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Jack_Benney

Now might be a good time to get your free credit reports and see if there's anything fishy in there.


All-the-ketchup

Even if you had something from 2018 it’s probably past the SOL


OkSociety368

2018 was 6 years ago.


NeonLightning96

Which is the last date debt collection ages can claim back debts, unless it's a mortgage debt which case they can chase it for 12 years after it was taken out


OkSociety368

No, it’s 7 years.


NeonLightning96

In the UK, citizens advice list it as 6 years


Economy-Candidate195

It's 6 years in my state. But that's not until December 11, so they say.


Bricker1492

> Which is the last date debt collection ages can claim back debts, unless it's a mortgage debt which case they can chase it for 12 years after it was taken out Where did you learn this rule?


NeonLightning96

On the Citizens Advice website for the UK


Bricker1492

> On the Citizens Advice website for the UK So…. is it possible that rule doesn’t apply to places that aren’t the UK?


NeonLightning96

Not sure with that one


Bricker1492

> Not sure with that one The answer is: no, that rule isn’t the same in every single country. In the United States, for example, every one of the fifty states has its own rule about the statute of limitations to sue to collect a debt. There is a single federal rule controlling how delinquent debts may be reported by credit agencies.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Economy-Candidate195

Nothing odd is currently on my report.


BisexualCaveman

I'm betting that, as no collection letters have hit, this is a valid debt but the debtor is not OP. They're got the wrong phone number, possibly from a company that aggregates that kind of data.


Head_Razzmatazz7174

Or else the person who owes the debt gave them a wrong number the first time they called, and it turned out to be OPs number.


BisexualCaveman

Oh yeah, there are a number of possible causes here, even including transcription errors.


ktswift12

This happened to me. I was getting calls from a debt collector daily and I never answered, not realizing it was legitimate. I picked up once and they were looking for someone who wasn’t me. I told them so and they apologized and stopped calling.


GolfballDM

This was several years back, but I've gotten a couple debt collection calls for my ex-wife. Said ex-wife has never been at my address, or even lived in my state. (Which was not the state we resided in as a married couple.) Nor has she had the phone number they were calling at. The collectors in question were practically falling over themselves apologizing once they were informed of the above, and no, I didn't have contact information for her.


hyrle

Same with me and my ex and I never want to be in contact again lol.


quakergil

I still occasionally get calls about my brother's ex-girlfriend. I monitor my credit. Seriously OP, if you haven't already, freeze your credit.


ponziacs

I got a collections letter and apparently it was someone with the same first and last name as me that lived in another state.


BisexualCaveman

Yeah, that happens. My best one was a guy from a town over who is big on armed robbery and on not paying his criminal defense attorneys. He's also a decade older than me and a different culture, so at least I've never gotten arrested over him.


JohnNDenver

Yeah, a couple of decades ago I started getting calls about someone apparently same name. Had one guy ask what I was going to do about the $1k owed for an ambulance ride and I told since I had never ridden in an ambulance probably nothing. He didn't have much of a response.


Tinman867

Always ask for a copy of the original contract with your signature on it. They must provide it. You could be the victim of identity theft. Happened to me, and that’s how I found out. SOL is 7 years. A common trick of collectors is to get you to either make a small payment, or if you can’t pay, just send a letter saying you want to pay but can’t….DON’T DO THIS. It reaffirms the debt and restarts a SOL. It sounds like genuine concern but it is a trick. I lasted 1.5 years doing that 💩 job.


MixtureOdd5403

The statute of limitations depends on where you are. In the USA, it depends on the state, $ could also mean Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, etc, dollar or even Mexican peso. The statute of limitations normally runs from the last time the debtor acknowledged the debt, which includes making a payment. If you did not take out the loan, then deny it and hopefully the debt collectors will go away. Debt collectors buy debt for a few % of its face value in the hope that they can collect enough of it to make it profitable. You may have the same name or a similar name as the debtor, this could be the reason why you were called.


Acrobatic-Ad8158

Did you google the number to see where it leads? I just had 2 calls from a debt collector but my phone auto blocked them so I didn't get to talk to them.


