Your phone rings. Someone on the other end is claiming to work for a collection agency of some kind. He tells you that the purpose of this call is to collect a debt. A debt which you either do not remember owing or is so old that you thought it was gone. How do you ensure this is legitimately collectible?

The caller must identify who he is and who he works for. A legitimate debt collector will supply a phone number, business name and mailing address. A scammer will fudge around this or claim he does not have to supply this information.

The majority of collection agencies will send you a letter prior to calling you.. Sending the letter first ensures they are acting ethically and eliminates the surprise to you when they call.

You have the right to have the collection agency verify the debt. You must do this in writing and I recommend you send the letter via certified mail with return receipt so you have proof they received the letter.

You can move address to avoid a debt, but invariably you will be found and the debt will have grown with interest of legal costs. There are agencies to help creditors to find missing person for debt collection.

Though there is no formal definition of what constitutes a debt verification, the assumption is that if they can prove to a judge that you owe the debt, then that is acceptable verification. So you should receive one or more of these items:

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A copy of the original, signed contract

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A copy of the invoice from the original creditor

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A copy of at least one bounced cheque paid from you to the original creditor.

Information from the creditor that ties you with the debt is the creditor's name, an account number, the charged off amount, the current balance and the last four digits of your social security number.

Some things you should do

Check your credit report to make sure the debt is truly yours. The original creditor will report this as "Charged Off" if it has been transferred or sold to a collection agency. You may also determine the debt is too old under your state's statute of limitations for the collector to sue you.

Contact the original creditor to determine who they sold the debt to. They can tell you this information. If the debt has been sold numerous times, you will have to follow the "chain of title" to learn who the actual owner is. And if it has been sold numerous times, the chances of this collection agency being able to verify the debt drop dramatically.

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