Is Your Newest Facebook Friend a Sleazeball Debt Collector? DIRTY TRICKS!!

Is Your Newest Facebook Friend a Sleazeball Debt Collector?

www.alternet.org

When Michigan resident Paula Newland fell behind in her car payments, she found herself battling some typical -- and not so typical -- tactics used by debt collectors. In addition to repeated, harassing phone calls from three companies -- including 15 calls on one Saturday and claims that phone calls were "concerning a 'family emergency' " -- Newland was told that if she did not pay up, her car would be reported stolen, and she would be arrested. The company also threatened to deploy what they called a "shame automobile" and "camp out all weekend" in front of her house.

And then cam

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[edit on 11-6-2009 by sanchoearlyjones]

I don't know whether to laugh, or cry. Here we are all sitting in this meltdown; caused by the New World Order, and THe Power That Be in control. I do believe they have lost control; however, it is you, and I feeling most of the wrath. I can only hope we all take a stand. Possibly upwards, and muttering the words NO MORE!!

Do not mistake the truth. These global corporations at the very least hid their lack of profit, and management skills. At the worst they are guilty of crimes against humanity, and the Earth. I would vote for the later of the two possibilities, and to me is punishable by death.... That would be the easiest of the punishment's I could think of for these not quite so humane beings.

They have been laughing at all of us so long, and now what? It is time. Feed it back to them. Tell your congressperson no more. You'll hold them accountable. You know they are paid by lobby's to vote their way, and not yours. Let them know, and let them know you won't forget. Just look at the British Member's of Parliment. They are running scared, and I mean quite literally.

No more bailouts for the banks to hunt us down on Facebook!!!

www.alternet.org
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reply to post by sanchoearlyjones


All i can say that this would and can NEVER happen in a central E.U. country. Its not because the law would not allow it, but its the social structure of its citizens that would merge and take law action against the company as a single community. A community could number from 10 to 5000, the average number is about 2000.

It just shows how frightened people are even when obviously a time of solidarity is needed for the simple reason to help another person in need.

Divide and Conquer

reply to post by tristar


That was brilliant. It is odd that Americans are armed, and do nothing. Yet, our E.U. Brethren for the most part aren't armed, and they stand up.

We USAMerican's stand idly by while we are increasingly humiliated on a daily basis; only standing to ask for more....please?

I wish there were more Europeans in the States.

Wow i can relate to this. My mom once had a finance company threaten to come in her house and take whatever items they needed to in order to pay back the loan she had with them. When i heard this i called them back up and spoke to the man in charge who issued this threat to her. I stated very clearly and plainly that if he wishes to come into her home without invitation and take whatever he wishes then he can try catching the bullets i throw at him with my 38 and see how much he can get for those also. He asked if i was threatening him over the phone, in which i replied no i wasnt threating him at all. i was making him a solemn vow that if he forcibly enters my mothers home while we live in the United States of America then i will exercise my right to blow his head off. LOL
He never called again...

This is some messed up stuff. I have to agree with the op and tristar, we're going to have to stand up for our fellow man . As I've posted before, in Mexico they protest anything that is going to cost them and then they protest because they lost wages having to protest to begin with.

I'm in the UK and these debt collectors use very similar tactics here too.
Bailiffs are allowed to enter your property and take goods from your home in order to repay a debt..

Debt collectors aren't. They can't make threats or play dirty tricks, but they do.
Intimidation and fear runs many a society as of late.

There are parts of Europe here many have access to all manner of weapons, France included.

It's only the UK that seems to have an 'blanket ban' on gun ownership. You're either in a very elite gun club, an owner of an estate/farm that requires a shot gun or you're a member of some security/military/police group where guns are ok.

If the UK had access to guns like the USA does, then it would be very interesting to say the least.

Many do stand up and say 'no' to these people, others know how to 'play the game' and delay repayments or make the minimum of effort to repay.
For example, you can claim hardship and offer to pay back 50 pence a week. They must accept it. You had originally 'promised' to pay back a loan. You had agreed repayments of X amount, but now you can't meet those payments but you can afford 50p.. you are still fulfilling your promise to pay back the loan .. Just not in the way they'd like ..

The truth is i dont own a gun nor do i know if i would shoot someone. However that being that the guy on the phone didnt knwo that and of all things i live in texas and we are known for being crazy gun toting people who love the death penalty. LOL Anyways i dont count myself among those who advocate violence for such reasons. IF i was trying to save my life or my familys maybe but thats a topic for another thread.