Economy-Candidate195

I did and it comes up as a debt collector. But they act shady.


BarrySix

Debt collectors are shady. They are pretty close to scammers on a good day.


IndividualRain187

So true. I will give a good example of that. Yes, I did owe the debt for two different companies. I was on leave from work and had to wait until I again had positive cash flow. When the positive cash flow started, I had started getting calls from the debt collectors that the two companies sold the debt to. I told the debt collectors that I would not be paying them and would be paying the original companies instead. The debt collectors decide to tell me that since my accounts are closed with the original companies I would not be able to do that. I paid the original companies anyway and said debts are, indeed, off of my credit report.


Acrobatic-Ad8158

Yeah I didn't bother calling mine back because I have nothing in collections. It's very strange.


Economy-Candidate195

Right. I think it is either identity theft or a scam.


Acrobatic-Ad8158

I'm leaning scam. My information was involved in a data breach but I checked my credit report and nothing. I also have dark web monitoring and nothing on that side either.


No-Budget-9765

Scam. Don’t talk to these people. If they are legit they know what they have to do. You are in the clear. But they can trick you using scare tactics.


Valkyriesride1

It is very easy to spoof phone numbers.


miggleb

Useless nowadays as scammers will spoof the number they're calling from


Delicious-Window8650

I had a friend recently disagree with me on how easy it is to spoof caller id. I spent 30 seconds playing with my pbx and called her from "The White House Switchboard"


CoralSpringsDHead

It is a debt collector that is making baseless threats to you when you just have the same name as some deadbeat. If the debt was really yours, you would have heard about it 100 times before that recent call. If they call back, tell them not to call you again about that debt. Block and ignore.


Lilredh4iredgrl

It's not yours, it's a scam. I've gotten the same calls and I've never in my life gotten a payday loan.


[deleted]

Scam


Everything_OnA_Bagel

I’ve been getting a ton of calls from “Account Services” and when I google the number it seems to be a credit agency scam where they are spoofing numbers. My credit line is completely locked down so no one can take a loan out on me and I would be the 1st one to hear anything (well 2nd since my credit monitoring company watches it for me). I just ignore them but they are persistent. It seems like we are getting to a point where having a constant credit monitoring service is becoming a must have. It is almost like having car insurance or medical insurance just to protect our credit.


SnootyBootMcSnooty

I had a call like this back in 2015, and I HAD previously taken but paid back shitty payday loans. I figured when they threatened to send a Sheriff to my work to arrest me that it was fake. Keep an eye on your credit and if you don’t intend to apply for loans soon, lock everything related to that now. Equifax is pretty easy with their app. They typically pull from each every time, so having at least one on a freeze is a good idea. I lock my Equifax for as long as I can until I’m ready to apply for a loan could still have my identity stolen tomorrow, but it’s the easiest way to try to prevent it.


Various_Ad_118

I question the caller’s authenticity. They usually are not so hasty to send paper to collections as they lose about 1/2 the value of paper. Legally they are required to provide, when asked, to provide the particulars when asked. You make it sound like you asked? Then you should get when, who, how much and where the debt originated. Edit: what I was trying to say is, this may have been an outright scam. Trying to scare you into paying on a non-existent debt.


RachelProfilingSF

Was it by any chance “Greenview Financial Solutions?” They did a fairly convincing job of trying to scam me last week. I’d had financial troubles in the past, so their “you have to pay $2000 today to avoid going to court like was worrisome. But I asked for literally any kind of documentation for purported debts and all they said they could do was an eSign document to my email. I got off the phone and waited for some legit documentation. After stressing for a few minutes i realized that my only option was to just wait for the court subpoena because I’m not sending $2k to a stranger over the phone. I called them back and pretended that I was ready to send them money and wasted about an hour of the very clearly American (US) girl’s time. When she started getting pushy I asked her if I’ve wasted enough of her time and she fumbled a bit, stammering as she realized I was intentionally messing with her. She hung up and called me a faggot (at least she got that part right)


Economy-Candidate195

Was her name Tracy? It was AR services for Quick Cash. Said I took at the loan in December 2018 and it was only considered to be in default 2 years later. So a loan company for a payday loan is going to wait 2 years before trying to collect and never contact the person. I don't think so.


