>Charlotte<
Lurker
I am in North Carolina.
Years ago I had an account with BMG Music. I eventually got tired of it, paid the balance, and closed the account.
Two days ago I received a call from someone claiming to be a collection agency calling about my "unpaid" BMG account. He insisted it had not been paid and asked me to pay the balance right then with a credit card or checking account. I got suspicious and started asking him questions, but he suddenly hung up on me.
A common e-mail scam is for the scammers to pretend to represent a large corporation. If they e-mail enough people they're bound to find some who actually do business with that company, and then all they have to do is hope some of them are dumb enough to provide them with vulnerable information. I suspect the scam now includes calling people on the phone, and they got "lucky" because I am one of many people who did have an account with BMG, and they were trying to convince me I have an unpaid balance.
What's the best way to confirm that someone claiming to be a collection agency is legitimate? Could the original creditor confirm the status of an account even if they have "sold" the debt? If I ever get the name of the agency, is there some kind of licensing body that could confirm it is a legitimate agency?
Years ago I had an account with BMG Music. I eventually got tired of it, paid the balance, and closed the account.
Two days ago I received a call from someone claiming to be a collection agency calling about my "unpaid" BMG account. He insisted it had not been paid and asked me to pay the balance right then with a credit card or checking account. I got suspicious and started asking him questions, but he suddenly hung up on me.
A common e-mail scam is for the scammers to pretend to represent a large corporation. If they e-mail enough people they're bound to find some who actually do business with that company, and then all they have to do is hope some of them are dumb enough to provide them with vulnerable information. I suspect the scam now includes calling people on the phone, and they got "lucky" because I am one of many people who did have an account with BMG, and they were trying to convince me I have an unpaid balance.
What's the best way to confirm that someone claiming to be a collection agency is legitimate? Could the original creditor confirm the status of an account even if they have "sold" the debt? If I ever get the name of the agency, is there some kind of licensing body that could confirm it is a legitimate agency?