Email From CBE Group

[KathleenSR]

Hi all,

I received a collection email from a company called CBE Group that contains a pdf of, I assume, a collection letter. Is it safe to open the pdf? The instructions are to authenticate my details by double clicking on the PDF attachment and enter my zip code to open it. I was warned that the debt collectors would be coming out of the woodwork as soon as stimulus payments were deposited and here they come...it occurs to me that as soon as a I enter any identifying info they know they have the right person. Not going to do that. The only possible collection on my report is 6 1/2 years old and I’m looking forward to getting it deleted due to age. Anybody have any thoughts?

[BV80]

3 hours ago, KathleenSR said:

 

Hi all,

I received a collection email from a company called CBE Group that contains a pdf of, I assume, a collection letter. Is it safe to open the pdf? The instructions are to authenticate my details by double clicking on the PDF attachment and enter my zip code to open it. I was warned that the debt collectors would be coming out of the woodwork as soon as stimulus payments were deposited and here they come...it occurs to me that as soon as a I enter any identifying info they know they have the right person. Not going to do that. The only possible collection on my report is 6 1/2 years old and I’m looking forward to getting it deleted due to age. Anybody have any thoughts?

CBE Group is a legitimate collection agency, but whether or not it’s really from CBE might be a different story  

http://www.cbegroup.com/

[Clydesmom]

6 hours ago, KathleenSR said:

Is it safe to open the pdf?

NO.  It could be attached to malware or a virus.  NEVER ever open a link from a sender you do not know.

6 hours ago, KathleenSR said:

Anybody have any thoughts?

If there is a mailing address in the body of the email I would send a regular mail letter certified and return receipt disputing the alleged debt.  I would also clearly state that I do not open links in email and a copy of any debt collection notice needs to be mailed to the address provided. If there is a phone number and you can call and simply get an address to send regular mail to you can do that.  Otherwise if it were me I would ignore but not delete it.

[KathleenSR]

I was part of the Equifax data breach so I always question whether or not a communication is legitimate. Even if it is, all they know for sure is that the email address is real because it hasn’t bounced back to them. Since opening the pdf file isn’t a good idea I have no idea what they think they are collecting for. I haven’t received any calls from them.  Therefore, it doesn’t make much sense to try and validate an alleged debt without any information about it. Besides, that would cost $7 for a CMRRR and a trip to the post office during a pandemic. So far they have no proof they have contacted the right person. I’ll do a DV letter if and when I get something in the mail that I can thoroughly review. 

 

[WhoCares1000]

I don't know if an email with an attachment is considered communications for starting the clock for FDCPA purposes (meaning the 30 day clock has started). I doubt there is much case law on that and with the courts only doing what is Constitutionally necessary, I doubt there will be much case law coming out.

Your options are:

1. Open the PDF (which I would never recommend doing)
2. Do nothing and hope they think that they did not contact you
3. If you have a phone number, you could call them and state that you need to know what this is about since you refuse to open email attachments from unknown email addresses. Once they tell you what this is all about, inform the collector that you need 2 weeks to research your records and that you will get back to them either by phone or by mail, thank them and hang up. Do not get into a long discussion with the collector.
4. You can send a DV requests stating that you will communicate only via the US Mail and refuse to open any attachments in email.

Realize that the worst they can possibly do at this point is start a case because most courts are not holding civil hearings right now. If there is not judgement against you, they cannot take any funds from you. They can call you and send letters too but those are not too bad.

[BackFromTheDebt]

This whole thing seems rather fishy, or, quite possibly, phishing.

I would NOT open the attachment.

Email just is NOT a secure way to send these sort of things.  For example, how do they know they sent it to the correct email?  For example, many emails, including very important emails, that should be sent to me are sent to some poor fellow with the same first and last name but a slightly different email address.  

As far as I am concerned, I have not been contacted until I get a letter in the mail.  This may be an initial communication, in which case they have 5 days to send a letter.