In the event any of this sounds familiar to you I pass along my story:
On Sunday Morning, I received an automated phone call from Palisades Collections.
It began with the phrase "This is not a sales call". I was instructed to call them at the number 1-800-414-8319. When I received the same call the next day, it became apparent I might have a problem. Upon "Googling" Palisades Collections, I was greeting with hundreds of similar complaints.
I called the National Association of Consumer Advocates (www.naca.net.) They explained that, with the current economy, the "Collection Industry" has really ramped up it's efforts to collect unclaimed debt. They are skip tracing for phone numbers that have been left as contact numbers by people who owe money. If you are unfortunate enough to wind up with one of these "formerly owned" phone numbers you could be receiving these calls as well.
Here is what I did to remedy the situation.
After calling Palisades Collections I was prompted to give my Social Security Number.
DO NOT GIVE THAT OUT. Remain quiet until you are prompted with a series of options. You will want to choose #5.
When the rep came on I explained that I was debt free and being harassed by these calls. He asked for the number that was being called. I was then given a name that I didn't recognize and asked if I knew her. He explained that this number was left as her former contact and promised to take me off their list. I felt free to verify the phone number since they already had that...but do not give them any other personal information INCLUDING YOUR NAME
The National Association of Consumer Advocates told me that this is beginning to develop into a major problem. If you are debt free and getting calls it would be a good idea to make sure that these companies aren't somehow hitting your credit. By law you are entitled to one free credit report per year by each of the 3 reporting agencies. There is only one website that handles these: www.annualcreditreport.com.
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