They are in violation of multiple aspects of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act with the statements they made to you and it is doubtful they have any ability to sue you in court. If, or more likely, when they call back keep demanding written proof of the debt and proof they have a legal right to collect that debt in your state sent via US Mail as required by the above law. Do not acknowledge that you owe the debt over the phone. You can also remind them that federal law requires they send you the required proof within 5 days of initial contact. Keep logs of dates and times of calls and the content of the call, it could come in handy later if you decide to pursue action against them for FDCPA violations.
Thanks everyone! My husband receieved a call as well less than an hr ago. Because he did have an issue before with a relative using his information, we thought it was legit. I looked the number up just in case and now that I see it's a scam, we'll ignore it
If theyre calling you at work let your boss/HR dept know asap and explain that its a scam. I had my work block their number. I work for a bank call center so they were just calling our 1800 number and asking to be transfered to me. Heard the guy even was getting rude with some of my coworkers and was threatening them if they didn't transfer the call. I went to HR and explained it and they understood and since then the calls stopped at work. Now they call my cell/home but I just ignore it and laugh at the messages with my fiance..
For me I think this all started bc my ex gf probably used my info to try to get a pay day loan online and was unsuccessful but the website stored my info and then sold it to the scumbags around the world. They do seem to be able to track your info down but never do anything but call and harass you. Luckily I haven't become a true victim of identity theft but she(the ex) did open a credit card with my name. It charged it off without me knowing and once I knew about it after we split the company understood it was fraud and wrote it off..I do keep a fraud alert on my credit just to be safe. One company (fake collection agency) was even able to put inquiry on my credit report (not sure how they did it since they weren't legit) but I wrote to them after getting their address with a cease and desist letter which also demanded to have the inquiry removed and did remove it (or masked it, I dunno). Hope this helps.
Received 2 calls, both say restricted number so I don't know what number actually called, but this phone number 347-578-9284 is the number both messages left on the vm messages. Same as other comments, woman's voice saying 2 counts were being filed in "my" county, failure to call results in forfeit of rights, etc. I knew it was obviously a scam for so many reasons, starting with their not using my name, saying "my" county instead of naming the county, leaving info on a voicemail which our courts system doesn't do, claiming a non-returned phone message means my rights are forfeit, which can't happen. I mean, yes, it sounded scary, but if you break it down there's not even a small part of it that could possibly be legitimate. The call is obviously a recording, breaking for the 'insert of a name' twice. For my calls it sounded like "McCree" or "McCreedy" or something. Of course, so muffled which is their intent, that you can't know. I suppose they think it's either you or that you'll call to say they have the wrong number. Either way, they win if you call. It means that you took their call seriously and that you're giving them information - either verifying what they have, or giving them a new name to harass at that number. These are just scammers. Personally I don't have any past or outstanding debts. I watch my credit closely for id theft. I do have a relatively new cell phone number so maybe they are calling that number because they have it in connection to its former account holder. Who knows. But in any case, don't stress this. Don't answer it, don't call, just ignore these crooks.
I received a voice mail from this number today. The representative advised she was calling from the legal processing division, but did not mention the name of the company she works for. She told me there were fraud charges being filed against me and to call 347-578-9284 to be made aware of my legal rights, or they will be forfeited.