It’s an unfortunate reality but many debtors are not only facing aggressive collection action by creditors they are also being scammed by phony debt collectors. One such scam includes a payday loan scheme that requires the debtor to wire money to the scammer or face imprisonment.
Here’s how it works and what you can do to avoid falling for the ploy:
- The debtor will receive a phone call from a debt collector who has a very official sounding title. The debt collector may refer to him/herself as an Officer or even Deputy to make you believe they are part of law enforcement. Don’t fall for it! Officers and deputies will not collect on your payday loan.
- They phony debt collectors may have a lot of personal information about you. They may have your social security number, old bank account number or other private information. The Better Business Bureau fears that there may have been some type of data breach that allowed these scammers access to debtor’s private information. So please do not assume that someone is legitimate because they have your personal information. Confirm the legitimacy of this debt collector first before sending any money to them.
- The phony debt collector will threaten you with arrest and demand immediate payment which must be wired to them immediately. This is usually the biggest sign that they are a fake debt collector. Do not send them any money. You cannot be arrested for failing to pay a personal debt. There are no debtor’s prisons and no one will “come get you” if you fail to pay.