Collection Agency Using ID Spoofing

[NigelBlackstone]

I would like to know how to go about having the same CA from calling me?

I live in California and my situation is this, for the past 2 years since I got my 1st number I have had a specific CA call me over and over. The people they are looking for do not live at my household, I don't know who they are, and I don't care to know them. But, I keep receiving calls for them to pay their bills. I have changed my number twice since then and the same CA keeps calling for the same people no matter how many times I have changed my number. They have used id spoofing to have my caller ID show it from people I do know, such as family members. When I do answer, they refuse to tell me what company they are and an address to send a certified letter to cease and desist.

As with many of the posts I have read, I had also been referred to the police, and likewise, was told that I have to have a company name and/or number.

How can I get these people to stop calling me?

 

[TigerD]

How can I get these people to stop calling me?

Have you considered paying your bill?

TD

 

[NigelBlackstone]

Have you considered paying your bill?

TD

It's not even my debt. These people are looking for someone else. In all honesty, I have no debt with anyone. I AM debt free. I have never heard of the people they are asking to talk with. I had started receiving these calls with my 1st number I got through TWC. They asked to speak with someone that is not even part of my household. They said they know it's me because of the name on their end of the caller ID. I have checked into this and there is not one central agency that handles caller ID, I was even told by the FTC that there is no one agency that handles caller ID and I have no control if they update their CID database or not.

As for your snarky response to "pay my bill", It's not even my bill to pay. I am the unfortunate person who received a recycled number of someone who IS in collections. I have twice changed my number but this CA that is calling me refuses to remove my number from their list even though I am not the person they are looking for, I don't know, have ever met, the person they are looking for, and apparently has been tracking changes to that number, at least that would be my assumption. This has been going on for 2 years, and I am tired of being harassed for someone else's inability to pay their bills.

Now is there any REAL advice for me?


[edit] Just as a side note, these people are in bigger trouble than just collections. I have had the county sheriff show up at my door looking for these people. However, once they realized that the phone they got the address for is NOT the person they are looking for, they have not bothered me since. And that was 2 years ago.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

Have you considered paying your bill?

TD

Reading is fundamental:

The people they are looking for do not live at my household,

Would you just pay a bill that isn't yours?

 

[Mark Maroon]

I would like to know how to go about having the same CA from calling me?

I live in California and my situation is this, for the past 2 years since I got my 1st number I have had a specific CA call me over and over. The people they are looking for do not live at my household, I don't know who they are, and I don't care to know them. But, I keep receiving calls for them to pay their bills. I have changed my number twice since then and the same CA keeps calling for the same people no matter how many times I have changed my number. They have used id spoofing to have my caller ID show it from people I do know, such as family members. When I do answer, they refuse to tell me what company they are and an address to send a certified letter to cease and desist.

As with many of the posts I have read, I had also been referred to the police, and likewise, was told that I have to have a company name and/or number.

How can I get these people to stop calling me?

It is HIGHLY unlikely that the same debt collector is calling 3 different telephone numbers looking for the same person that you don't know, and all 3 of those telephone numbers happen to be new telephone numbers to you.

In addition, it is HIGHLY unlikely that a real debt collector is calling your numbers and spoofing their CID to be numbers of people that you know, including your family members. (It's not impossible, but that's something HIGHLY personalized, and most debt collectors don't do that sort of thing.)

Given the relatively incomplete facts as you have presented them, it is MUCH more likely that someone you know is messing around with you, or that there is more to the story - like perhaps you have mushed together a lot of facts, and if they were teased apart it would lead one to believe that all of this is just random noise.

 

[FlyingRon]

It is HIGHLY unlikely that the same debt collector is calling 3 different telephone numbers looking for the same person that you don't know, and all 3 of those telephone numbers happen to be new telephone numbers to you.

Actually it is HIGHLY likely. Debt collectors are the lowest scum on the earth and will certainly use these tactics and pretend to be people they aren't (they will pretend to be lawfirms) to try to reacht he deadbeat. Alas no protection is afforded the innocent bystander, the FDCPA protects only the dead beat. My cellphone number was erroneously listed as the work number of some deadbeat I didn't know and NOTHING including calling the executives of National Recovery (one of the biggest slimeball agencies in the world) and the police down in the town they are located could get them to stop placing harassing calls to my number.

 

[Mark Maroon]

Actually it is HIGHLY likely. Debt collectors are the lowest scum on the earth and will certainly use these tactics and pretend to be people they aren't (they will pretend to be lawfirms) to try to reacht he deadbeat. Alas no protection is afforded the innocent bystander, the FDCPA protects only the dead beat. My cellphone number was erroneously listed as the work number of some deadbeat I didn't know and NOTHING including calling the executives of National Recovery (one of the biggest slimeball agencies in the world) and the police down in the town they are located could get them to stop placing harassing calls to my number.

Some debt collectors do shady or even illegal things. But it would be VERY unusual for a debt collector to call someone's telephone number (let alone two different numbers) looking for a person who is unrelated to the called party while spoofing the CID number of someone who is related to the called party.

 

[FlyingRon]

Some debt collectors do shady or even illegal things. But it would be VERY unusual for a debt collector to call someone's telephone number (let alone two different numbers) looking for a person who is unrelated to the called party while spoofing the CID number of someone who is related to the called party.

