Alleged debt 23 years ago? Is this legit?
A family member got a call basically saying he stopped paying on a credit card 23 years ago and they want to help settle the debt.
He does not remember this alleged credit card and it wouldn’t be like him to stop paying. This company cannot provide us any proof because it’s “past collections” and something about the collection agency hiring his company to settle it before it going to court, which is the very next step. This person that called had all of my family members personal information and even gave out his full SSN over the phone to confirm it was about my family member. We read the statue of limitation in our state is 10 years. So even if this was a legit credit card that he stopped paying can they actually go after him after 23 years? They said if it goes to court that is when they can release all of the “proof” like the transactions, account number of the card etc.
There have never been any phone calls or letters in the mail prior to this. They have even sold a house and purchased a new one within the last 10 years so this didn’t show up on credit checks. The company said it wouldn’t show up anymore on his credit report.
They claim the CC balance at the time was roughly $1500, they will settle for $2500 but if it goes to court then the amount owed will be $7000.
When we got the voicemail it sounded like a scam. They said they had a case number and were getting ready to prepare to mail him documents and if they couldn’t reach him at his house, they would send it to his employer. The only reason we called back is because the next day they called his son with the same exact voicemail trying to get a hold of my family member.
Please give us your thoughts of if you have gone through this.