About 4 weeks ago, just when I was starting Hormone, Chemo & Radiation for Stage 4 Prostate Cancer, I started getting two or three calls per day, every day of the week, between 8am PST and 8pm PST, on both my house line and my cellphone. The caller didn't leave a voicemail on the house line (no caller ID) but everytime within 2-3 minutes of the first call, a call would come in on my cell phone. The same number kept coming up - 866-720-1471 - but no voicemail was left. My house telephone number and my cellphone number are with two different carriers, so they only share the same 760 area code,and the exchanges of 327 and 534 are very different too.
I started answering the calls to find out who was calling. When I said, "HELLO" there was no response, and when I repeated HELLO several more times, still no response. I could here noise in the background like you would hear in an office. I finally hung up.
Yesterday, in less than 4 hours I received four calls to the house line, and the caller asked for someone whom I have never heard of, that I do not know, and according to my landlord, has never lived at my address. I asked what number he was trying to reach, and he repeated my phone number. I said that I had had this number for a year, and that the person they were looking for must have had it before me. I asked that my number be added to their no call list, but they had already hung up.
Then the calls from 866-720-1471 started coming in on my cellphone. I answered, but there was no response - just background noise. I hung up and within 10 minutes, here it goes again - same number, same non-response. The third time I just kept saying HELLO until I got a response from a person in or from India or one of it's neighbors. I asked who she was, who her employer was, and what company she was calling on behalf of. Of course, she refused to give me any information, unless of course I told her my name, address, telephone number, social security number, and my account number, all of which I refused to provide - and how could I know which account number she was calling about out of the 10 to 12 different accounts that my partner and I have between us?
I stated that it was illegal to call a creditor more that one time in a 24 hour period, and that it was illegal to demand my social security number, and that it was illegal to harrass, threaten or in any way intimidate someone over the phone in attempting to collect a debt, and then I asked to speak to her supervisor. When Mr. Austin Simon came on the line, I repeated his name and the two company names (Allied Credit and Allied Interstate) that had been used my his employee and by him back tohim, and repeated what I had said to the woman that had called me.
Then he started to shout at me, called me a deadbeat, threatened me with legal action, and threatened to garnish my wages or attach my bank accounts. I stated that I have had no wages or income in over 18 months, that I do not have a bank account of any kind, nothing of value that he could seize, and welcomed the chance to get him in a court of law where a judge could settle his hash for good! He hung up.
I called the National Do-Not-Call hotline and registered all phone numbers. Then I called the state Public Utilities Commission to find out what my next step should be. I was told to call my telephone service carriers, and to file a complaint against 866-720-1471 and the company it was used by for both carriers, which I did.
I still have no idea what company or account number these people are calling me about! |