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. [removed] 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. [removed], 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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