The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, is warning consumers to be on the alert for scam artists posing as debt collectors. It may be hard to tell the difference between a legitimate debt collector and a fake one. Sometimes a fake collector may even have some of your personal information, like a bank account number. A caller may be a fake debt collector if he:
•is seeking payment on a debt for a loan you do not recognize;
•refuses to give you a mailing address or phone number;
•asks you for personal financial or sensitive information; or
•exerts high pressure to try to scare you into paying, such as threatening to have you arrested or to report you to a law enforcement agency.
If you think that a caller may be a fake debt collector:
•Ask the caller for his name, company, street address, and telephone number. Tell the caller that you refuse to discuss any debt until you get a written "validation notice." The notice must include the amount of the debt, the name of the creditor you owe, and your rights under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
If a caller refuses to give you all of this information, do not pay! Paying a fake debt collector will not always make them go away. They may make up another debt to try to get more money from you.•Stop speaking with the caller. If you have the caller's address, send a letter demanding that the caller stop contacting you, and keep a copy for your files. By law, real debt collectors must stop calling you if you ask them to in writing.
•Do not give the caller personal financial or other sensitive information. Never give out or confirm personal financial or other sensitive information like your bank account, credit card, or Social Security number unless you know whom you're dealing with. Scam artists, like fake debt collectors, can use your information to commit identity theft – charging your existing credit cards, opening new credit card, checking, or savings accounts, writing fraudulent checks, or taking out loans in your name.
•Contact your creditor. If the debt is legitimate – but you think the collector may not be – contact your creditor about the calls. Share the information you have about the suspicious calls and find out who, if anyone, the creditor has authorized to collect the debt.
•Report the call. Contact the FTC and your state Attorney General's office with information about suspicious callers. Many states have their own debt collection laws in addition to the federal FDCPA. Your Attorney General's office can help you determine your rights under your state's law.
I thought this was a joke so I ignored it and I filed for my taxes and they damn sure have a hold on them and now they refuse to help me out if they call u let them help its not a collection agency no had my lawyer contact them and everything
Shill alert!!!! So let me ask you shill, did you ignore the official process server and the court date and all that actual legal stuff??? You're a idiot. Go back to your hole. These boiler room workers are getting desperate cause they are not meeting quota. Stupid shill.
Dependent on state laws, creditors generally cannot garnish your state tax refund directly, and never without a court order. Excluding government debts and court orders, federal tax refunds are protected from garnishment. Additionally, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits creditors from threatening to seize or garnish property or funds they are not legally entitled to claim. Report creditor harassment or violations to the Federal Trade Commission.
Seriously who would fall for this [***]? These pukes have even gone as far as contacting my minor children telling them that I was in trouble and they were only trying to help me. There is a legal process to follow and they think they are above that. They call from an unknown number because they are bunch of shady losers. I have filed a police report with my local office but because they are out of state it makes it a little harder but I will find them and I will make sure that is the last time they call me or anyone else I know!