Collection Agencies or Identity Theft-Which is Worse?
Read more articles on Let Me Share With You.September 6, 2006
Posted by Karen Amato Schwartz
September 6, 2006
Posted by Karen Amato Schwartz
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Earlier this summer, I found a message on my answering machine, saying it was “imperative” that I call a specific number. My first inclination was to forget it, since I don’t respond to telemarketing, but curiosity got the better of me. When I reached the unusual sounding place (its name gave no indication of its purpose), a woman responded to my name by asking when I was going to repay my outstanding debt of $2000; here it was a collection agency.
I told the lady that I had no debt to the company in question, to which she verified my phone number. She insisted I had a debt and had been sent notices, giving an address that was not mine. This lady did not believe that I did not, and had not, ever lived there, and continued to barrage me with insinuations that I was lying. When she asked me for my social security number, I refused, and demanded to speak to a manager.
Now, I’m of the opinion that 99% of people, regardless of their mood or innate disposition, will at least try to appear civil in a professional setting. The man who came onto the line was horrendously typical of the other 1% who tries to be as obnoxious as humanly possible.
He told me the merchant account was valid in its accusation that a person with a similar name and my phone number owed this large sum of money on a store credit card, and he said it belligerently. When I attempted to get him to listen to the fact that I had no debt problems with this company and he had the wrong person, he almost screamed in my ear, “Have you filed a report of identity theft?” This took me by such surprise, I just asked, “What?” And he yelled again, “I guess you couldn’t be a victim of identity theft, then, could you?!” Totally stumped and completely off guard, all I could do was stammer,” I don’t think so.” At this he menacingly threatened me to pay what I owed, and hung up.
I called back to get to the bottom of things. It finally came out that they had the wrong person, after the collection agency verified the last four digits of my social security number. The original lady did apologize for the confusion, but now I know why commercials for debt consolidation point out the harassing nature of collection agencies!
They probably are helpful to companies trying to collect huge sums from frequent abusers of credit cards, but wouldn’t credit reports notify collection agencies about the individuals in question? Even if I did owe $2000, should I, as a long term re-payer of credit card debt, be treated with gross ignorance and disrespect upon first notification?
At times I do not think credit cards or merchant accounts are beneficial because situations such as this happen. My parents used to pay cash for almost all purchases; if they didn’t have the cash, they waited until they had the cash. They may not have had as much, but they didn’t have to deal with these headaches of possible identity theft or collection agencies making easily avoidable mistakes!
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