I wanted to say that in the case of my mom she had taken out a loan and put certain things up for collateral for the loan. It was this collateral they were wanting to come get in payment for the loan. The problem with this is that in order for the loan company to collect this collateral they like any other lending institution in this country, have to take you to court and a judge has to issue a judgement for collection of the collateral. It is against the constitution for anyone to enter your home through force and seize your property unless it is the police and even they have to have a warrent or probobal cause of a crime being commited. Again that last statement is a topic for another thread. To the police probable cause can be anything.
But i digress... Point is this guy was way out of line in trying to intimidate an older woman with the loss of her valuables for having gotten into a financial situation she couldnt get out of. All this while she was dealing with the loss of my father from cancer who was the financial head of the house. My mom never worked and was a housewife.
It doesnt suprise me as to what lenghts people go to in order to collect money. It disgusts me at how the hospital i work for treats people who dont pay. They are downright rude and to me ugly. I undertsand the need to get paid and i also understand how it is in the world today with finances. Its hard and its getting harder.

So in the UK they can come in your home and take your stuff with a bailiff? Is that after some sort of trial or does the lender just have to go down and show a defaulted loan and show the collateral used to secure the loan and ask for someone to go collect it?

A message one of the collectors left on a social networking site:

haha you guys i tricked you all my name is actually Emily and i work for cbv collections as a skip tracer i bet you guys got calls from them saying you owe money thats all my doing

you want to call and bitch? i dare you to call me 604-[redacted]!!! I wait to hear from you

"

The nerve of that collector. I'd spam her number all over the internet, especially on places where a bunch of really rude, angry people have nothing better to do but call her at three in the morning.

reply to post by rapinbatsisaltherage


That number could well be for somebody she's traced and wants to give extra grief to.

I worked as a skip tracer for about 6 months a number of years back for a collection agency. It was not one of my highlights in my working career.

The way it works... skip tracers are not considered actual "collectors" so they can use ANY and all means of connivery to track down and locate a reliable number to reach a debtor, within very large boundaries. The actual collectors you talk to are the ones who have to work within the FDCPA act.

It got so bad in those days, that now most collection agencies cannot actually call a debtor in the same state, because it led to tracers looking outside of work for locations and numbers. You have to remember that they get paid on commissions of those debts being paid.

There are some nasty tricks I learned along the way (that I still use from time to time to find somebody) that I am sure have been improved on with the advent of social networking sites.

Our motto was "Though the cracks are numerous to hide in, tracers are the dirt beneath".... sad, but true.

The only safe way to "hide" is never admit who you are.

Originally posted by yellowbeard
reply to post by rapinbatsisaltherage

 

That number could well be for somebody she's traced and wants to give extra grief to.

That's why you test it first.

I got an even worse situation in some ways...
Collections agents are harassing me because someone is obviously running around putting my phone number on their credit applications. The funniest part is that, based on the name, its obviously someone of another sex, and race. You think that these scum suckers would catch on to that fact, accept that they have the wrong phone number, and leave me in peace, but no…

I explain all this to them, and the next time they call I get a, “We’re sorry Mr. Defcon, we don’t know how your number got back into our system”, or a “Well, they put your number under ‘Potential’, rather then removed it entirely”. It would almost be humorous at this point, except that I work the night shift, and these folks are calling me in the middle of my night. There seems to be no way to stop them from harassing you if you are the wrong person because they have to follow even fewer rules with you then the actual person they are trying to collect from. They claim that you’re hiding the real person from them.

THEN…

If you do get one to stop calling, they consider the debt un-collectable, bundle it up, and sell it to ANOTHER agency, INCLUDING my phone number.
Wash, rinse, repeat…. FOR 3 YEARS NOW!!!

I would change phone numbers, but I have a sneaking suspicion it would be the same act looking for a new set of people.

I was just sitting here looking up new and more inventive ways to screw with these folks, when they inevitably call me tomorrow, and I came across this thread.

Tomorrow I am thinking of answering the phone: “Defcon, Defcon, and Defcon Attorneys at Law, how can I help you?”… Does anyone know if that is legal or not? Is it legal to answer the phone impersonating a secretary at a fictional law firm? Could that fall under "Impersonating an Attorney"? If so I think there would be a lot more attorneys in jail…

If that one doesn’t do the trick , I am considering telling them that I am the person they are looking for, and “please take me to court, put a judgment against me, garnish my wages, and place a lien on my property.” Again, legalities anyone? Maybe that will at least teach this person to not use another persons phone number, or at least not mine.

