A big thank you to this forum! My wife and I almost fell victim to this scam!
This outfir first came to my attention about two weeks ago when I started receiving automated phone messages to "please call Boyajian Law Offices regarding a personal business matter" (sic).
At the end of week one of these messages, my wife called back and was informed that the calls were in regard to a utility debt she owed in Florida from seven years ago (1998). At first I thought this might be a bonafide debt; my wife had financial problems when we met (which I subsequently bailed her out of), but several red flags were raised immediately including:
1) The company told my wife the debt was from even though she hadn't had the phone number for which delinquent charges were sought since 1998 and we hadn't lived in Florida since 2001 when I accepted my current job in Missouri.
2) She asked for documentation. They gave her the brush-off and then told her that they could continue calling her until the bill was paid.
4) The amount sought would have equalled something on the order of three months' delinquent charges. Surely her phone service would have been turned off (which it hadn't been) or the phone company would have tried to contact her between 1998 and the present to collect on the debt.
5) I pull our credit reports annually and have never seen this charge. The only delinquent phone bill I"m aware of was a 1997 charge to Sprint (also incurred by my wife) which we paid in full in 1999,
6) The charge was to a company I had never heard of and was for cellular service, even though the number in question was for a land line.
Clearly, this company is not engaging in due-dilligence before embarking on debt collection. Either that, or they simply want to rip people off.
For those of you who are curious, I did a D&B search on the company. The physical office number (if anyone wants to try getting in touch with them that way) is 201-933-3332.
0 comments