I've got a variation on some of the other Asset Acceptance stories here, but it's pretty similar. I received a letter addressed to an Adam W. Landry at my address, which contained only a one-line description Re: Southwestern Bell and a web address where I could go online to pay my 240 dollar "bill" with a credit card.
My first reaction was that this was a phishing scam, since I've never had any dealings with Southwestern Bell in my life and never had any debt from any company. The letter was also to Adam W. Landry, and W is not my middle initial, so I figured it was a convenient way for them to claim it was an error after I'd given them my information.
So I called their number and asked why I was being billed. I was asked for the last four digits of my Social Security Number to "confirm my identity". I refused to do this, as I had pretty much expected this to be a scam that would operate this way and asked to speak to a supervisor regarding this bill.
The supervisor was extremely confrontational and flat-out demanded my SSN, telling me that he wasn't going to answer my questions before I answered his. I tried to explain that the only thing I wanted was an explanation of why I was being billed, but I got nowhere and just hung up.
I sent a message like this to Asset Acceptance's customer service email (which wasn't on the letter I received), thinking that this was just somebody pretending to be them that had tried to scam me. I let them know that somebody was phishing under their name, and they sent me back a message telling me that they don't converse using email as it is "an insecure medium" and that I should call the number I received in my letter.
I can understand the other reports I've seen on here about them trying to collect on old debts, but this seems a little different, like they are trying to collect a debt that didn't even exist in the first place. Are they just hoping I would pay the bill without looking at it, or will they keep contacting me looking for this fictional debt?
I am going to send them a certified letter requesting a full itemization of why I am being billed and what right they have to do so, as well as how they obtained my information. Is this all that I need to do to make sure they can't get to me?
I would also be interested to know what legal recourse I have for this sort of situation, and if it is possible to press charges for extortion.
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