This past week Golden called me at work about a message on our answering machine. According to the message someone had listed me as a reference for a job. I was supposed to call an 866 number back to address this. There was only one problem. I had never heard of the person for whom I was supposed to provide a reference.
I puzzled over this for a while. Why would someone who I couldn't remember list me as a reference and not notify me? It seemed fishy, so I didn't address it for about a day.
After the message had been on the machine for more than a day Golden asked me to decide what to do with it. Since I had to decide if it was worth calling back I did a Google search on the number that I was supposed to call, and I got this site.
Apparently, whoever is calling is either a scam artist of some sort or a collections agency. I'm certainly not going to call them to find out, though, so it will have to remain a mystery.
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6 comments:
Weird. I've had people put me down as personal references, I have yet to be called for any of them.
I was racking my brain trying to figure out who that was.
General Revenue is a Third-Party collections agency that specializes in Wireless Services (and a variety of small credit lines).
Because they are a third party vendor, they typically start working the account after it has been written off (usually 6 months or more past due or when no good contact info is available).
The first step after aquiring these types of accounts is "skip-tracing" - trying to find good numbers and addresses to use in collections efforts. Per federal debt law 'Skip' calls must be Because skip-tracing must be done seperately from collections ... and per those same laws, you can tell a third party (in some states even the spouse) about the debt.
Even if a skip rep gets in contact with the debtor, they simply note the number/address as a good contact and move on to the next account.
The reference they are calling about is either a old number from a credit application, an old residence, even the number that the debtor may have called the company from at some point in the past - call centers have caller id too ... and they regularly record the incoming numbers for this type of recovery effort.
The call for dust was probably because the number had been on some form or inbound log years ago but has since changed hands. Now that Dust's name shows up in the skip databases connected with that number, he get's a call because he might just know the debtor and be silly enough to pass on a good contact number.
..sorry typo above ... per federal laws, you CAN'T tell a third party about a debt - that's why they never leave a message. Even if they are calling the debtor, they won't usually leave a meaage, because a message would count as a "customer contact" which is usually limted to 2 or 3 times a week.
Thanks for the information. That's intriguing. It explains why they are so vague and mysterious.
Even if I wanted to help out, I wouldn't be able to. It's good to know for the next time if someone I do know is mentioned. I'll have to verify with that person in question before calling the requested number back.
Hey Shake...it was for me! I listed you as a reference to my collection agency as someone who would pay off my debt. Thanks buddy! Call them back ASAP! They are waiting to hear from you. Have your SS# DOB and Mother's maiden name ready when you do.
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