Help! Mother contacted about a debt...

[yogibear]

I was contacted today...actually my Mother was contacted...by some agency that says I went overdrawn on a previous Checking Account through Wachovia that I had over 2 years ago. I am almost sure I closed this Checking Account out clean and there would be no way that just today I learned that I owe 317.95 to this debt collection agency.

Red Flags:

1) They had the wrong address for me and said I lived in Houston, none of my family has every lived in Houston including myself.

2) They said that if I attempted to contact Wachovia they would have no record of this debt because they sold it us.

3) No options to pay online and then when I offered to mail a check they said I could but it would probably arrive too late for them to not sign off to have my wages garnished.

4) When I said that this is the first I have heard of this debt and I need some proof that they are a credible organization, she sent me an email (almost instantaneously) that had some information about me and my account; including last 4 of my social and the social of my wife. My full name. and how much I owed. Plus the email had a do not reply feature which means it was sent from an undetected email (which some legit businesses do, but they offer contact information otherwise and all this had was a 1800 number under someones name).

5) When I told her I was not going to pay her because I needed more time to think this over and that all of this was new to me, she said that I should feel lucky that they even contacted me because they do not need to contact me and they could have just garnished my wages.

6) As I continued to question her, she did not send me to bbb.org or to a website to try to legitimize her organization, instead she said, how do you think we got all this information about you and your account.

I am pretty upset about this. And wondering what I should do. I have worked with debt collection agencies before and they always give me an option to pay online and they have never had a problem tracking down my current address and phone number and informing me multiple times (almost to the point of over information).

I am really not sure what to do, I have decided that unless I can get concrete evidence that this organization is legit then I am not giving them any further information or paying them.

But the down side is that if they are legit, then they are threatening to garnish my wages and then saying that would include further fees of lawyers and such.

There mailing address which was included in the email they sent me led me to this forum. No where else online can I find this address. Any legit collector should have their address all over the net:

Imperial Commercial

397 N Litchfield Rd, Ste 113

Goodyear, AZ 85338

Here is some other information they had in the email or they told me over the phone.

Brooke Herbert

8663148431

Ex. 1520

John Cambell was the person who called my mother and left what sounded like a prerecorded voicemail message in her voicemail box.

Let me know your thoughts. This address and company is not registered with the bbb.org which also raises red flags.

Edited March 6, 2011 by Amerikaner83
moved into new thread for ya :-) -AK83

[nrgins]

But the down side is that if they are legit, then they are threatening to garnish my wages and then saying that would include further fees of lawyers and such.

First, you should start your own thread here. Placing an entirely new topic inside an existing thread that has absolutely nothing to do with what you're discussing is not just bad manners, it's also ineffective. If you want to get responses to your situation, just start a new thread (doesn't cost any money to do so! ) and give it an appropriate title.

(taken care of for OP - Ak83)

That being said, regarding what you wrote, first, it sounds like a scam. Don't send them anything!

Second, if it's not a scam, since you say you're sure you don't owe them any money, don't send them anything!

It could be a mixup of some sort. Wachovia may have mistakenly put your name and SSN by a debt that someone owed, because it was on a nearby line or something. Seems unlikely, but mistakes do happen.

Either way, since you don't believe you owe any money, don't pay.

Third, this thing about that they could have just garnished your wages is complete BULLSH*T. To garnish your wages, they have to go to court and get a judgment first. That gives you the chance to object, to demand proof that you owe this money (which apparently you don't). And so forth. They can't just "garnish your wages"!

So take a deep breath, relax, and ignore them. If they contact you again, record the conversations. Sounds like they're violating federal law by saying they can garnish your wages without first going to court. You can sue them for that and get a judgment against them.

Also the fact that they have no contact information and refuse to give you anything along those lines leads me to believe this is a scam.

Probably some overseas company somehow got your SSN and previous banking info and are trying to pull this scam on you to collect a quick buck.

Record every conversation. Demand a mailing address. Do **NOT** give you them your banking info (or they'll suck money from your account and you'll never be able to find it again, since they're probably overseas and very hard to trace).

And this nonsense that mailing them a check would take too long to prevent them from garnish your wages is complete and utter nonsense!! Any reputable CA (as "reputable" as CAs can be, that is) would take a check and wouldn't mind waiting a few days. Obviously they don't want to give you their address because they don't have one in the U.S. and don't want you to know that. They just want your bank account info so they can take your money and run for a debt you don't owe.

Do not give them anything. Just ask for verification of the debt. Having your SSN isn't enough. Ask them to send you a statement that shows you owe the debt.

In any case, I would just ignore the buggers. Maybe report them to your AG.

Let us know how it goes.