Portfolio calls from all different numbers from all over the country. Get smart to them and don't answer, they don't and are shisters on top of it. Chasing 10-12 yr. old debts. If you talk to them you renew the start time on the debt. Listen to Clark Howard or some other dependable credit adviser.
I, too, believe this is some kind of scam. I get a lot of calls from these numbers that come up as Portfolio Recovery. I am one of those annoying believers in "pay your bills," but this just does not seem legit. Many of the calls are hangups, the ones that go to voicemail leave no message, and on the rare occasion I do get to pick up when they call, they say I owe a bill to Verizon. In the beginning I tried to reason with them - I am a current Verizon customer, I pay my bill every month, if there was any issue, I seriously do not think they would allow my $150 a month cellphone plan to continue without blocking me (they claim I owe around $500!). When I call Verizon to ask about the calls, they say they have no record of anything that I owe, of course, or else it would be showing up on my bill (I have been with Verizon since 2002 and never missed a bill or anytthing of the sort). In the last few months, I have requested that these callers give me more information or stop calling. If I owe a debt, I will pay it - but for whatever reason, I never seem to get this paperwork showing anything of mine, not even something I can dispute as fraud or identity theft... not a peep. I am an attorney, and I know how to fight this, but I hate that I have to take the time to do it. If there was any truth to these calls, why would they not send something? I took Creditors' rights in law school, and I know they have rights as well (if they would follow the legal guidelines granted statutorily), but they are not, and so I believe that there is something really wrong with these calls.