I'm sorry, you can keep saying that, but it is completely untrue. It's absolutely common. They will masquerade on every call pretending to be someone important (like a law firm). Do you think anybody ever answers a call where the caller ID says "Acme Collection Agency."

They don't give a rats ass if the number they are calling is the deadbeat, or just someone who may know the deadbeat. Further since the FDCPA prohibits disclosing the nature of a collection calls, it's particularly infuriating when you're the victim of such abuse until you realize what is going on.

 

[Zigner]

I'm sorry, you can keep saying that, but it is completely untrue. It's absolutely common. They will masquerade on every call pretending to be someone important (like a law firm). Do you think anybody ever answers a call where the caller ID says "Acme Collection Agency."

No, but how often does the CA take the time to track down phone numbers of relatives of the person who is NOT the one they mean to contact?

 

[FlyingRon]

No, but how often does the CA take the time to track down phone numbers of relatives of the person who is NOT the one they mean to contact?

They use any number that may have been associated with them. Whitepages.com and similar services will give you peoples numbers who "may now" the person (i.e., they have had the same billing address or the like at times). I got over a year of harassment and they thought that my cell was this guy's employer (let alone the deadbeat himself).

Believe me, until you've been on the receiving end of these slimeballs you won't realize how dastardly they can be.

 

[CdwJava]

There are services you can subscribe to that will provide cell phone numbers, land line numbers, public records, etc. - all for a fee. It is not unlikely that a debt collection agency could get new numbers unless they were from a pre-paid cell phone.

Now, spoofing friends' numbers, THAT would be unusual - and difficult information to determine, unless they were people indicated on a credit application and then they could be searched for in the same manner as the target.

 

[FlyingRon]

There are services you can subscribe to that will provide cell phone numbers, land line numbers, public records, etc. - all for a fee. It is not unlikely that a debt collection agency could get new numbers unless they were from a pre-paid cell phone.

Now, spoofing friends' numbers, THAT would be unusual - and difficult information to determine, unless they were people indicated on a credit application and then they could be searched for in the same manner as the target.

Bullpoop. As I said earlier it is pathetically easy. Type in a name and an approximate location and it will kick back names, addresses, phone numbers, and "related" people.
If I look up my name for example, I also get kick backs on my father's telephone and my brothers. I've not lived with either of them for over 30 years and certainly not at their current address/phone number. Never underestimate how slimey these guys are.

 

[Mark Maroon]

I'm sorry, you can keep saying that, but it is completely untrue. It's absolutely common. They will masquerade on every call pretending to be someone important (like a law firm). Do you think anybody ever answers a call where the caller ID says "Acme Collection Agency."

They don't give a rats ass if the number they are calling is the deadbeat, or just someone who may know the deadbeat. Further since the FDCPA prohibits disclosing the nature of a collection calls, it's particularly infuriating when you're the victim of such abuse until you realize what is going on.

You're not looking at this particular situation and you're referring to other situations.

You are correct in that debt collectors often call using a CID number and/or a CID name that will be deliberately somehow misleading to the called party (eg. the CID number cannot be linked to the actual caller, or the CID name says something like "FBI" or "YOU WIN" or the name of a law firm, whatever).

You are correct in that many debt collectors don't care if they are calling the debtor or someone who may simply know the debtor.

But I will indeed say it again. It would be HIGHLY unusual for a debt collector to call someone and spoof their CID number to be someone related to that person - when they are looking for someone unrelated and unknown to either person. Once again, I am not saying that it's impossible and that it could never happen. Just that this set of facts would be very unusual.

 

[Zigner]

Bullpoop. As I said earlier it is pathetically easy. Type in a name and an approximate location and it will kick back names, addresses, phone numbers, and "related" people.
If I look up my name for example, I also get kick backs on my father's telephone and my brothers. I've not lived with either of them for over 30 years and certainly not at their current address/phone number. Never underestimate how slimey these guys are.

I think you misunderstand the facts in THIS thread.

Let's say that DiverDan doesn't pay his bills. The bill collectors got FlyingRon's phone number connected to DiverDan somehow and call (a lot), including using spoofed numbers. In response, FlyingRon changes his phone number. Shortly thereafter, the bill collectors start to call FlyingRon's new number asking for DiverDan, so he changes it again. Shortly afterwards, the collectors start calling FlyingRon asking for DiverDan AGAIN, including using spoofed numbers that, coincidentally, belong to relatives of FlyingRon.

How likely is that to happen?

 

[FlyingRon]

I think you misunderstand the facts in THIS thread.

Let's say that DiverDan doesn't pay his bills. The bill collectors got FlyingRon's phone number connected to DiverDan somehow and call (a lot), including using spoofed numbers. In response, FlyingRon changes his phone number. Shortly thereafter, the bill collectors start to call FlyingRon's new number asking for DiverDan, so he changes it again. Shortly afterwards, the collectors start calling FlyingRon asking for DiverDan AGAIN, including using spoofed numbers that, coincidentally, belong to relatives of FlyingRon.

How likely is that to happen?

Pretty damned likely unless FlyingRon is very careful to keep his new number from being accessible in the databases.
Do you think these idiots have memories? They go on to their other suckers and then when it's time again they do another search and try every number they find again.