This man is a hero. I'm sure many of you have gotten threatening calls from scam debt collectors. This "business" is very complicated and preys primarily on the poor, elderly and misinformed. This man with no training in the law or finance took on the scammers after getting a call from a debt collector who threatened his wife. This is a long piece but for anyone whose gotten a harrassing call from an unscrupulous collector for a fake debt I recommend reading all the way through. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/feat...t-owe-one-victim-fought-back-with-a-vengeance Millions Are Hounded for Debt They Don’t Owe. One Victim Fought Back, With a Vengeance Andrew Therrien wanted payback. He got it—and uncovered a conspiracy. On the morning a debt collector threatened to rape his wife, Andrew Therrien was working from home, in a house with green shutters on a cul-de-sac in a small Rhode Island town. Tall and stocky, with a buzz cut and a square, friendly face, Therrien was a salesman for a promotions company. He’d always had an easy rapport with people over the phone, and on that day, in February 2015, he was calling food vendors to talk about grocery store giveaways. Therrien was interrupted midpitch by a call from his wife. She’d gotten a voicemail from an authoritative-sounding man saying Therrien was in some kind of trouble. “I need to verify an address to present you with your formal claim,” the man had said. “Andrew Therrien, you are officially notified.” A few minutes later, Therrien’s phone buzzed. It was the same guy. He gave his name as Charles Cartwright and said Therrien owed $700 on a payday loan. But Therrien knew he didn’t owe anyone anything. Suspecting a scam, he told Cartwright just what he thought of his scare tactics. Cartwright hung up, then called back, mad. He said he wanted to meet face-to-face to teach Therrien a lesson. “Come on by, *******,” Therrien says he replied. “I will,” Cartwright said, “and I hope your wife is at home.” That’s when he made the rape threat. Therrien got so angry he couldn’t think clearly. He wasn’t going to just let someone menace and disrespect his wife like that. He had to know who this Cartwright guy was, and his employer, too. Therrien wanted to make them pay. At the same time, he worried that the call might not be a swindle. What if some misinformed loan shark really was coming for them? But Therrien didn’t have any real information he could take to the police. Then he remembered Cartwright had left a number with his wife. He dialed. Somewhere—at the top of a ladder of dirty debt collectors that Therrien would spend the next two years relentlessly climbing—a man named Joel Tucker had no idea what was coming. More at link.
I remember being hounded by a debt collector once trying to be all nasty about it. The conversations never went over the top like above, though. The only association they had to tie the debt to me was they had my phone number...which was obviously someone else's phone number before I acquired it. Other than that, nothing else matched (name, address, etc.). It took a while for the idiot on the other end of the phone to register in their brain that I wasn't the person with the debt and they weren't going to get a dime out of me. Specifically, the person who owed the debt was female and I am male. Duh! Luckily, it didn't go on too long. I probably screened my calls after that. It was back in the late 90s.
I'm glad this guy stuck it to that piece of crap. Anytime I get spam calls, I just hang up and block the number. Sometimes, when I'm bored and doing absolutely nothing, I'll call back the number about 20 times and wait for them to hang up each time, wasting as much of their time as I can.
The next worst to a scam debt collector imo is those bogus veteran committees that call up and lay a guilt trip on you about veterans when their bunk committee is nothing more than a shell to take your money. That happened to me a few weeks back. I said I would donate to get out of there. But, I looked to see if their "committee" was legit and couldn't find anything about it anywhere. And, it had such a legit name. Such a scam. I didn't send them a dime after that. I know there are legit ones. This wasn't it. But, the guy was totally using the argument to make you feel bad if you said no because injured vets need your help and all that. Disgusting. Apparently, scam veteran committees is a thing. That is very low in my book.
I only give to a handful of charities that I know and trust. I won't give to a cold call or someone coming to my door especially if they are pushy and try to use guilt trips.
Occasionally we’ll get calls at the office from these types. Looking for current or former employees from our field operations. Naturally those calls get routed to HR and occasionally my phone. I’ve even been personally threatened by some of them after refusing to give them any info. Lucky for them I have to keep things PG while on my office phone. But killing them with kindness can be entertaining as well.
Had too go through this when my dad died. Took bj Armstrong's overnight course of knowing your rights and didn't pay what wasnt owned
Interesting story but this guy sounds insane and miserable. I have to assume his wife is miserable as well - or, at least, she was miserable, until he started leaving for weekends at a time to chase down and network with debt collectors.
We just tell people that call that we don't commit to anything over the phone and if they want to mail us stuff, we'll have a look.
Didn't have time to read the article, but I feel little sympathy for deadbeats like this guy. Living wildly beyond his means and trying to keep up with all the latest gadgets and fads is a recipe for disaster. When it comes time to pay the bill these same people claim they were duped and defrauded by the American Dream.
Seriously. Do people really answer the phone if they don't know who it is? Hell, I don't even answer the phone if I do know who it is.* *because most of the time it's my in-laws
LOL you really didn't read the article. This guy uncovered thug debtors creating fake collection data bases using doctored loan application information. They weren't trying to collect on real debt.
Yep. I have never answered a number I don't recognize (cell or work) and I almost never listen to any voicemails. And there has never been an instance where I regretted not answering.
