The Truth of Credit

Admittedly, this is a commonplace occurrence throughout my day. I would say 20% of the calls I make are wrong numbers. 20% is a lot of calls I am aware,  but there is a reason I’m dialing them and no it is not to piss you off or annoy the person on the other end. So today I would like to go into why you might receive a call and why you may get them more than once.

Most of these calls occur when I first get the file and skip trace someone’s Credit Bureau Report (CBR). Most CBR’s contain 3 numbers that the debtor could be contacted at one time or another. It is a standard skip-tracing tactic to call all 3 of these numbers. More than likely one of these numbers is where the debtor is currently living or someone that knows them. If you happen to be the unlucky person who now owns one of the old numbers you can expect numerous calls. Here is why:

If John Doe has 6 Delinquent accounts:

(6 Accounts = 6 Different Agencies = 6 separate CBRs = 6 Different Collectors) x 3 Telephone Numbers = A Lot of Pissed Off People

Here is the kicker though, if you choose to ignore the calls it will just increase the volume of the calls you will receive. Again, if it was on the CBR it must have belonged to the debtor or been provided by the debtor at some time.

In addition, it is commonplace for debtors to say it is the “wrong number” when collectors call, therefore, the more calm and courteous you seem the more likely the collector is to believe that you’re telling the truth.  Debtors that are lying tend to go overboard.  

The TRUTH is I know this can be extremely frustrating for the innocent phone call recipient. The best way to fight this is to simply say you don’t know the debtor (calmly I might add). State that you have received a lot of calls for them but have no idea who the person is. Request that the collector not call again. More than likely they won’t, however, if you live at the same address that the debtor gave the creditor or the phone number is still listed with the debtor’s name then you can expect calls until it gets changed.  

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