Advice sought !

[colly]

On behalf of a niece of mine.

I had a phone call 10 mins ago from a very distressed niece of mine. It seems that someone has used her credit card details to order goods and had them delivered to an address unknown to her. She reported this to the police and has a crime number. However early this morning she had a call from a debt recovery company wanting payment for these goods (I assume the card company will have reclaimed the money from the company) and he was threatening her with getting her into court, bailiffs, extra charges etc etc.
Really nasty, really aggressive.

She is very upset and almost in panic mode. I tried to calm her down and told that even IF they had a justifiable claim, there is a long way to go before anything like that would ever come about.
It didn't sink in though and she is still worried sick

I told her to ignore what he said go to the police and,or the CAB and say she is getting threatening phone calls. (ok only one so far but I am sure there will be more)
Told her to keep a record of the times of any calls and make a note of exactly what they say.

Just how far can debt recovery companies go as regards to threats and phone calls when chasing money?

What else should she do?

 

[thomas]

Just how far can debt recovery companies go as regards to threats and phone calls when chasing money?

What else should she do?

I believe a lot of debt companies use scaremongering tactics in the hope that people will just pay.

In the past I kept getting letters for payment for 2 domain names I wasn't going to renew. According to their terms you had to tell them you didn't want them anymore, or you'd have to pay (no one else does this and I didn't realise they did). I kept getting letters, and the odd threats of bailiffs.

It did scare me a bit and I was tempted to pay, but carried on ignoring them and they eventually got bored and left me alone.

If she didn't buy the goods, isn't the credit card company jointly liable for any of the debts?

 

[joolsybools]

Sorry to hear about what's happened, have a look over on Money Saving Expert forums, might be worth posting over there, loads of good advice. try the Debt free wannabe forum http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/

 

[marinyork]

Probably best putting pressure on the company itself as it's them that they have called in the dogs. You don't even know that they are a debt company and not some scam e.g. the person ordered the goods from their own company and is ringing up demanding money to make a profit out of goods that never moved anywhere.

 

[Mr Pig]

If a credit card was used fraudulently then she's covered isn't she? I don't see what a debt recovery company has to do with it.

Me neither. We've had card fraud twice and attempted once. At no time was there any suggestion of us loosing out, the card company took the hit.

 

[Black Sheep]

If she didn't buy the goods, isn't the credit card company jointly liable for any of the debts?

yes, talk to credit card company, tell them that you didn't order the goods and that your account has been victim of fraud

credit card should give you costs back and then set their legal team vs shop / business to recover their costs

 

[marinyork]

It sounds like the credit card company has already done that. It's just that the shop has acted unlawfully and is trying it on with some kind of incompetence/scam.

 

[colly]

Many thanks for the replies.

I don't have the full picture to be honest but it is a fraud and the card company are aware.
I am not sure who is calling her. It won't be the card company I know so I imagine it is the supplier of the goods. I didn't get a whole lot of sense out of her she was so upset.

I think that if the card is used fraudulently the card company reimburses the card holder but in turn they expect the supplier to pay back the money to them. At least that was my interpretation of the terms and conditions I signed when I had an account with them for my business.
So based on that, the supplier will be out of pocket and I guess it is them that are pushing her. Or at least their debt recovery people.

 

[mr_cellophane]

I'd be worried where they got her phone number from.

 

[gbb]

I'd be worried where they got her phone number from.

[paranoid rant]
Under Big Brother labour Britain...EVERYONE has access to everything about everyone.
If it were'nt obvious, i'm not a fan FFS, even the supermarkets want your postcode occasionally when you pay for your goods. They can p1ss off. Theres too much information bandied around as it is....and its all for financial gain somewhere.
[/paranoid rant]

 

[classic33]

Has the caller ID been tried after one of these calls. Or that of the company or "debt collection agency".
Also I'd try & check the address that the goods were sent to. Does it actually exist? is it a residential address?

But what ever else she has done upto now, keep a list of the action taken by her her & the dates.

Try http://www.cardwatch.org.uk/default.asp?sectionid=5&pageid=91&Title=Contact

 

[colly]

Has the caller ID been tried after one of these calls. Or that of the company or "debt collection agency".
Also I'd try & check the address that the goods were sent to. Does it actually exist? is it a residential address?

But what ever else she has done upto now, keep a list of the action taken by her her & the dates.

Try http://www.cardwatch.org.uk/default.asp?sectionid=5&pageid=91&Title=Contact

Interesting website. Thanks.

 

[punkypossum]

I used to work for a debt collection agency a few years ago, collecting for American Express and Barclays on charge and credit cards. At the time, even if it was fraud, you still had to pay it till the fraud case had been fully investigated in which case you would then (sometimes) get the money back. Which I suppose sort of makes sense, considering that 99.9% of people blamed their bills on fraud...

 

[Black Sheep]

Many thanks for the replies.

I don't have the full picture to be honest but it is a fraud and the card company are aware.
I am not sure who is calling her. It won't be the card company I know so I imagine it is the supplier of the goods. I didn't get a whole lot of sense out of her she was so upset.

I think that if the card is used fraudulently the card company reimburses the card holder but in turn they expect the supplier to pay back the money to them. At least that was my interpretation of the terms and conditions I signed when I had an account with them for my business.
So based on that, the supplier will be out of pocket and I guess it is them that are pushing her. Or at least their debt recovery people.

just keep reffering them to the card company, they are dealing with it.