Threat of debt collection by internet scammers

[Richard L]

Jurisdiction

Colorado

I have a question about whether a quasi legal internet scam company, probably based in India, but with an "office" in NY state would actually be able to issue a debt collection against me.

Details: I was phished by this company a couple months ago. They posed as the customer service of a well known North American airline, with their number being the first that came up on Google search. I was in a hurry to change details on a ticket and paid them around $200 for what turned out obviously to be a cheap fake of my original ticket (I had given them my reference number) with some "changes" made to a scanned copy. They made me sign a contract, which on later perusal of the small print, seems as if it justifies them providing no services at all, but the fraud was that they passed themselves off as this airline's representatives orally.

My bank later charged them back the amount.
But now they are emailing and threatening to issue a debt collection against me.

I have two questions: Would such a company be able to get a debt collection agency in the USA to pursue a collection against me? And, would it be easy to successfully challenge such a collection?
Or, should I give in to these scammer and pay up to avoid the risk of a credit score calamity?

 

[adjusterjack]

Would such a company be able to get a debt collection agency in the USA to pursue a collection against me?

Yes. Of course. Collection agencies will hire themselves out to anybody for anything.

would it be easy to successfully challenge such a collection?

Nope. Not easy. Never easy. There may be defenses to allegations of the debt but, unless you are willing to sue to obtain a declaratory judgment that you don't owe the money, they can keep hounding you as far as the law will allow.

Or, should I give in to these scammer and pay up to avoid the risk of a credit score calamity?

That's up to you.

 

[zddoodah]

I have a question about whether a quasi legal internet scam company, probably based in India, but with an "office" in NY state would actually be able to issue a debt collection against me.

What does "quasi legal" mean? Why do you have the word "office" in quotation marks? What do you mean by "issue a debt collection"?

They made me sign a contract

How did they "make" you do this?

But now they are emailing and threatening to issue a debt collection against me.

Again, what does "issue a debt collection" mean?

Would such a company be able to get a debt collection agency in the USA to pursue a collection against me?

We have no way of knowing what's possible in this regard. That said, for $200, the most that any debt collector is going to do is make some phone calls, send a couple letters and make a report with the credit reporting agencies.

And, would it be easy to successfully challenge such a collection?

Depends on the terms of whatever contract you signed.

Or, should I give in to these scammer and pay up to avoid the risk of a credit score calamity?

Up to you to decide if the amount of money sought is worth it to avoid the potential hassle of monitoring your credit and sending dispute notices.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

If there was fraud in the inducement to sign the contract, they would be unable to enforce it in a court of law. We don't know the exact details of what happened and can't provide any thoughts as to whether it may be more or less likely that the contract was the result of fraud. Consider:

• Fraud in the Inducement
• Fraud in the Factum

 

[Tax Counsel]

I have two questions: Would such a company be able to get a debt collection agency in the USA to pursue a collection against me?

Yes. It's not hard to hire a collection agency to pursue someone for an alleged debt.

And, would it be easy to successfully challenge such a collection?

You have some protection under federal and state law should a collection agency pursue you for this. The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act allows you to dispute the debt with the collector and to tell the collector you refuse to pay it and to cease contacting you about the debt. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you some recourse to deal with inaccurate credit report entries. A disputed $200 debt on your credit report won't cause a big ding to your credit score.

Or, should I give in to these scammer and pay up to avoid the risk of a credit score calamity?

I wouldn't pay it. I'd report it to local law enforcement, the Colorado Attorney General's Consumer Protection Office and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The links I provided takes you to the respective agencies web sites that provide information on filing those complaints.

 

[Tax Counsel]

If there was fraud in the inducement to sign the contract, they would be unable to enforce it in a court of law. We don't know the exact details of what happened and can't provide any thoughts as to whether it may be more or less likely that the contract was the result of fraud. Consider:

• Fraud in the Inducement
• Fraud in the Factum

Good information, though I doubt this will ever get to court. The amount at issue is $200 and the scammer is apparently located in India. It would cost the scammer more to sue for a judgment than the scammer would get out of it.