Any one ever get a call from...

[octopus41092]

Penn Credit Corporation, (800)900-1380? A couple times they stated that I should contact someone named Barbara Johnson there.

They repeatedly call stating that they're trying to collect some sort of debt that I owe, which I'm 100% certain that I don't. The funny thing is that I'm only 17, and I don't even have a credit card or anything like that.

The message is a "computerized" female voice and asks that I call them back but when I do that number is busy.

I googled their number and it came up with a whole bunch of other people with similar stories. I also looked up their website http://penncredit.com/. Is this some sort of scam or something?

 

[theflyingpig]

Clearly this is not a scam. You should pay up before they pursue legal action against you, which by they way, will ruin your credit for life. Clearly.

 

[Brainonska511]

Pull your credit report to make sure there aren't any accounts opened in your name.

www.annualcreditreport.com (Site run by the FTC)

 

[Red Squirrel]

I would not even have called that number. It could be some overseas number that will charge you thousands per minute. Lot of scammers setup these hot lines to collect money that way.

 

[octopus41092]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
I would not even have called that number. It could be some overseas number that will charge you thousands per minute. Lot of scammers setup these hot lines to collect money that way.

Did a reverse phone lookup on it and they're in Pennsylvania and aren't 800 numbers free to call?

 

[Koing]

I got a call from +256 an thats Uganda apprently...

Koing

 

[octopus41092]

Originally posted by: Brainonska511
Pull your credit report to make sure there aren't any accounts opened in your name.

www.annualcreditreport.com (Site run by the FTC)

I can't get the report... I'm not 18

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: octopus41092

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
I would not even have called that number. It could be some overseas number that will charge you thousands per minute. Lot of scammers setup these hot lines to collect money that way.

Did a reverse phone lookup on it and they're in Pennsylvania and aren't 800 numbers free to call?

Not all. Some are setup like 1-900 numbers, and they operate in US territory but non-CONUS, and get away with charging whatever they way per minute on the call.

 

[bctbct]

googling the phone number brings up complaints similar to yours.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: octopus41092

Originally posted by: Brainonska511
Pull your credit report to make sure there aren't any accounts opened in your name.

www.annualcreditreport.com (Site run by the FTC)

I can't get the report... I'm not 18

Ask your parents to request one on your behalf.

Edit:
Request it via snail-mail letter: http://consumerist.com/340562/...et-their-credit-report

 

[JMapleton]

They might have you confused with someone of the exact same name who owes money. It happens sometimes.

 

[octopus41092]

Originally posted by: JMapleton
They might have you confused with someone of the exact same name who owes money. It happens sometimes.

But it seems like according to other peoples accounts of this company it's happening a lot.

 

[JMapleton]

Originally posted by: octopus41092

Originally posted by: JMapleton
They might have you confused with someone of the exact same name who owes money. It happens sometimes.

But it seems like according to other peoples accounts of this company it's happening a lot.

It's 99% percent chance it's a scam. If you owed money you'd get a letter in the mail.

 

[octopus41092]

Originally posted by: JMapleton

Originally posted by: octopus41092

Originally posted by: JMapleton
They might have you confused with someone of the exact same name who owes money. It happens sometimes.

But it seems like according to other peoples accounts of this company it's happening a lot.

It's 99% percent chance it's a scam. If you owed money you'd get a letter in the mail.

So... what should I do? Try to contact them and have them stop calling or just ignore it? They call pretty often I'd say probably a couple times a week...

 

[JMapleton]

Originally posted by: octopus41092
So... what should I do? Try to contact them and have them stop calling or just ignore it? They call pretty often I'd say probably a couple times a week...

INvestigate online and try to get their corporate phone number and call them. Otherwise, don't worry about it.

 

[LikeLinus]

About 6 months ago I found a debt collection agency on my credit report that I had never heard of. My report is clean and I knew it was fake because they said they were collecting for a phone company that is not even operating in the south! I searched online and found out they just send these things to the credit agencies to get people to pay so their credit isn't ruined. It's a really shitty scam and they basically get away with it and there is no recourse.

I disputed it with the credit agency and it was removed. I never even spoke to the company.

 

[mozirry]

they might be number masking, it happens to me, I just ignore and never call them back

 

[tcthetank]

I saw a special on dateline nbc with mr hansen on this very thing

 

[MoPHo]

I got a call from a debt collection agency once. Turns out there was an error with Time Warner Cable because I returned my modem but they marked the wrong person down. Also got an instance where they called me for my father's Home Depot account being overdue.

I only got a computerized voice each time and i just called back. It only took a minute to get a person so I vote for just calling to try.

 

[randomlinh]

voicepulse has an awesome feature that has kept the ringing of these scammers to a minimum... filtering. sure, it's a pain to play this cat and mouse game, but at least I can do something.