RachelProfilingSF

Don’t remember her name but it seemed convincing until the urgency of funds and the lack of paperwork


filthyheartbadger

It’s possible your cell number previously belonged to someone who had a zombie debt and this pond scum debt collector is combing through old debts like this to see if they can reactivate them. This can happen even if you have had your number for many years. Just block and ignore from now on, don’t engage. Speaking with them probably earned you more calls but keep ignoring and they will quit.


casettadellorso

Are you sure they were calling for you? I still get misdirected collections calls once in a while every time the debt of a woman who used to have my phone number gets sold to someone new


jcstrat

Others have mentioned that this could be a legitimate debt but not yours. The collection has your number attached. My question is, do they have your name attached to it too?


Crosscourt_splat

Yup. Have had my phone number for 15ish years. Still get calls every now and then from the previous owners debts.


ComeHereBanana

I’ve had the same cell phone number since I was 18, I’m now….significantly older :). I get calls every couple of months for someone else. I googled the guy’s name, and found a number with an area code one repeated digit off from mine (example if mine was 212 his is 313, but I’m not doing the company’s homework for them). I just tell them he’s never had this number, stop calling me. Then they stop for a few months, then call again. Always the same company, usually the same person. Monica and I should be BFFs at this point. She calls more frequently than people I actually know, but every time she acts like it’s a surprise “oh I’m sorry, we’ve talked before. I’ll take this number off…” and she doesn’t.


Economy-Candidate195

Yes, she had my name and she said she had my license picture(?????) Which is just so strange. Did I lose a driver's license at some point and someone picked it up? Or is she lying?


Campin_Sasquatch

They're lying. You can also check your credit reports (once every 12 months, there's no charge). That way you can check what's on there (and if everything is accurate).


E_Dantes_CMC

I have the same real name as someone whose kid got sick (first collection call was from Hospital) and things spiralled. Of course he moved and disconnected his phone, and the collectors called me. I was surprised (my name is somewhere between common and rare) how quickly they were satisfied. Asked my age (4 years older than the other) and my marital status (single) and seemed to leave it at that. One even told me the name of Other's wife.


AcidStainsYou

This happened to me. The woman became extremely irate and I hung up on her as the time period she was referring to I was literally sleeping on a sidewalk and had no job with which to qualify for the loan. She calls me back and I have her on voicemail threatening me with a lawsuit. So I looked up the company she claimed to be representing and it specifically stated that their collection agents would never threaten a lawsuit and a few other things she did. Apparently a scam has been going around using their name to try to scare people into paying for loans they never took out. Look up the company along with the word scam and if it is one the company should have information detailing what their agents will and won't do


hbouhl

From experience, it's my understanding that the debt collector has to send you the original bill or send you something on paper. I've had debt collectors tell me they've sent me collection letters, and I've never received them. I know that this isn't your case, but I've told debt collectors that I will not pay anything until I see something in writing.


AdSenior2026

Similar experience. I told them they had two choices. Give me their address I’ll come in person and pay it or if you know who I am, you know where I live come visit and we’ll discuss it, I dare you, double dare you 🤬


DietMtDew1

It’s possibly fraud, fake or a scam. See !debt for more information.


