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I have done that twice for family members, along with asking for proof of the debt, and that they are authorized to collect it. Both times, never, ever heard fr
by briffle 6y ago
I have done that twice for family members, along with asking for proof of the debt, and that they are authorized to collect it. Both times, never, ever heard from the collector again.
- milesvp 6y agoMy understanding with debt collectors, is that they usually purchase a spreadsheet with very limited data, and there is almost never a paper trail for said debt. Which also means debt has a habit of showing up on multiple spreadsheets that keep getting resold. I think planet money did a podcast on this topic. Patio11 also wrote about talking to debt collectors with regards to identity theft. https://www.kalzumeus.com/2017/09/09/identity-theft-credit-reports/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/2017/09/09/identity-theft-credit-r...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- rmilk 6y agoThis seems to the the correct understanding. See these two articles that give the view from people who tracked down the debt collections and the bad data in those spreadsheets. Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-12-06/millions-are-hounded-for-debt-they-don-t-owe-one-victim-fought-back-with-a-vengeance https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-12-06/millions-... NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/15/magazine/bad-paper-debt-collector.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/15/magazine/bad-...