Anything I can do to stop call from debt collector for another person?
 

I keep getting calls for "Leon H" from General Revenue Corporation. I have repeatedly told these people to stop calling. I've told them my full name. They say they'll take care of it. They still call. Reading on the web, it seems GRC has a habit of contacting people with similar names as people who owe money. Is there anything I can do to make this stop? :mad:

Try this:

"Hello." (In a short, abrupt voice.)

"Is Leon H. there?" (Or however they start off.)

(Interrupt rudely...)

How did you get this number?

(Before they have a chance to answer interrupt again...)

This is a secure number for a government agency. What is your full name and home address? (Pull the phone back away from your mouth and say: ) Hey Smith! Who's our agent in (city guy gave you). Tell him we need to make a pickup.

(Play it by ear here. If he gives you his name, make thinly veiled legal threats alluding to national security. If he asks which government agency, ignore the question and tell him your concern is determining how he got the number. If he gives you his supervisor, give him the third degree and make sure to throw out terms like "Patriot Act" and "presidential authorization".)



If you do it right, they won't call back. Asking them nicely does not work.

Nice one Legion.

I've had collector calls from over 30 agencies spanning 3 years to my home office number. It's humorous the things they try and do to "trick me" into telling them I'm really Barbara and John Seguina.

I think I'm going to try your method though.

Unfortunately LeeH you're screwed. They probably have debt with many places who will call you numerous times. you can ask but it's hit or miss. There is a harrassment law but hardly worth hiring a lawyer and writing those certified letters.

I had Ford credit agency calling for a while. They were looking for two guys with very different last names than I have. As I was gone all day, my message machine took the calls. It started with one a week and finally about everyday. I finally changed my outgoing message, something to the effect of: " Ford credit agency, cease and desist these calls immediately! These people have never lived a this address, nor this phone number! DO NOT CALL AGAIN!". Calls stopped and then I forgot to change the outgoing message.... Whoops!

This has been going on for quite a while. I just filed a complaint against the company with the FTC. You can't disclose to anyone that someone else owes a debt. Their robocall does this. Probably won't change anything, but it give me a warm fuzzy to think that the Feds might look into these folks.

Robocall? File a do-not-call complaint too.

DNC is a total joke. I've reported calls with every detail requested on the FCC web site only to receive a form letter saying I didn't include enough info. Companies have figured out that the FCC doesn't care and they just ignore it.

Confuse 'em with this outgoing message on your machine... it's a Steven Wright original:

"Hello, this is the answering machine in my car. I'm home right now so I can't take your call. At the beep, leave your name and number and I'll call you back next time I go out."


I once put that on our machine just for fun... you won't believe all the awkward silences and stumbling attempts it causes while people try to figure out what they just heard.

The faster you say it, the better. :D

I got a new phone number about a year & a half ago. I kept getting calls from finance companies & a parole officer asking for some lady. They left numbers to call back to. I just called them & told them it was a new number, that I didn't know the person they were calling for and to take my name off their lists. Never heard from them after that. Maybe I was lucky.

I lived in an apartment where we kept getting calls (maybe once a month) from an employment agency looking for a "Juan." I just told them "Sorry, there is no Juan here." I crack myself up.

We get an occasional doofus calling asking for a "Cheryl" who doesn't live here. We've lived here over five years. The previous tenant was named "Anthony" and he was here at least three years. So at best/earliest, this Cheryl person lived here 8+ years ago. I don't even respond. I'd be wasting my breath. Just hang up. I'll be getting rid of that phone and number soon enough anyway so I don't particularly care. It's not all that often anyway.

Lee after they give you the speile just respond with "What are you wearing right now?"

The robocalls really piss me off because there is no human to harass.

Although it ceased a few years ago, over a couple of years, I was constantly getting called (by the same fellow) looking for someone who'd defaulted on a loan (don't know the details). I've been at the same address and had the same telephone number for years. He was persistent, even after I told him he was wasting his time (and mine, though most times I didn't answer base upon his calling #). Took a while, but he finally stopped...a PITA it was :(.

All the calls with humans are recorded.

Tell em the person is unknown to you and does not reside here.

If you call again you are in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Act.

Has worked for me every time.

Another strategy is to waste as much time of the debt collector as you possibly can. Keep him on the phone as long as possible. They get paid based on what they collect. Make them cringe when they see your number come up in the queue.

"Yep, I see Leon walking up to the house right now."

"No, wait. He turned around and got back in the car."

"Hold on a minute, let me call him on the cell phone."

(Set the phone down and walk away.)

***

Next time he calls:

"Leon should be along any minute now..........say, I went to the doctor today and got myself one of them colonoscopies. Ever had one of those?"