Phone messages from creditor for someone else

[Anonymous]

I keep getting phone messages from what I am sure is a creditor, looking for someone with my last name but not my first name (but a similar sounding first name). I've checked my credit and nothing seems to be amiss, but I'm worried. Why would they have my phone number?

[Anonymous]

Call them back and talk to them.

I received phone calls from a Parole Officer and one from a Creditor that mixed up my husband and BIL (same first initial).

All I told the creditor what my husband's name was and that I didn't have a phone number for the other name. It was true, even though my husband had his brother's number, I did not.

They won't go away until you talk to them.

[Anonymous]

Yes call them back and tell them they got it wrong. That is all I had to do and the calls stopped.

[Anonymous]

This has happened to me more than once.

When they call, just let them know that the name is wrong. "There is no one here by that name." In one case, it was someone who lived in the apartment I'd moved into two years before. Another time, it was actually an acquaintance's name, which led me to believe that she'd intentionally provided my number as a false lead for creditors. Terrible!

Each time, the situation was cleared up immediately. I stop receiving calls almost instantly.

[Anonymous]

I have been getting these calls lately and they have been calling for different people each time. I called back twice to tell them to take my number out of their system, but it doesn't seem to have worked. Initially, I was really concerned, but now I'm just ignoring them.

[Anonymous]

I used to get hostile, threatening phone calls from debt collectors for someone else's debt. Finally, they stopped. Yours will, too.

[Anonymous]

Credit collections agencies use many different ways to try to track down delinquent debtors. Some are more questionable than others and often result in false positive connections (like a wrong number). You must call them back to get your name taken off of their list. Occasionally if this debtor has more than one outstanding debt the information used by one collection agency can be passed to another and you'll have two agencies that will have your number as a contact point for this person. Please be aware that telling that to take the name of their list can sometimes take 6-8 weeks to process (who knows why?) But, be adamant and call them back so that your number is severed from the deadbeat's name.

[Anonymous]

We have been getting calls from various creditors of the prior user of our number for 3 years now. When I get a message, I call back the number and do the automated thing for wrong number, yet they don't remove the number and keep calling back. I'm ready to report them!

[Anonymous]

Talk to someone live, ask for their name, their agency name, address, phone number, the name of the debtor, the name of the creditor, and the date and amount of the debt. (They probably won't tell you most of the last information without confirming you are the debtor but ask anyway). Then say that the debtor does not live at your address and that you know your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and that you will sue them if you receive even a single additional phone call. Follow up with a letter, then sue if you receive any further communications.

[Anonymous]

This happened to me and it turned out that the woman has my same first and last name, same last four digits of my SSN, and had once lived in a neighboring town. When I was finally home once when they called, I answered and kept asking to speak to the supervisor of the person I was on the phone with. They kept transferring me up the chain and I kept explaining that I was not this person. I did eventually talk to a high enough person that I got them to stop. (It helped that this was a ten year old debt and I was 22 at the time.) I don't think you will be able to make it stop unless you talk to them and convince them that you are not this person.

[Anonymous]

DON'T LISTEN TO THESE OTHER PP'S!
DO NOT CALL AND TALK TO THESE PEOPLE!
IGNORE THEM!
Why would you call these people and give them information (oh that's not my name...that's my husband's name -- or you have my ss wrong).
That is crazy...creditors will do anything to get you on the hook for something...and you give them the info to do it...next thing you know you will have go thru a lot of b.s. to legally prove that you are no responsible for this debt.
I get these calls -- i ignore them....they to to the answering machine..i erase...eventually they go away.

[Anonymous]

I think they're just trying to track this person down and they figure that bothering people with the same last name will help them find a relative who will tell them how to get hold of this person. I wouldn't worry about it.

[Anonymous]

I get these calls all the time. I have a very common name. I tell them they have the wrong person, occassionally give them my month and day of birth to prove it, and check my credit score often. They typically stop talking as soon as I tell them they're barking up the wrong tree.

[Anonymous]

It depends how much they bother you and how frequently they call. We had one company that kept calling repreatedly. I finally spoke to them and told them they have the wrong person. They grilled me for several minutes about whether I knew the person, was the person a relative, etc . I said they really needed to take my number out of their database. They said that they couldn't help it if the system hadn't updated with correct information. I said since I had the same telephone number for ten years, I really thought they had an obligation to update their system once within ten years. They were really nasty but it was the only thing that stopped the calls.

[Anonymous]

Gurl! This is your chance go off. It's I'd unlawful for them to call you. Tell them once and tell them the next time you are suing.