on my phone were from Colorado, Ohio, Arizona, Texas, and New York.

posted August 25, 2016 11:58 PM            

One of them was that he was in a wreck (as a passenger) and was taken to the hospital. It sounds irresponsible enough (what the hospital did) that he could've probably sued, but end result was that he was kicked out of the hospital while suffering partial amnesia and a concussion (his family was frantic trying to find him). Months later he was finally back to normal and was home again when a collection agency called who was nice, even cut the bill owed, and he said he was satisfied with it, and they'd treated him fairly and with sympathy.

But then another agency called with attitude claiming he owed the fees, and he said he had already worked it out, and he started off all polite and reasonable about it. The caller was trying to bluff him like a con-artist would with unlikely threats and "better do it now." Thoroughly suspicious now, he tried looking them up in the phone book and didn't see their agency, and he said so, asking where to send the money. He was delighted when they gave him an actual address within the city (rather than PO Box) and then went to ******* mode with an attitude of his own, pointing out everything wrong with them, he didn't believe they were who they said they were, and if they called him even one more time, and he hoped they did, then he was going to show up at that address "WITH AN AK-47!" His voice was so loud and enraged he said that he even scared himself.

posted August 26, 2016 07:38 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by mirage29:

Good Luck, DopGang!

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posted August 26, 2016 01:23 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by DopGang:
I've been getting calls for at least 2 years for debt collection. They have my number but I know nothing about the debt or of the person who they are calling for. I've told them repeatedly that they are calling the wrong person. I've had my number for years.
So I sent a lovely email.
We'll see how they respond. I've done some research and if it comes down to contacting an attorney then so be it.
I'm only understanding from the standpoint that they probably get told all the time that it's a wrong number.

ETA: one thousandth post!! What's my prize?!? 🎉

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I wondered who got post 1000.

quote:

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Originally posted by mirage29:
Hi Teasel... Saw your note. So nice! Thanks for the headsup. No worries, I appreciate that. So thoughtful of you...

Take good care of your self.

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posted August 26, 2016 01:30 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by DopGang:
The kid who collapsed in the parking lot has passed away today.
I'm ok but it's shocking. It was so sudden and he wasn't old. Had a wife and young son.

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posted August 26, 2016 03:21 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Randall:
That's an FDCPA violation. You can sue them and get $1,000 plus your attorney's fees paid.

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posted August 26, 2016 04:33 PM            

That reminds me of an episode of The Good Wife, where the detective guy finds out who was harassing the woman, then, he dug up the actual location of the perp (who SEEMED to legitimately appear that he had the ability to twist things and wrongly get away with it), and just 'took him down' his own cowboy way. The detective-guy CUT SHORT all that hassle time and expense (to wallets and reputations) that would have been spent in horrendous litigations.

posted August 26, 2016 04:36 PM            

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Originally posted by mirage29:
Teasel... {{ }} Just in case you were referring to me? (which you may not be), we're FINE. I possibly resolved that issue through a conversation with party involved later. I hadn't gotten any sleep.

I appreciate your Vent Thread... Helps more than you know... Thanks for Creating.

If you DO go into Hermit Mode?, we'll understand. Just be a Safe Hermit, okay?...

Your are Supported.

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No, it wasn't anyone in this thread. People lurk, though - or talk to each other, you know? It was a "just in case" since I've had things like that happen before. I can't seem to get away from it now. If I have a problem with someone, I address it. *hugs* to you.

posted September 02, 2016 07:48 PM              

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Originally posted by DopGang:
An ex-friend has passed away on Monday of cancer. It's weird. We were pretty close for a while, her and her husband. Then we had a falling out. It's just weird. I kind of want to send my condolences but it was a rough falling out. I think it's better to just leave it be. I mean it's weird if you don't talk for years and then pop in once they're passed away.
I don't feel super sad or anything like that. It's just weird having so much death surround you for years. I think about my own a lot. I think about life.

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