Never ignore any assertion from anyone that a debt is owed.
The initial right of a consumer is to request verification of any assertion by a debt collector that a debt is owed.
Have you sent debt valdation requests to them? They carry most weight when sent within 30 days of their dunning notice, as they then invoke a cease collection bar on them, providing incentive for them to send the requested verification.
If you do send DVs on debt that you dont feel is yours, a normal DV does not compel them to identity the original creditor with whom the asserted debt arose.
That must be separately requested in the DV.
Once you have identified the current and original creditor and have received a statement of the current amount of the debt, you are in a better position to argue that the account/debt is not yours. By providing verification, they must have some documentation to support their holding that she is the responsible debtor.
With evidence of who the debt allegedly arose, she can assert, for example, that any showing of indebetness must have resulted by someone else's use of her identity.
That can be addressed by the FCRA identity theft process.
If their verification is accompanied by documentation (which is not required), that may give rise to basis for disputing its accuracy.
It usually begins by use of the DV process.
