20Jun/096
Help my wife was scammed by a debt collector?
Emily asked:
On Wednesday my wife got a call from a guy claiming he was from the IRS stating his name was Al Hobs. He stated that we misstated a 1099 form and therefore you owe us 5,687 in back taxes. I do contract work and we have mis-stated one before and it was not fun with penaltiess and interests. This Al Hobs was veryforce fulll andthreadingg saying he will butlienss on property and garnish wages he also noted it will cost us double what we owe. She told him that she should talk to me about it, he said its too late we have been trying to talk to him, He did offer he a payment of 4,000 and would consider this closed. She gave him her credit card to settle this. I got home and she told me about this I was confused and called the our tax guy. One the tax guy said it would take up to a week for me to review you document. Two the tax guy said they would send writtencorrespondencee to you on this, also the IRS never acts like Al Hobs and demands money right here and now. Tax guy advised that I should check my wifes credit card to see if was the IRS or a scam. Sure enought I checked my wifes cc transaction there was a payment of 4,000 to portfolio recovery associates. Well they have been contacting me on a debt way past the statue of limitations. Debt was charged off in 1999 as a Discover card for 1,987 and they inflated it to almost 6k. I called them up and talked to a supervisor very shady and he said that my wife agreed to make a settlement and we did not pretend to be the IRS. He did also state I will get a letter showing a it is settled and closed and he also laughed and said yes you will get a 1099-c form on they debt we forgave to you. so will IRS by the way. I told them I am going to fight this he said who will they belive a dead beat like you or us. I think us good luck. What can i do, can we dispute the charge ect. I am really p'd off.
I see all kinds of nasty on this company Portfolio Recovery Associates how can they talk to my wife anyhow as this debt was before we were married.
Tony
On Wednesday my wife got a call from a guy claiming he was from the IRS stating his name was Al Hobs. He stated that we misstated a 1099 form and therefore you owe us 5,687 in back taxes. I do contract work and we have mis-stated one before and it was not fun with penaltiess and interests. This Al Hobs was veryforce fulll andthreadingg saying he will butlienss on property and garnish wages he also noted it will cost us double what we owe. She told him that she should talk to me about it, he said its too late we have been trying to talk to him, He did offer he a payment of 4,000 and would consider this closed. She gave him her credit card to settle this. I got home and she told me about this I was confused and called the our tax guy. One the tax guy said it would take up to a week for me to review you document. Two the tax guy said they would send writtencorrespondencee to you on this, also the IRS never acts like Al Hobs and demands money right here and now. Tax guy advised that I should check my wifes credit card to see if was the IRS or a scam. Sure enought I checked my wifes cc transaction there was a payment of 4,000 to portfolio recovery associates. Well they have been contacting me on a debt way past the statue of limitations. Debt was charged off in 1999 as a Discover card for 1,987 and they inflated it to almost 6k. I called them up and talked to a supervisor very shady and he said that my wife agreed to make a settlement and we did not pretend to be the IRS. He did also state I will get a letter showing a it is settled and closed and he also laughed and said yes you will get a 1099-c form on they debt we forgave to you. so will IRS by the way. I told them I am going to fight this he said who will they belive a dead beat like you or us. I think us good luck. What can i do, can we dispute the charge ect. I am really p'd off.
I see all kinds of nasty on this company Portfolio Recovery Associates how can they talk to my wife anyhow as this debt was before we were married.
Tony
June 20th, 2009 - 15:33
Christina
First I think It will be well worth it to get a attorneys advise. This is Fraud what they just committed. The problem is that this was not recorded so it is his word against yours. The only thing I can see you will get that reversed as Al Hobs cannot discuss this debt with your wife.
June 21st, 2009 - 22:58
Karl
Consult an attorney!! Take all the necessary paperwork with you and explain what happened. If the debt was charged off, you may be able to re-coup your recent charge. In the meantime, report them to the Better Business Bureau.
June 22nd, 2009 - 00:06
Mildred
Send a written dispute to your credit card company. Explain the circumstances and hope the credit card company will reverse the charge. Otherwise, you are out of luck. It is just your wife’s word agains theirs.
You might try contacting your state attorney general office to see if there is anything they can do about the misrepresentation.
June 23rd, 2009 - 01:00
Annette
Oh man….this is a real mess….Portfolio Recovery Associates is a very aggressive, nasty debt collector…It’s not uncommon to see tactics like this.
You can request a charge-back with your credit card company stating that it was a collection agency impersonating an IRS agent…The problem is that without any phone recording you have no real proof. Portfolio Recovery Associates could counter that this was a voluntarily act to settle the old Discover card. I would advise contacting an attorney or Bud Hibbs on how to best proceed:
Portfolio Recovery is located in Virginia…you should file complaints with the Attorney General of that state…and the BBB in the Norfolk…where this firm is located.
For your future reference: When any debt collector first contacts you, your first step should always be to request validation of the debt per your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Even if the debt is valid, request validation anyway.
Send them a letter via Certified Mail + Return Receipt (do not use regular mail) stating:
Per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, I am requesting written validation of this alleged debt, including a copy of the original signed application with my signature
June 25th, 2009 - 23:06
Cody
That is absolutely horrible and I’m sorry to hear that. The point is that the debt is way past the statute of limitation for collectible debt.
First, call up your credit card company and say that you did not authorize the transaction, and have your card number changed immediately. Second, consult an attorney if you can afford one and also report it to your State Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Affairs. In MD and NJ, I’ve used them.
The chargeback should work, there is no written or oral agreement to the transaction.
June 27th, 2009 - 16:01
Lee
They want their cut of the collections. You contact your CC company right away and tell them your were defrauded and you want a fraud investigation on it. What they did was unethical and illegal posing as the IRS, IRS won’t like that at all. Report it to the police today and get started making the phone calls, don’t let it go. Also check your credit reports to make sure it was charged off. Have all your ducks in a row and fight the good legal fight.
You have prayers on your side!