Debt Collection Fraud: How to Fight It

It is amazing how many fraudulent practices (scams) are currently doing the rounds on our streets and online. One such scam is the fraudulent use of your personal information to garner collection of your debts belonging to your creditors.

There are a number of solutions to countering the problem of a dodgy sounding collections agency making contact with you demanding payment for a debt.

Firstly you will have to be notified by your creditors that an account you have with them is in arrears, so will be issued to a collections agency who will obtain the debt on their behalf. In most circumstances you will be notified by your creditor who the agency is that will be working to pursue the debt you owe.

If your creditor does not do this, then you should contact them to make sure of whom it is making the debt collection. Then contact the collection agency to procure a solution that suits both you and the agency.

This way you will know exactly who you are dealing with, and if you suspect any malpractice on your doorstep you can make contact with the agent to make sure. All agencies keep a record of who will be making the collections and how. This is the common sense approach to dealing with fraudulent debt collectors.

Another way would be to check who your creditors have placed your account with for collection of payments by using your credit reports. To be on the safe side you should use a credit report agency that uses the big three services of – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

The other way is to contact the big three credit report companies individually – which is often more time consuming.

This way you can make contact with collection agencies personally to make checks on their legitimacy or do your investigations.

If something does not seem right with a debt collection on your credit report, you could always make sure by contacting your original creditor who will be able to supply you with all the correct information.