Right now all they have is my name and a number, they don't even know for sure it's valid. If I call back my concern is that they will know I am real and any information I give them will be more than they have now. I get these calls once a day, about 10 am, they usually roll to my answering machine but I do pick them up from time to time. The calls to my relatives are less frequent, they are all to people with the same last name as I have in the area.
Well, you are real. But if you stand your ground, they will also know just how real you really are.
Absolutely do NOT give them ANY information, and do NOT confirm anything they say, true or false (they may give you false information to see if you say no to that, which lets them assume yes to other information). The reason is that you do not know who they really are. They can make claims about who they are, but you won't know if any of that is true.
It's OK to confirm your name so they know that who they think they are calling has picked up the line. But don't confirm anything else. Don't confirm any accounts you have ever had with any company. In the event this is a scam (doubtful, but possible), they can use that info.
If you call them, treat it exactly the same way. You really don't know who THEY are. All you know is someone called you and gave you some phone number.
They may tell you details about the debt they are collecting. Tell them to send the information IN WRITING to the address on the account. At this point it is OK to confirm if the address is correct or not if they say it. But if it is wrong, do NOT give them your address. Instead, tell them that since the address is wrong, that indicates they have merely found the wrong person who happens to have the same name.
You, of course, have provided your current address to all accounts you have with any business ... right?
I do not believe there is any real debt here, but that it is some kind of scam. If my credit report is clean and I have no knowledge of any debts what risk do I run in not responding?
If it is a scam seems to me that responding is not likely to put an end to the calls, just give them more to go on. These folks have never sent me anything in the mail or give any specific information on the calls other than my name.
It could be a scam. It could just be a cheap debt collector that doesn't do proper skip tracing. Or it could be a debt owed by a deadbeat that is being effective in evading his debts, and this collector is getting desperate to find that person (who happens to have the same name).
This has happened to me a few times for at least two different people. They knew the status was that they had not definitively tracked down the right person or right phone number. They were calling everyone in the phone book by that name.
But, it could be a scam as you fear. Most scams in this case work by just getting people to pay even a little bit, or tricking them into giving some information. If they have already indicated that this is collecting a debt, that has already dismissed most of the better working scams.
Still, be prudent and careful. Do not give out or confirm any information other than if your name matches and if your address matches. Do not give any numbers of anything, not even your birth date, age, or driver's license number. Be sure to tell them that you want ALL COMMUNICATIONS about the matter to be IN WRITING ONLY and that you will not carry on this conversation with them again in the future.
More than likely, you'll never hear from them again in the future. If you do get the letter from them, you can send back a response that says you deny that the debt is yours, and that you do not want them to communicate with you about the matter any further, according to your rights in the FDCPA.
