Got a voicemail from someone mumbling when he stated his name and who he works for. He said he has documents attached to my name and social going forward for wage garnishment. Guess he doesn't know it takes a court to do that. Phone calls don't count as official notification. Sorry mumble guy! Not getting one over on me.
I got a call from this number claiming to be Debt Mediation company and stated that I had a payday loan in default and were talking about wage garnishment , and that I would have to prove to a judge that it wasn't mine . She had partial personal info of mine ..
A phone call, email or text message from a supposed debt collector is not legally sufficient evidence of debt.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) includes statements such as this:
Every collector must send you a written “validation notice” telling you how much money you owe within five days after they first contact you. This notice also must include the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money, and how to proceed if you don’t think you owe the money. ["Written" means snailmailed - US Mail ... not emailed or texted]
Therefore, if that caller wants you to pay immediately, before you get the written validation notice via snailmail, or if the caller wants payment via Green Dot, MoneyGram, Western Union, prepaid gift card or other untraceable means, then the call is definitely not legitimate.
IF you wish to communicate with the supposed collector / creditor, visit the following page, for example "Action Letters" to snailmail:
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/blog/debtcollection/
If you KNOW you owe no money, or believe the call was from a fake debt collector, please take the time to read this:
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0258-fake-debt-collectors
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Please reply to this post, to let us know you read it, or have taken suitable actions to protect yourself.
Julie Smith had the unmitigated GALL to call my friend's home phone with this nonsense. I know that they're a scam, but it still made my pulse rise a little bit. I won't bother wasting my time to call them back, but I sure would like to give them a piece of my mind.