About once a month we receive a call from these people. They leave a message that it is about a debt collection and any information obtained will be used to collect that debt. If it were to collect an actual debt, they would be relentless. Plus, we have no debts, so we know it is a scam. I'm not that gullible. The caller said they were Penn Credit Corp, which is in Pennsylvania, but the call came from the San Francisco area.
About once a month we receive a call from these people. They leave a message that it is about a debt collection and any information obtained will be used to collect that debt. If it were to collect an actual debt, they would be relentless. Plus, we have no debts, so we know it is a scam. I'm not that gullible. The caller said they were Penn Credit Corp, which is in Pennsylvania, but the call came from the San Francisco area.
Penn Credit is well known to spoof numbers, and say anything they can to get you to pay, whether you owe or don't owe. However, once they left the first message, they were required to do this:
Federal law (FDCPA) requires them to send you a letter (US MAIL ONLY) postmarked within 5 days of their first contact that contains their name, physical address, the creditor’s name, and the amount of the alleged debt. It also must contains “mini-Miranda” telling you that it is an attempt to collect a debt and that all information will be used for those purposes. The one other important thing that this letter must also have in it is that you have a right to dispute the debt within 30 days of receipt of the letter and if you do so, all collection activity must be stopped until the debt is verified.
I would suggest that you do the following, and I would also suggest that you check your credit report:
You need to send them a certified, return receipt debt validation or cease and desist calling letter (think of it as the best $6.47 you ever invested). Also send it first class mail in case no one will sign for it. Make a notation of that fact at the bottom of the letter. You also need to report them to the proper agencies to which I have provided links to. Then you need to go out and get a consumer lawyer to sue them on a contingency basis (no money out of your pocket) and let them pay you for the harassment. If everyone did these three things, these crooks would be bankrupt and we would all be the richer for it. Use these web sites to find an attorney in your state that will probably take the case on a contingency basis (no money out of your pocket up front): http://www.consumeradvocates.org/
http://www.consumeradvocates.org/find-an-atto ... tates_value=All
Read up on your rights here and also make a complaint at this government site: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/
Also file a complaint with your State Attorney General's office.
List of State AG’s offices: http://800notes.com/faq/attorney-general