A debt that has been turned over to collection agencies in most cases is a collection of numbers to those trying to collect it.  Seldom does the creditor include the paperwork for such debt which is necessary to prove the debt exists when contracting an agency for hire.  Failure to provide such proof of dept when asked in writing is grounds for dismissing the debt in all courts.  Now I don't condone evading debts nor would I be a happy camper if someone were to stick it to me, however, the conduct used to collect depts nation wide by various collection agencies is becoming increasingly deplorable not withstanding illegal in many cases.  Knowing your rights and using the law to protect them are two different animals all together since government agencies seldom make cases against collection agencies for violation of the laws in place to protect both parties.  In most cases collection agencies use the credit reporting bureau to damage a persons credit with debts that have not been properly documented which is easily challenged and removed from ones rating by filling out a few simple forms provided by the credit reporting agency keeping in mind it does not clear the debt reported with all agencies so you may have to repeat the process with more then one.

In short, knowing your rights is not enough anymore. One also has to have enough knowledge on how to research the problem and use that knowledge to your own advantage.  Simple advise...check your bill statements carefully for accuracy and pay them in a timely fashion.  In our growing technological society not all debts are legitimate.

AMEN, finally a normal human who can speak and type in a civilized capacity. thank you. Yes there are scammers and horriable collectors out there. However if you are getting calls from a fully accredited collection agency it is because you have defaulted on a loan (unless of course they have an old phone number and the person who actually owes has changed their number). PI has the gist of it. Know your rights, make sure they have the correct info, do not give up info freely, and always ask for proof of debt in writing. They have to send it to you. You can also ask who the original debtor is and contact them directly.

I'm getting calls from this # and they're not even for me.  I don't know how to make them go away.

ask to speak to a supervisor, give them your name, your phone number and your address if you need to, let them know that they have the wrong phone number or that while the phone number is correct it no longer belongs to the person they are trying to contact.

OK here is the deal, no one is violating any fair credit reporting act, whoever you owe money to does not "sell" your number to anyone. They make a contract with bill collection agiencies to do their work for them. I do not work for this company, but I have worked for a collection agency in the past. I have also worked in a bar, a convience store, a nursing home and a center for troubled teens. Never in my life have I had more rude people then the people I have had to listen to when I worked for a collection agency. Yes they get wrong phone numbers, usually given by the people that don't want to pay for thier house, their car, whatever, or they have changed their number and you were just unlucky enough to get that old already used phone number. These people like everyone in the US is just trying to do their job. If they got a wrong number, tell them so nicely, if they reached you in error, tell them so. I have listened to a recording of a collector calling a person, you would be shocked by the language the person on the other end of the phone uses. The man quite literly says he is going to f**k the collectors mom in the [***] so hard she will feel it for years. And that is NOT the worst of it, this call goes on for almost 10 minutes because the collector is NOT allowed to hang up. People really, what if your children are listening?? Do you want someone to talk to you this way?? Would you talk to a bank teller or a waitress like this?? It strikes me as totally insane that we treat anyone like this. I know the calls are annoying, but guess what there is this thing called caller id, 99% of phones have it, so if you don't know the number, don't answer it, and if you do, be polite, tell them they have the wrong number, or the wrong person. It seems to me that the person who is backed into a corner or in the wrong is always the first to get defensive, so if you do owe then just admit it, work it out, and deal with the fact that you owe money, your not the first, the only and you won't be the last by any means. In short, GROW THE HECK UP AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR FINANCES AND LIFE>