Nothing like a supposed attorney to mess up my holiday.

[catleg]

What they try to do is link people together in a database based on some common element, like, same address or phone number or having joint accounts or being an AU on the same account, hopefully at the same time, but their underlying info isn't always good. Apparently this is the lexis nexis database. It creates wildly inaccurate relationships but these jokers don't care, it's all legalized harassment and all they want is money, for all they care they could claim they're calling to get donations for some charity.

So for example when I login to my Chase credit card account on the web, I see the current phone number of the guy who is living at my previous address that we moved out of 6 years ago, apparently since I don't talk to them anymore they did a skip trace and deduced there was an overlap and that somehow that was still me, or someone connected to me.

It's completely insane, since the alleged "skip tracing" is really meant to just facilitate harassment, but our gov't is so much in the banks pockets that nothing is done.

[optimistic1]

Ah hah! It turns out that is was Mann Bracken calling my parents and the guy actually is not an attorney, but was saying that he was!

I told them we are going to file a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy within the next few months, and offered them my attorney's name and address and fax #.

They started to go on and on about settling the debt for a fraction of the $600, and I told them no, that we are in such financial hardship that we cant even pay anything, and it makes no sense to pay it being that we are filing the bk soon anyway.

They told me that they would remove my parents phone # from the file and I gave them my phone # instead, and then they said they would contact my attorney from now on.

I am still going to DV them in about a week or so, just to throw them another curve ball.

I am sure they are going to pick up the rest of the GEMB and Chase accounts within the next few weeks or so, I will need to repeat the whole process once again.

[BigJohn]

Mann Bracken is a wart you can't get rid of. I can't believe they are going to leave you alone.

[optimistic1]

well saying and doing are two different things, and we will see what comes of this, i am sure they are going to send some crap to my attorney, and he wont respond, and then they will call me and my parents back again. They keeping using language like, "this is close to going legal". Go ahead you bastards

[optimistic1]

I will first DV them, and lets see what happens, if they send stuff to me and then start the calls again, then I will be forced the CD them.

[shabam]

You would think there would be laws to protect us from this boundless flow of information.

[shabam]

God help anyone who is under a threat of violence and needs to hide. They would probably have to move overseas were people actually have protection against private individuals and industry. Here it is back asswards (lol). We are all paranoid about the government but have no issue with private industries and individuals amassing a wealth of information on us.

[optimistic1]

welcome to the 21st century, a new world order

[catleg]

This seems like a good time to mention that google will do a reverse lookup on your phone number if you type it in, but if you go to the link there is a way to ask to have yourself removed. Probably a good idea for most people.

[JRScott]

bk4sky mentions a good point - googling your name in parenthesis, or you can also do it in Quotes, both your name and phone numbers, including cell phone numbers. If you are on Facebook. MySpace or Classmates.com or any other social network, it all comes up, and if you are in the phone book all that pops up also. If you have been quoted in any newspaper, article or publication, your name will appear. A person is very easy to find even without an SS number.

I just did my name .

Of course I also am named after someone famous so as suspected their info came up at least for the first 20 pages I looked over .....didn't look past that.

I don't do Facebook, Twitter, etc however I am on Classmates, and have had editorials in a few papers, been on the news in the past, had my email read by Bill O'Reilly in the past,

However my last name and first name are very common names, and my middle name is from a famous person .

My phone didn't bring up anything either .

But I can see how it could.

[bk4sky]

I just did my name .

Of course I also am named after someone famous so as suspected their info came up at least for the first 20 pages I looked over .....didn't look past that.

well in that aspect you lucked out! good for you! when i 1st did mine, my name popped up for a few message boards i was on and it was nothing that could have lead a person to my phone# or where i live but it was still pulling up info about me, so i went back and edited everything i belong to online under a silly name, and whenever i sign up for a message board or anything like that now i always use a silly fake name.

IMO to avoid skip tracing its a lot easier to just make sure the creditors have your correct contact info, and then just C&D them, or if you already have a lawyer giving them the lawyers info should work too.

[GoingDown]

it's weird, because the only person that lived there was me, over 12 years ago, she never lived there, although she may have used their phone number on some type of application at one point in time. I just dont see how they linked my wife with my parents, and all they had was her maiden name.

I can't wait until they call me and try that crap where they say they are from a "firm". I'm gonna be like, you mean a collection "agency"? You moron!

Collection agencies have a software program where they can enter a debtor's social security number and come up with every one of their relatives and inlaws' phone numbers and addresses.

They do this to shame you into paying them.

Just send them a Cease and Desist Communications letter by certified mail and they will probably stop calling your relatives. This method has worked on every collection agency that ever called me except West Asset Management. With them I had to file a complaint with the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions to get them to stop calling me and my relatives. But with everyone else, the C&D letter worked great.

[optimistic1]

I knew that's what they were doing, trying to get my family to help pay the bills, too bad I know my rights. I have yet to C&D them, since I told them about my intent to file a BK, they haven't called anyone, except maybe my attorney. I just sent out my DV to them today, lets see how long it takes for them to respond.

[albacore44]

Collection agencies have a software program where they can enter a debtor's social security number and come up with every one of their relatives and inlaws' phone numbers and addresses.

They do this to shame you into paying them.

Just send them a Cease and Desist Communications letter by certified mail and they will probably stop calling your relatives. This method has worked on every collection agency that ever called me except West Asset Management. With them I had to file a complaint with the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions to get them to stop calling me and my relatives. But with everyone else, the C&D letter worked great.

I have a hard time believing that. I have 2 brothers that live nowhere close to me, I rarely have contact and they are unlisted and live a somewhat nomadic life. I have a mother married 5 times so her name has changed consistantly, is unlisted and uses a boyfriends cell phone . My stepmother in an assisted living home and you have to go through a switchboard to get to her, and my dad is dead. all are unlisted. i have checked every database I could find on the Internet and none of them show any linkage to me of any kind.So if they get through to one of them, I will be quite suprised.

[liz417]

I have a hard time believing that. I have 2 brothers that live nowhere close to me, I rarely have contact and they are unlisted and live a somewhat nomadic life. I have a mother married 5 times so her name has changed consistantly, is unlisted and uses a boyfriends cell phone . My stepmother in an assisted living home and you have to go through a switchboard to get to her, and my dad is dead. all are unlisted. i have checked every database I could find on the Internet and none of them show any linkage to me of any kind.So if they get through to one of them, I will be quite suprised.

I did an internet search on myself too, thinking I'm safe because I don't have any family (now I'm married, but other than his family) and after some extensive searches, I found my name linked to an old boyfriend like 22 years ago!!! Under family is says "none", under know associates, it has his name!!! I couldn't believe it!!! I hope he's not getting my creditor calls! How embarrassing, I dated this guy when I was like 18