- Jurisdiction
- California
Hi everyone, I have received a letter from a debt collector a couple Of days ago at my P.O. Box that showed a balance due from the original creditor AT&T U-Verse, almost $1000 but it says on the letter that they are authorized to resolve "My" account for less than the full balance for a payoff amount 680.00 The debt collector doing business as ERC/Enhanced Resource Centers/Enhanced Recovery Company.Upon reading the letter a few times I googled up the phone number provided in the letter. I came across with a lot of people mentioning that company as a scam and also a few of the comments I saw was in fact for the same reason at&t u-verse. This account is not mine I have never use or have ever ordered any at&t products or services. So after a day of doing research on company ERC I decided to go ahead and do a credit check and sure enough on my experian credit report shows that I have an Account Review Inquiry from at&t u-verse On December of 2019 and also an Account Review Inquiry from the debt collector Enhanced Resource Centers/ERC dated April/27/2021. So the next step I have done is contact the original creditor via a phone call to see if the account number provided on the letter was in fact a valid account, after being transferred to one department to another for 30 mins I end up at the identity theft department. I explain to the person I was on the phone with that the account wasn't mine and I have no services or contracts with at&t. Then she asked me for the account number on the letter and my name and my last four of my social. And she said it was a match! And again I said that that account wasn't mine At all. Then I asked when and where the account was originated and she gave me a city and the street name only where all this started and I explain to her that I never lived in that city at all. And the lady at at&t told me that the account was opened in December 2019 and closed in March 2020. But a year and a half later I am getting this letter that has my name on it.
The weird thing is that if the account was opened more than a year ago and that account has a due balance, how come is not showing as a delinquent account on my credit report? my credit report is in good standing and I need to take action before this gets worst! Can Any one point me in the right direction to start resolving this matter?
Also the person at at&t ask me that what address the letter was sent to, I gave her the P.O. Box number and she asked me for my phone number in case we get disconnected… and after putting me on hold for a couple of minutes she told me she couldn't find nothing with that P.O. Box address that she needed my residence address, and I declined to provide it, simply I felt not giving any more personal information at that particular time because I felt they will add that information to this whole situation and make it stick! and she then told me that In order to start an investigation I needed to provide my Residence Address to investigate where I currently live and where the fraud occurred (The city she mentioned) by talking to relatives, employers, etc etc. So I said to her that I can not provide more information at this time but if I do I will give them a call back then she said I can't help with out your residence address to proceed with an investigation in regards of this fraudulent/identity theft situation she said.
I have dealt with something similar where someone used my card number and make purchases and I have disputed and resolved it. but this is someone using my personal information.
Also on my research I have learned that ERC has a lot of complaints in regards of situations like mine even with the same at&t u-verse company.
I need to know what steps to take next, as I have 30 days to dispute this debt in writing, even knowing that I already contacted the original creditor and I have not contacted the collection Agency yet.
Someone used my name and social to open that account with them. I believe I am a victim of identity theft!
Thanks For reading.
The weird thing is that if the account was opened more than a year ago and that account has a due balance, how come is not showing as a delinquent account on my credit report? my credit report is in good standing and I need to take action before this gets worst! Can Any one point me in the right direction to start resolving this matter?
Also the person at at&t ask me that what address the letter was sent to, I gave her the P.O. Box number and she asked me for my phone number in case we get disconnected… and after putting me on hold for a couple of minutes she told me she couldn't find nothing with that P.O. Box address that she needed my residence address, and I declined to provide it, simply I felt not giving any more personal information at that particular time because I felt they will add that information to this whole situation and make it stick! and she then told me that In order to start an investigation I needed to provide my Residence Address to investigate where I currently live and where the fraud occurred (The city she mentioned) by talking to relatives, employers, etc etc. So I said to her that I can not provide more information at this time but if I do I will give them a call back then she said I can't help with out your residence address to proceed with an investigation in regards of this fraudulent/identity theft situation she said.
I have dealt with something similar where someone used my card number and make purchases and I have disputed and resolved it. but this is someone using my personal information.
Also on my research I have learned that ERC has a lot of complaints in regards of situations like mine even with the same at&t u-verse company.
I need to know what steps to take next, as I have 30 days to dispute this debt in writing, even knowing that I already contacted the original creditor and I have not contacted the collection Agency yet.
Someone used my name and social to open that account with them. I believe I am a victim of identity theft!
Thanks For reading.