Lubbock attorney, Mike Calfin, says over the past month, three of his clients have reached out to him concerning a possible debt collector scam going around.

One of those clients was Teresa McQueen of Lubbock who was contacted by someone claiming to be a bill collector demanding she pay thousands of dollars by the end of her work week.

“Somebody was saying that they were going to serve me papers from a payday loan that I had probably seven years ago, and I told them that we had already paid that off and that place is actually closed, and that that checking account we had wasn’t open anymore.”

Even so, the caller did not back down.

They told McQueen she had to pay up nearly $5,000 to them. Panicked, McQueen asked if she could pay the $5,000 in monthly payments 

“He [caller] said ‘no, if it’s not paid off by this Friday, the guy will come by and serve you papers.'”
 
Not sure of what to do next, McQueen called her attorney, Calfin, for some advice. That’s when she began to feel reassured that she didn’t owe a dime to anyone.
 
“This is just a scam, they’re just trying to get money out of you as quick as they can,” said Calfin. He says he’s seen it before and that because of the heat of the moment and confusion, most people don’t realize it’s a scam right off the bat.
 
“They they don’t think of it as a scam, most people want to pay their bills. There a very few people that just run them dead and don’t pay their bills. so when they get these calls it scares them.”
 
Calfin says one of the key red flags to keep in mind is that bill collectors won’t just call you ‘out of the blue’ demanding money in a threatening manner. Also, because of the statute of limitations in Texas is four years, a bill collector cannot collect or sue someone for a debt that accounts for more than four years. 
 
He also advises that if you do receive a phone call from someone claiming to be a bill collector, to be prepared to fire back some questions.
 
“Start asking for documents, explanations, accountings and tell them you have an attorney. That will usually resolve the situation, but don’t ever pay a bill based on that type of phone call.”
 
Looking back, McQueen says she’s thankful that something told her to give her attorney a call and hopes that others think to do the same, or at least know when to hang up.
 
“It was a blessing because I probably would have forked out some money and it would have just went to to nothing.”
 
To learn more about what all bill/debt collectors can and cannot do and familiarize yourself with your rights as a consumer, click here to read up on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.