BofA says they were going to call my pastor!!

[Trixie007]

If you've seen any of my previous posts, you may remember that I've stayed in close contact with our creditors - they have my current phone number (voicemail identifies me clearly by first and last name) and I made sure everyone has our new address. This morning I picked up a voicemail from a gal at BofA, she left me a message yesterday saying that she hasn't been able to reach me, and isn't even sure that this is the right number, so she's going to call XXXXX, who she believes is someone I know!!! Well, the person she named is the pastor of our home church in California! I don't know how she even got his name!! I have never used a credit card for contributions to the church, or to pay for anything connected to it, and I know I've never discussed my faith with a creditor!! Any idea how she has his name??

I called BofA and spoke with a different person, told them they have my correct info, I'm identified in my voicemail greeting, AND that I talk to them regularly, AND that it's illegal for them to call anyone about me, because they know where to find me! I realize that her message was designed to get me to call (I didn't discuss anything further with her), but HOW did they get my previous pastor's name??

[PoorGrammyinBK7]

possibly his name was given as a reference at some time?

[Trixie007]

No - never! Technically, he's the "teaching" pastor - he only peripherally knows who I am. We didn't even attend services on the main church campus, we attended a video venue about an hour away, and there was a campus pastor there who is the one who actually knows me better.

[Help!]

Creditors will stop at nothing to try to provoke an emotional reaction from you, to upset you so much that you're sick to your stomach and you can't stand it any more. So what if you're going through hard financial times! There aren't many people left out there who are any better off and about the only ones who are debt-free are those who have already gone through BK. Don't feel bad about yourself and don't allow anyone to make you feel ashamed. Do you think the B of A execs. felt any shame in asking Congress for a bailout? If you can convince yourself that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks and those who matter to you will understand, you take away all of the power they have over you. With that said, start keeping a notebook, recording who called, the date, the time, what was said. There are boundaries that they cannot cross, and if they do you can take THEM to court! Know your rights... here's a good primer:

http://www.pennlawyer.com/fdcpa.htm

Keep your chin up and don't let 'em get to you!

[jencz]

B of A did the same thing to me. They called my previous employer (whon I had not worked for over a year) spoke w/my old manager and asked her to get a message to me that they were calling regarding a personal banking matter. I was mortified!!!

[Trixie007]

Thanks for the support! Great link, Help! I'm still befuddled - how on earth would they even come up with his name?? I've racked my brain, and I know I've never given ANY info about our church, much less the pastor. I guess it'll just remain a mystery.

[catleg]

My only guess is that maybe they googled your name and it showed up in a parish newsletter or something.

These creditors can be real skunks. My wife laughs when I get angry and start yelling at them. She thinks its funny I spent their money and now I'm dishing it back at them. :-)

[broken64]

Trixie just read your post and that is unbelievable! I can see why you are just a little freaked out about this. My husband and I are new to all this also, but to think they would contact a family member or worse non-family member regarding debt owed is bs. There has to be a line that is drawn, yes we owe the companies money but for them to make it a public matter with bosses, pasters etc. is crazy. I also owe BoA about 8,000, they don't have my current phone number but this freaks me out a little bit. What actually gives them the right to do that, yes try by all means of mail, email, information whatever but not out of the realm, family,non family,ruthless and again bs. For the record yes we owe them but guess what they owe us also with the multi-BILLION dollar bail-out they got with OUR tax dollars and can't and won't account were the money went to and YES they want more BILLIONS of OUR tax dollars again in just a couple months, boy talk about the pot calling the kettle.

[catleg]

If we ever lose access to our 500 channels of cable TV there's going to be a revolution!

Someone should setup an autodialer to call all these CEO's every 15 minutes from 8am to 9pm and ask them how they plan to repay their government loans.

[broken64]

What cat said,:-)

[relief13035]

Let them call your pastor. You can pray together for a peaceful fresh start.

[rockyroad]

Somehow Nationwide credit contacted my brothers ex-wife's parents and he's been divorced from that lady for 15 years!
I have NO idea how they got their name or even my brother's name for that matter.

Also, take note that they love to prey on your elderly parents or grandparents that may have co-signed years ago for you on a loan. I could never get my 85 year old grandmother to understand why she shouldn't give out my current number!!

[LDL]

This is exactly what has happened to me

My former spouse is having financial problems that have nothing to do with our prior marriage and yet because of this past relationship, they are contacting me to find my ex. I just got another call a couple of days ago, where an attorneys' office left a message basically demanding that I call them. This has been an ongoing issue for the past 18 mths and I explained that I have been divorced from this person for 13 yrs.

When they first called, I was sympathetic and tried to give them what info I knew. I've now learned that was a waste of my time. I've had stellar credit for ~30 yrs now and it pains me to think that this may be my future - creditors calling my family, friends, and neighbors at all hours of the day and night trying to embarrass and/or locate me .

But you do realize that there are websites out there that creditors and lay people alike can use to see other persons that may be related to you? Now how they got a Pastor's name from your former church is a mystery to me, but definitely not to hard for me to conceive what with their desparate attemps to collect debt any way that they can.

I know of one website in particular that shows me as related to my former spouse and when I look at the list of all the people on there, I realize that I am only ONLY one that is easily found on that list, as I have owned real estate for over 20 yrs and only moved once. It is truly scary the amount of information that is out there on each of us for all to see free of charge!

Somehow Nationwide credit contacted my brothers ex-wife's parents and he's been divorced from that lady for 15 years!
I have NO idea how they got their name or even my brother's name for that matter.

Also, take note that they love to prey on your elderly parents or grandparents that may have co-signed years ago for you on a loan. I could never get my 85 year old grandmother to understand why she shouldn't give out my current number!!

[Trixie007]

Thanks everyone for your support! I guess I won't worry about it - I'm imagining that if they did call my old pastor, I would get some good prayer time from him!!

take note that they love to prey on your elderly parents or grandparents that may have co-signed years ago for you on a loan.

I've never had a co-signer for anything, but I hope they call my Dad! I think he'd have fun with them...

I'm guessing that BofA is getting aggressive and investigating me because I didn't call back and accept their offer of a 15% settlement...

[dingdong]

Remember if you have accounts with Facebook, Myspace, and the like, many companies are using these social networking sites to harvest info on people. Although you may think that you have given them just your name, Phone number and SSN, a simple Google search can be very revealing to someone that is trying to find you.


There is a lot of info out there and to a persistant skip trace dept, it isn't all that hard to figure out who someone is an who their friends are.

Best not to use these sites at all if you want to remain somewhat anonymous. I am not saying that is where they obtained your info, but...

I have a teenager, you wouldn't believe the info I garnished about some of her friends ( and her) with a simple FB & MS search!

Bad Mommy!