BigMikeinNY Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 (edited) I knew this would be a place I could come to get some great answers, I appreciate you taking the time to read this...... Ok, here is the deal........Between July and October I continually had 2 credit card companies calling say I had an overdue balance....I dont have credit cards with those companies and I kept telling them that. After them continually calling, I got scared. Was I being caught up in credit fraud? So, I did a free credit report online....That friggin credit report shows EVERYTHING. Car loans, student loans, even my credit card when I was 18 that is now paid off. The credit report showed NOTHING of what these "credit card companies" claimed......After I checked, the calls went away. ......well now over the past few days the calls are returning. They are coming from two credit card companies I have never heard of claiming I have an over due balance. I dont know who they are. I have never recieved a statement. I have NEVER given any of these people my SS#. The sometimes get very frustrated when I wont give it. i ask them to look up my so called account according to my phone # and they get aggrivated.... I am begining to get scared again a. Are they real debts someone has run up? b. are they scammers looking for my SS#? So I guess my question is - What can I do? Does running another free credit report online kill my credit score? Do I report this? Thanks for taking the time to read this guys BMinNY Edited December 7, 2006 by BigMikeinNY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 I am pretty sure that if you yourself order your credit report directly from one of the three official credit agencies that it will not affect your credit score at all. You should also call up the 3 main credit-reporting agencies and ask them to put some sort of fraud alert on your credit history. Also, when the companies call you up, firmly tell them that you have no open account with them and that if they call you back you will report them to your state's attorney general. Alternatively (and perhaps even better) is you can call up the credit-card companies yourself and report what is going on. If it is a 3rd-party scam, they will want to know about it too.) (I'm sure somebody else will have better info than this.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cre8tiff Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 You are being phished. You should absolutely report it. Running a credit report every once in a while does not hurt your credit. Always request proof of debt to be mailed to you in the form of an invoice. Have them read off the address to the account. That will dissuade most bogus creditors. Do not under any circumstances give them any personal information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yo mama Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 (edited) Mike, next time anyone calls, ask them for them for a "demand letter." They can't do squat to you under the law until they send a demand letter. Until then, they are just shaking you down and you've got nothing to worry about. However, if you want to be a little more proactive about this (i.e., go the offensive) you can send them what is called a "cease and desist" letter. If, after you send them a cease and desist letter, they contact you outside the very defined parameters of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act you can: (1) sue them; (2) report them to the Attorney General of the state they operate in; (3) report them to the Federal Trade Commission; and (4) assuming there is an attorney involved (I've seen a number of situations where a law firm is acting as debt collector) you can report the attorney invovled to their respective state bar association. Bottom line, most of these clowns stop frisking you once you drop a cease and desist letter in their lap. PM me if you're interested in a fairly boiler plater cease and desist letter that I wrote for my wife two years back. I'd be happy to redact all her personal info and forward you a fill in the blank type letter that you can use. Here's some good general info on "fair" debt collection that may provide some insight. Here is a link to the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act itself, which I recommend that you print and read. It's dense and "lawyerly," but once you get your mind around this law, you will never fear a debt collector (legit or otherwise) again for the rest of your life. These scum prey on the ignorant. So don't be. Peace, brother. Edited December 7, 2006 by yo mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Holy Roller Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 About a month and a half ago the same scenario was happening to me! I asked for their demand letter and that was that. It's definitely a phishing trip. Yo mamma is tits on with his advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMikeinNY Posted December 7, 2006 Author Share Posted December 7, 2006 To all of you, thank you for the advice! I will keep you posted!! BM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whomper Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Call Equifax and as Wiegie suggested get fraud insurance. I think it costs like 95 bucks for the whole year and you have unlimited access to your credit reports plus it will send alerts if status changes..Here is the # (1-877-474-8273), Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Call Equifax and as Wiegie suggested get fraud insurance. Actually, I didn't suggest getting fraud insurance. (I didn't not suggest it either though.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliaz Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Yeap you are being phished. ID theft is ugly. Like i've said a thousand times over on this board, I got nailed a while back (2 1/2 years) and i'm still cleaning up the fallout. Next time they call you do what the people suggested above. But if you are feeling up to it, ask for their phone contact information and tell them once you get all of your information together you'll call them back with it. Then call your local FBI office and turn over the information to them. They will pick it up from there. The FBI was very helpful with me when it cam to my ID theft. I discovered that some dude named Kallic Mohammad from making VOIP calls from Canada to the middle east using my credit card information. I bet that's why the FBI was so helpful... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Holy Roller Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Actually, I didn't suggest getting fraud insurance. (I didn't not suggest it either though.) Though a clever use of the double-negative this sentence still gets flagged. 5 yards minor infraction because it was used in a possibly helpful way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonorator Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 pay them immediately. you don't want to have your wages garnisheed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whomper Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Actually, I didn't suggest getting fraud insurance. (I didn't not suggest it either though.) My bad..The fraud alert you suggested is a good idea..We just did it and I used equifax which is the number I posted for Bigmike..A laptop was stolen from the bank that carries my mortgage so we received a letter suggesting we do that which we did.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Referee Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Though a clever use of the double-negative this sentence still gets flagged. 5 yards minor infraction because it was used in a possibly helpful way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junebugz Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Sleeping on the job, 10 yard penalty and loss of down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whomper Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Sleeping on the job, 10 yard penalty and loss of down. Squeegie is the grammer police..I dont think that falls under the referees duties.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Squeegie is the grammer police..I dont think that falls under the referees duties.. [squeegie]It's GRAMMAR with an A, for f*ck's sake![/squeegie] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Whomper said duties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatman Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Actually, I didn't suggest getting fraud insurance. (I didn't not suggest it either though.) Well, what good are you then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H8tank Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Interesting post... I paid a cc off this summer, then couple weeks ago got a call said I had a balance of $170 that was over due. I never tell blind calls its me, usually tell them I am simply cleaning the office or something, so I took a msg. Looked up my cc statement online, showed zero balance and closed. Called my cc company, they confirmed zero balance and closed, so I thought fok it, i'm not gonna worry about it. Pretty brave to phish over the phone leaving a phone number, it was a black chick who called me, but she sounded american. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Holy Roller Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Interesting post... I paid a cc off this summer, then couple weeks ago got a call said I had a balance of $170 that was over due. I never tell blind calls its me, usually tell them I am simply cleaning the office or something, so I took a msg. Looked up my cc statement online, showed zero balance and closed. Called my cc company, they confirmed zero balance and closed, so I thought fok it, i'm not gonna worry about it. Pretty brave to phish over the phone leaving a phone number, it was a black chick who called me, but she sounded american. Prolly thought you were a janitor. I always tell callers I am the butler and the Rollers are vacationing in Europe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whomper Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 [squeegie]It's GRAMMAR with an A, for f*ck's sake![/squeegie] I friggin knew it..I asked 2 people before I posted and they both said Er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 I friggin knew it..I asked 2 people before I posted and they both said Er And being a possessive, it would be "The Referee's duties" with an apostrophe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yo mama Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 (edited) I friggin knew it..I asked 2 people before I posted and they both said Er Bull. Whomper knew exactly what he was doing when he was boning on Grammer, with an "e." Edited December 7, 2006 by yo mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Whomper said duties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whomper Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Bull. Whomper knew exactly what he was doing when he was boning on Grammer, with an "e." Yo Mama ..I dont think you get the credit you deserve on here as far as providing the laughs.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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