I have an elderly relative who recently got a call from this company regarding a bill that was paid about two decades ago for which my relative, obviously, no longer has the records to prove the bill was paid. CAMCO demanded an absurd amount and said that the relative's credit "wouldn't stay good" if they didn't pay up. Yeah right.
My relative, who is in frail health, called me at my office to tell me about the call. My relative also received a letter from CAMCO which was highly amusing because they had never even heard of the so called "debtor" whom CAMCO said was left unpaid.
I called the "collector" at CAMCO, an extremely obnoxious and harassing "man" (with the emphasis on the quotation marks) by the name of "J.J.". He wouldn't give me CAMCO's address but kept giving me the BBB's web URL. When I repeatedly told him that I didn't need the Better Business Bureau's address (they're no help), but wanted to know the address for CAMCO because I didn't believe that they were an authetic company. He began yelling at me and attempting to intimidate me. I was amused.
What a pathetic creature he was. I've seen this type of rabble throughout my career. Heck, I have to deal sleazeballs like that all the time in my profession. I could actually hear his blood pressure going up as I laughed at his tirade and I thought of how he preyed on my sickly relative and was doing the same to others throughout the country. If only he'd have had a heart attack and dropped dead right on the phone. That would have been a service to the community.
This company is a completely ripoff from what I've seen and I've done a great deal of investigation. They also received GOVERNMENT money to get their "business" rolling. Therefore, I'm sure the Illinois politicians would be very interested to hear that they supported such an entity, especially when they're running for re-election.
Folks, please be aware that the statue of limitations, even if you DID actually owe the money, if over after 7-10 years (depending on what state you live in), means that CAMCO cannot destroy your credit. I have this on good authority my attorney, my best friend (a Deputy State Attorney in one of the states where CAMCO operates), and the State Attorney General's offices in several other states where they operate.
Therefore, send CAMCO a certified letter with return receipt (and make a copy of your letter for your records) stating that they are to stop contacting you and that you do not owe the debt. After that, if they continue to call you, seek legal counsel, because they are not permitted to call you once you have sent them a certified request that they are not to do so.
Now, you might wonder what I'm doing to help my relative at this point. Well, I'm a Hollywood publicist (yes, to celebrities-did they pick on the wrong person's relative or what?) and just for pure principle, I am forwarding documentation about this company to all of my major media contacts as well as the ones near CAMCO's offices. I recommend you do the same.
I have also contacted the State Attorney General's office in each state in which they are located and every one of them has said they've already been getting a great deal of phone calls and they want people to fill out complaint forms so they can officially investigate the claims.
Folks, please make sure that your phone calls evolve into official complaints with the State Attorney's office in your state and in CAMCO's. If they get enough complaints, they will open an investigation that will surely close CAMCO's doors. What companies like CAMCO do makes BILLIONS each year. That's why they're in that "business." It's highly lucrative intimidation.
In addition, contact your local media and make them aware of CAMCO. The more the media covers this story, the less chance that CAMCO closes its doors, reopens under another name, then continues to harass other innocent people who have no idea they're being ripped off.
Nail them to the wall!
I might add, if you surf around the web, there are attornies in IL who are gathering participants for a class action suit. I believe it's one of several that is lodged against CAMCO in a few locations.
More than anything, just laugh at them when they call you or hang up. Don't let them scare you. If someone who looked like a criminal asked you for money in the street, you wouldn't give it to them. Well, then don't let these people talk you into it via phone/mail. They can't do a bloody thing to you if the statue of limitations has run out. They're just hoping to frighten you into paying them and their employees are probably on commission, hence their diligence. Make sure they starve. They deserve it for preying on people.
A.J.
Hermosa Beach, California
U.S.A.
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