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Re: Harrassing phone calls - what can be done?
Posted by Sarah on 1/09/07

    I previously worked for a collection agency, it could be their
    automated dialing system calling you. How long are you waiting
    on the line until you hang up? It could be that you are not
    waiting long enough seeing as sometimes it takes awhile for the
    system to kick in or to patch you through to an available
    representative. I know you stated you do not owe anything, so
    more in likely they are not calling for you and simply have a
    wrong number. I advise that you wait on the line for at least a
    few minutes to find out what happens. If by then nobody
    answers, I would report it to your phone company and see if they
    can do anything for you. If the calls continue though, you may
    have to change your phone number as a last resort. In either
    case, whether or not you owe a debt, a debt collector may not
    contact you on your cell phone, it is prohibited by law. Also,
    are you receiving anything in the mail that appears to be junk
    mail with only a return address containing the street and city
    without a name above it? This is how a collection agency will
    send their correspondence according to the FDCPA law; they are
    not allowed to put their name on the envelope, only on the
    letter itself. If you are receiving these types of letters and
    were previously throwing them away, I would suggest you open
    them, but only if they are adressed to you or your husband. If
    they are adressed to someone that doesnt live there and/or you
    dont know who the person is, i would suggest writing "return to
    sender" on the envelope. Do not open the letter because you
    would be violating a federal law. Even though the letter was
    sent to your adress, if your name does not appear on the
    envelope, it would be a violation to open it. If you are not
    receiving any letters, the best thing I can suggest is to write
    a cease communication letter to this agency (if you can get the
    address) letting them know they have a wrong phone number and to
    cease any further actions in contacting you. Give it about 2
    weeks and if the calls still continue, you can report them to
    the Better Business Bureau and even your local police. I just
    want to say that the afforementioned information is not intended
    to belittle in anyway, I only want to make sure that you are
    well informed seeing as I do not know what you are already aware
    or not aware of. I hope this helps and I wish you the best of
    luck.

    On 12/30/06, Barbara Lewis wrote:
    > 12/30/06 About 2 weeks ago I received my first call from
    > Operations Div.: 713-217-3899. I let the phone ring until my
    > answering machine kicked in but no message was left. Since
    then
    > I picked up and told them to "get lost" and that only made the
    > phone ring more often. It now just rings 3 times and stops.
    So
    > I picked up the other day on the 2nd ring and told them that
    > they were going to be reported the next day. I did not receive
    > a call the next day but the day after it started again but not
    > as much. Luckily I have a relative who found the name and
    > address of this character and I am just waiting for one more
    > call when I will tell Miquel Torrez or Torres that the police
    > are now involved and will be coming to pay him a visit!!!! Not
    > that that is true but hopefully that will do the trick to keep
    > this so-called individual from harrassing me further. Thanks.
    > Barbara Lewis
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > On 7/27/06, Person wrote:
    >> Chris, I have been experience the exact same thing for about 2
    >> weeks now - from my home phone. I never pick up because I
    >> assume it's a solicitor - despite the odd 713 area code. But
    >> the two times that I did pick up, there was just silence on
    >> the other end.
    >>
    >> Tonight (after a bad day, I was in a particularly fiesty mood)
    >> I pick up when "Operations Division" was calling and say
    >> hello, then listen to silence, say hello again and listen.
    >> After a moment, a girl (very quiet and timid) responds,
    >> "hello...... is russell there?" To which I respond, "do you
    >> realize that you call me 5 or 6 times a day and it's
    >> completely obnoxious and suspicious?" To which she apologizes
    >> and then I grunt something at her and hang up. Now I'm wishing
    >> I kept her on the phone a bit longer...
    >>
    >> any leads?
    >>
    >> On 7/24/06, ChrisC wrote:
    >>> About a week ago, my husband and I started receiving calls
    >>> from 713-271-3899 on our cell phone. We originally had the
    >>> number that is used for our cell phone as a land line a
    >>> year ago and switched over to just a cell phone this
    >>> spring since it's more cost efficient and more useful for
    >>> us.
    >>>
    >>> Anyway, the calls started about a week ago. The phone
    >>> rang, I picked it up and the caller ID showed Texas and
    >>> the number, 713-271-3899. I answered the phone like I
    >>> usually do with "hello" but all that was on the other end
    >>> was silence.
    >>>
    >>> I've been getting calls from that same number over a week
    >>> now, sometimes three or four of them in a day. They try
    >>> and call at all different hours. Sometimes in the morning
    >>> as early as 8, sometimes in the evening as late as 10.
    >>> They called three times on Sunday afternoon.
    >>>
    >>> The thing is, they never say anything, they just hang up.
    >>> It doesn't matter if I say "hello", my husband says hello,
    >>> or we don't say anything at all but just pick it up and
    >>> listen.
    >>>
    >>> Is there any way to stop this kind of call? I've tried
    >>> calling the number back and just get a busy signal no
    >>> matter when I try to call it.
    >>>
    >>> You would figure if these were debt collectors (I found
    >>> the number listed on a forum on the web as belonging to a
    >>> debt collection agency), they would say something in order
    >>> to collect a debt. Although I find it interesting that
    >>> debt collectors would be harrassing us considering we
    >>> don't have any debts whatsoever. We don't even own credit
    >>> cards. The only thing we have that we're paying off is our
    >>> car loan, and we have been making the payments on time
    >>> every month to Wells Fargo with no problems.
    >>>
    >>> Does anyone have any insight or suggestions about what can
    >>> be done about this harrassment?

     
     

 
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