My elderly father too received a "collections letter" from these people stating that he owed Keybank (which he has never dealt with or heard of!) $18,277.83 for a vehicle he supposedly bought in 1987 (1st date they gave), then 1992, then it was 1997.
He had allegedly bought a vehicle - they couldn't tell us from where - had not paid for it, and it had been reposessed.
When he disputed it, they suggested that maybe he had co-signed for a son, daughter, or grandchild and had forgotten.
They maintained that Keybank had sent several letters requesting payment with no response from him and had now turned it over to them, and that they were willing to settle the debt for a mere $11880.59 if he could send payment within 3 days! This in turn would avoid having liens placed on his property (which was being researched while we spoke!) and other legal action.
The man on the phone was unable to give us ANY details regarding the transaction, even put his supervisor on the phone who didn't know any more than he did.
The call ended with him assuring me that this was a VERY serious matter that needed to be taken care of IMMEDIATELY. He called back again the next day stating the same.
I was able to get a phone # on Keybank and discovered that they had no record of ever doing business with my father, and that they don't even have a branch in Texas where we live.
I faxed ARA a statement telling them what Keybank said as well as their Better Business Bureau rating of F!!! For doing this same thing to several other people.
BEWARE of these people-they sound convincing and are armed with SSN's, previous addresses, and other personal information to make them sound legitimate.
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