@vntrsc wrote:
@Shooting-For-800 wrote:Send certified mail to demand all correspondence by mail.
He has to follow it.
If he breaks that, tell him he is on a recorded line and record it.
Then sue him for like $5k per call.
GL!
The problem with scammers is that they usually cannot be located. They either will not provide an address or they'll provide a fake one. It wouldn't surprise me if these scammers are operating out of Mom and Dad's basement.
Yeah and they always call from your same area code to try and fool you.
@anik28 wrote:Update: the calls have not stopped. They've changed the name of the place they are calling from; I've blocked every single number they call from. They call 6-10 times a day - all from different numbers. I've told them now 2 times that I am recording the call and their threats aren't legal. Yet they continue. How do I stop this madness? I swear I will NEVER have a bad debt again - the harassment and threats are relentless. This debt is so old I don't think they can even be collecting on it still, beyond 10 years old. I've had enough of their tactics - these people are scum of the earth.
Just a cautionary note: when it comes to recording calls, there are laws governing what is and isn't legal. YOU could end up in trouble if you don't make sure you follow your state's laws--and possibly the laws where the scamming piece of crap is. I know you said you told them you're recording, and that's definitely good, but I don't know whether you need them to acknowledge it to make it legal where you are. Here in California, it's definitely illegal to record a call without telling the other party that you're doing it.
@anik28 wrote:@SoCalGardener im in CA as well. She said yes I know you're recording, I need your information to update your file and then she hung up when I said no. I was told above to tell them I'm recording the call and reporting to the Consumer Affairs, which I have done. They responded that they had no record of my file at Misland Financial so I think I had the wrong Collector.
I don't.
I think you're being scammed. 
Somehow this piece of crap got your personal information and is pulling a scam. We hear about these things every day, so I'm not surprised at all. They'll do or say ANYTHING to get you to give them what they want. People have lost their entire life's savings to scumbags like that. No legitimate creditor would threaten and harass you the way these people (I'm using the term loosely here) are.
There's nothing you've said that leads me to believe you legitimately owe this debt, and even if you did, the statute of limitations ran out long ago. That nonsense about committing fraud is just that--nonsense. This whole thing just reeks of scammer! *I* would stop answering their calls completely. I screen all of my calls because I get bombarded by sales and robocalls ALL DAY LONG--and probably 90% of those are scams. I only pick up when it's a name/number I recognize; otherwise, I either let it go to voice mail and check it later or, if I think it MIGHT be someone legitimate, I'll screen it and then decide. There's no point blocking their number because spoofing new numbers is easy as pie. You could never block every number they might call from. So don't bother! Just don't pick up calls you don't recognize.
Agreed with everyone else, it's 100% a scam and now that you have engaged with them, they are not going to stop harassing you. Best and probably easiest thing to do is call your phone provider and change your number and make sure it's an unpublished number. Here's a link for doing it with cell numbers (if that's the number they are calling): https://smallbusiness.chron.com/put-cell-phone-unlisted-number-list-45934.html
And if it's a land line, just call your provider and have it changed and unpublished.
And if it's a land line, just call your provider and have it changed and unpublished.
If you are using an Android phone you can put your phone in do not disturb mode all the time.
That's what I do. From my normal wake time until my normal bedtime my phone is on do not disturb so nobody who is not in my contacts can ring the phone. Every one else gets voice mail. From bedtime to wake up only specific "starred" contacts can ring my phone. It works with texters too.
No more being bothered by anyone I don't have to be bothered by.
I assume iThings have similar capabilities.
Reduce your stress, set dnd and flush your voicemail when you decide to. For bonus serenity get visual voicemail and then you can read the messages and delete them in rapid fashion without having to listen to them.
