If you are in Europe or the UK GDPR is your friend! If you get contacted by a debt collector, make a Subject Access Request while you have them on the phone fo

If you are in Europe or the UK GDPR is your friend! If you get contacted by a debt collector, make a Subject Access Request while you have them on the phone for all information they hold on you. In the UK they will require a 'notice of assignment' from the original issuer of the debt and any subsequent owners, along with a signed copy of the credit agreement. If they don't have this they are toothless. If you get issued with a county court claim form hit them immediately with a SAR for the details above and reply to the claim form stating that you do not recognise that debt, that you have asked for the details above but have yet to receive them. You can make a claim from them under Civil Procedure Rules to make them hand over the docs that their case relies on. Google is your friend on this.