Beware of fake collection call scams. They will try to separate you from your money in no time.
With the current economy, many people are finding that they have to juggle a bunch of bills and may be used to getting calls from collection agencies, or they may have a friend or family member in such a situation. But what if the collection agency isn’t real? If you aren’t careful you could wind up giving your hard earned money to con artists.
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), which was formed from a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center, is warning us all about loan collection schemes in which the thieves pose as a representative of the FBI or other government agency, a law firm, or another collection-type agency.
The fake representative claims to be calling to collect a debt and demands immediate payment by debit card, credit card or prepaid card. The calls are continuous and intimidating. The con artists will call the home, the workplace and cell phones over and over again until they can “collect the debt.”
The scammers may have legitimate information about the victim, including employer information, social security number, date of birth and more, often gotten through fake forms filled out on the Internet (credit card or loan applications).
If you get a call from a collection agency or other source, verify for yourself that you owe the debt. Get all of the details of your account by contacting your loan company directly.
Make sure that you report, to your bank and credit card issuers, any fraudulent attempts to collect money from you, and call the police if you feel that you are in immediate danger. Put a fraud alert on your credit file (through the major credit reporting agencies) and file a complaint at IC3.gov.
Related Articles:
What to Do with Your Extra Paycheck in March?