I received a call that showed up on my caller ID as: Peoria County 425-256-3815. I usually don't answer calls that appear to be from telemarketers, but for some reason, I answered this call.
When I answered, a lady asked if I was Natalie. I said, "yes". She said that she was attempting to collect a debt. I told her that I didn't have any deliquent debts. She went on to say that it was for some magazine place (I didn't catch the name of it, nor had I ever heard of it) for $600 plus dollars, but that she could settle the account for $300 some odd dollars.
My heart was racing at this point because I knew that something was wrong here. I told her that I never ordered any magazines for over $600. She asked if my name was Natalie and used my maiden name instead of my married name. I told her that was my maiden name, but that I hadn't used that name in over 12 years. She then listed some address in California that I had never heard of. I told her that I had never lived in California. I was highly concerned at this point and told her that she had the wrong person. I tried to inquire more, but she hung up on me.
I called the number on the caller ID. It was for Luebke Baker and Associates. A lady came on the line and I explained the phone call and the situation, that they had the wrong person. She asked what I wanted her to do about it. I told her I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't get anymore calls and that they would note that I'm not the person who owes on the account. I gave her the phone number they called me at. She said that the debt was incurred in 2000 or 2001. I thought it was odd that they were calling about an alleged debt that was 5 or 6 years old. She then listed the California address. Once again, I told her that I never ordered magazines and I never lived in California.
I also told her that I didn't use my maiden name in 2000 because I had been married since 1994. She said that she would remove my number. I also asked a different associate how they got my phone number in the first place and was told that their client did all the research and just forwarded the information to them. I asked if I would need to contact the client to clear this up and let them know that I was the wrong person. The rep at Luebke told me no, that they would take care of it.
This rep also told me that my phone number had been removed from their system.
Well, at about 8:30 that night, Luebke Baker and Associates called again. I told the man that called that I had already been contacted about this and that my number was supposed to have been removed from their system. I explained to him that they were calling the wrong person. When I tried to inquire further about what was going on, he hung up on me.
This company had very poor business practices. What professional organization hangs up on someone who tries to get more information? The more I think about this, the more it sounds like a scam. Why would a company wait 5 or 6 years to try and collect a debt? Why do they call instead of sending a letter with detailed information about the debt? Why don't they seem to have any useful information? Why do they hang up when a person tries to get more information? It looks to me like they use a name (like a maiden name) that a person hasn't used in a long time and make up a debt that just happens to be really old in the hopes that people will think they forgot about it and go ahead and pay. Well, this just didn't fly with me. I hope they don't harrass me anymore. I will be checking my credit reports to make sure that this fraudulent debt hasn't been reported. People need to be aware of Luebke Baker and Associates.
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