So what you all think?
Any better suggestions to get them to quit?
I am at my wits end with these folks ridicules tactics.

reply to post by defcon5

You think that these scum suckers would catch on to that fact,

They're clearly not the brightest of people. My friend was getting calls like that and she started answering the phone and speaking gibberish and they'd hang up. Then they started harassing her again so she resorted to talking "dirty talk" into the phone. The dirty talk really puzzled them, they obviously didn't know how to combat it because they stopped calling.

i dont mean to be rude - but what is these peoples problem ? yes i admit some tactics are ` less than ethical ` - but so is keeping a car you are no longer paying for

like i say - i have sympathy for those in financial straits - but so do many finance institutions

a freind of mine has 2 works vehicles on lease - and BEFORWE missing a single payment - he got the deal restructured - he is now paying 60% of the lease charges - BUT accrueing interest on the other 40% to be paid back in 1 year

if business picks up - he will have only paid about 300 pounds extra - but if he is in a worse state - he could face difficulties

there are solutions

reply to post by rapinbatsisaltherage


I actually had a law enforcement friend of mine tell me to do this. He says that it works, at least on telemarketers. Knowing what sleazebags that some of these collections people are, they might just be able to out dirty-talk me.

Seriously though, I hate to resort to that, I just don’t think I could do it and not end up blowing it by laughing. Besides, it would only work until they next time they sell the debt to the next collection agency. So far I believe that I am on my fourth or fifth collection agency since I started keeping track of their names.

In case anyone does not know this, the new trick that they like to do now, is spoofing telephone numbers. So the number will show up as something legitimate, and you answer the phone. This also makes it impossible to call block them, or for the phone company to track them, at least according to the telephone company.

Another trick that they use is an automated message that states if you continue listening to the message after a certain point, that constitutes your acceptance that their claim is valid. I get these messages on the answering service all the time, because their message just rambles on until the answering service times out.

Of course, if you talk to the telephone harassment bureau, they require you have to open a case file with local law enforcement, who cannot do a darn thing, since the collection agency is almost never in the same state. Then to make matters worse, its often more then one company who is making the calls, which means you have to have separate cases for each company calling…

I am almost to the point where I want to tell the next agency who calls me to give me the persons information, and let me track them down, so I can finally get some peace.

reply to post by defcon5


Just do the repeater.

Repeat everything they say verbatim. They can only take it for so long before hanging up. Air horns can be fun as well.

Of course you do run the risk of running into a vindictive one, and they can add notes to the system to keep the calls coming.

Originally posted by defcon5
I would change phone numbers, but I have a sneaking suspicion it would be the same act looking for a new set of people.

Yeah, I got a new cellphone a couple of years ago and immediately started getting calls from collectors looking for the last person who had the number. Doesn't matter what you tell them, they just call and call and call. Annoying because I've never had an outstanding debt but I had to deal with someone else's crap. The only thing I could do was get rid of the phone number.

So what you all think?

Any better suggestions to get them to quit?
I am at my wits end with these folks ridicules tactics.

I've got to the point where I just screen every call I get. If I don't recognize the number I don't answer the phone - period. If it's important they'll leave a message.

reply to post by ignorant_ape


Hey ape, I have not seen you around in a LONG while.

I agree that these folks are wrong in not paying; however, and I am a prime example, many of these agencies are trying to collect inaccurate debts. Many times folks have paid the debt off to the original creditor, or to another collection agency, but the debt is somehow resold to another collection agency, despite this fact. Other people are cases of mistaken identity, like me, or people with similar names or at old phone numbers. These guy will just never let up either, they are like the terminator. I mean, just get your 3 bureau credit report and see how much inaccurate stuff there is on your personal record, and you will understand why these people need to be reigned in some.


[edit on 6/11/2009 by defcon5]

Originally posted by mythatsabigprobe
Annoying because I've never had an outstanding debt but I had to deal with someone else's crap.

Exactly, I went through my credit card debt youth period a long time ago, got it all back to prefect. Having to deal with other peoples crap is just plain annoying. I suppose I could get a new number, but with how fast they recycle numbers now, and with how bad the economy is; I am sure I will just get more calls for a different person.

Originally posted by mythatsabigprobe
I've got to the point where I just screen every call I get. If I don't recognize the number I don't answer the phone - period. If it's important they'll leave a message.

Yeah, the spoofing thing makes that more difficult though because they often look like legit local calls. Also, remember they are doing this during what is effectively the middle of the night for me, as I am a shift worker. So no matter if I answer the phone or not, it still wakes me up when it rings and I check the ID. I have had folks tell me to unplug the phone, but that is just not feasible, as my family needs to be able to reach me in the case of an emergency during the day.

Oh, another funny one… Try telling them that you are on the “No Call Registry”, that one was good for a laugh… I had one lady actually believing she was a telemarketer.