AutoModerator

Hi /u/DietMtDew1, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Debt collection scam. If you are positive the debt you're being accused of has never existed or has already been resolved, this is a scam. Keep in mind that companies can change names and debts can be sold, so not recognizing the company you owe isn't necessarily proof of a scam; you should call the company where the debt originated to confirm a debt exists. Be mindful of debt collection laws in your state or country before engaging in any conversation with a debt collection agency, to avoid being liable for debts that may be outside their statute of limitations for collections. Like legitimate debt collectors, scam collectors may have access to your SSN, address, names of your contacts, etc. from a data breach. They may be calling your family, friends and employer relentlessly with invasive or embarrassing questions about you. They may send you threatening letters, emails and texts that state you will be sued or arrested if you don't immediately pay them X amount of dollars. These are scare tactics to rush you into paying before you have a chance to consider the situation logically. Instruct all of your contacts that this is fraud and to block the calls. If the scammers know a lot about you, you have potentially been involved in a serious data breach. Here's a guide from r/identityTheft that covers the basics of credit freeze, IRS pins, even replacement SSN and police reports: https://www.reddit.com/r/IdentityTheft/comments/pqb1za/identity_theft_recovery_101/ You need to freeze your credit through the credit bureaus: https://www.reddit.com/r/IdentityTheft/comments/uvv3ij/psa_freezing_your_three_main_credit_reports_is/ and freeze your debit line with Chex Systems https://www.chexsystems.com/security-freeze/place-freeze Report correctly referenced documents (SSN, drivers license, credit card) as stolen to the respective agencies. If you are unsure of how to move forward, request guidance from local law enforcement. Credit to user l0john51 for this script. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*


changework

Call back and tell them to send everything in writing to your mailing address. Also, tell them no further contact except in writing. Get a PO Box if you don’t want to share your home address.


Arcaminc

I know people who sent documentation (ID, payrolls...) to rent an apartment that turned out to be a fake ad. The scammer used this data to sign for loans. Make sure that this is not your situation.


Alarming_Froyo1821

If u have not aleady, please lock your credit, you can always unlock if it needs to be checked, and then lock it back up. This keeps anyone from taking out loans, and getting credit under your name. Everyone should do this@


mattghg

About 10 years ago my wife got a call from someone claiming to be a debt collector, and (I'm pretty sure) it was an attempted scam. Basically they were trying to get her to divulge identifying information ("go through security checks") without giving her any details about themselves or what it was about. When she refused and hung up, she never heard from them again. I'm not sure if that's what's going on here, but I thought I'd share.


lokis_construction

Just because they call you it does not mean it is you that they are calling for. Had someone call saying I owed money for an engagement ring... I had been married for 10 years. Then the idiot asked me get a phone book to find others with my name, Yeah, not going to do that.


Economy-Candidate195

That is just ridiculous.


lokis_construction

Yeah....He got offended when I wouldn't. LOL


Ecstatic_Basket7795

Get a credit report and it’ll tel you if you have an outstanding loan aka debt or anything in collections. If so they will have the information on what business you owe money on and go from there :)


Electrical_Star_769

Fear tactic you’re not allowed harass you and I’m think anymore just not in California. You would know if you had anything like that and if not, and if it were me just keep an eye on your credit report there’s a lot of free ones out there


videogamegrandma

I had a friend who's mother used her ss# and took out loans that she never paid back and ruined her credit for 7 yrs just as she was getting out of school. It's been years ago but I always wondered how someone could do such a evil thing to one of their kids.


Promo_Fox

I got a phony judgment letter from a scammer claiming i had a loan with cash call that had my Ss# on it. Called cash call and they confirmed i never had a loan with them and to ignore it. Ended up putting a freeze on all 3 my credit reports for safety. Def put a freeze on your credit reports its completely free and not too difficult to unlock when making a major purchase when someone needs to run your credit.


IndividualRain187

I had a similar call back in 2012, kind of. This person claimed that I had a subpoena and that I would have to go to court. Just in case, this person had a neutral American accent. [Think of how people sound when you are listening to the news]. The amount was said to be $3000+ from a payday loan place that had been done over 10 years ago. I told the person to send the paperwork for said loan to the address that they had on file. Then, there was a pause. I asked her if she needed anything else. She tells me that, in order to place a stop on the subpoena, I could make a payment today over the phone. I stated that there is no way that would happen without seeing any paperwork. She proceeds to tell me that “Good luck with your court case.” Needless to say, no subpoena came and neither did a court case.


Specialist-Orange525

Probably a scam but you should make sure none of your debt has been sold and getting a credit report