CLEVELAND – Ohio consumers are getting phone calls from someone claiming to be a debt collector. But, is the caller legit?
“Fast talking foreigner and he said I was delinquent and we’re going to take legal action,” Tim Swancer remembered.
Swancer is a college student working full time, and figured a payment from an online payday loan slipped through the cracks. He had no reason to doubt the debt collector, so he paid it off.
“He knew who it was from. He knew how much. He knew the last four digits of my social security number. He knew my birthday and place of employment,” Swancer explained.
Under the law, Swancer has the right to request documentation of the debt before making any payment. Swancer didn’t exercise that right.
After he paid, he looked through his paperwork for proof of debt. Swancer didn’t find anything. The debt also didn’t appear on his credit report.
“Two days later, I got a letter from CashNet USA saying we value you as a customer,” Swancer said. The letter offered a promotional rate if he took out another loan.
The timing didn’t add up for Swancer, so he called CashNet USA.
“They knew exactly what was going on. They knew there were fraudulent phone calls,” Swancer said.
CashNet USA warns consumers about these phony calls on its website and says the calls are not being made by anyone affiliated with the company.
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