I was first contacted by Camco in late 2002. They called me and said that they had bought a debt of mine. I asked what the debt was, and they said that I had defaulted on a Capital One credit card. I have never had a credit card of any kind. I asked to be connected to a supervisor. I explained this to the man on the phone. He said he would do some more research, and after supposedly doing so, said that it was in fact a Southwestern Bell debt from 1997. I explained to him that I never had a phone in my own name until 1998. The address he gave which went with the debt was not one that had ever been mine (I have since learned that it is the address of a business.)
This took place over the course of several phone calls. I repeatedly called him back, because I thought that this was a real debt and I wanted to discharge it. He suggested that I pay him with an echeck over the phone. I told him that I did not consider that to be a safe financial practice, as he could be anyone, and that I don't give my financial information out to unknown persons. I asked if he could mail me something verifying the provenance of this debt. He said that he would, and I gave him my address.
I know I wrote this man's name down somewhere, but I don't think I kept it. He never sent me anything in the mail, and after I had explained that I had not had such a phone, I thought this was settled.
A few months later, I received another call from a Camco agent. I told her that I had spoken to a supervisor (and I gave her his name) and that the debt to which they referred was not mine. She then told me that the debt was not a Southwestern Bell bill, but a Beall's department store bill.
I have never had a credit card of any kind, and that includes a Beall's department store card. I live in the inner city, I'm an urban sort, and I don't shop at Beall's.
I told the woman that I had never had such a card. She told me that it was possible that someone had stolen my identity, but that I was still responsible for the debt, and I'd be better off just paying them. I told her that I would not pay for a charge that I had not made, and that the fact that her company could not give me a straight story regarding the provenance of this bill made me reluctant to give them any money.
They didn't call me again for several months. Then, I received another call. This woman was back to the Southwestern Bell story. I told her that, had she read the notes made by previous callers, she'd see that I a) never had such an account with SWB and that b) CAMCO had already given me three different stories, none verifiable, about the provenance of this debt, and that thus I suspected they were attempting to defraud me. I told her that any further calls would be regarded as harassment.
Since then, they have had a man named Tony Johnson call me repeatedly. He calls me every day. He has called me a liar. He says that I owe them money and that therefore calling me every day is not harassment. He is back to the 'Capital One Credit Card' story. I told him that I do not now nor have I ever had a Capital One card. He said "You know that you did."
Today he called again, and I called the police. They are supposed to call me back with a case number and I will then file a report via telephone. I'll update when the report has been filed.
0 comments