Feb 17, 2009
I get calls about the owner of the neighboring condo unit. She no longer lives there but still owns the unit and has been behind on her mortgage a number of times. Since it's a condo complex, the street number is the same but the unit number is different. Once the owner skipped town without leaving a forwarding number, the "investigators" just did an online directory lookup to find neighbors' phone numbers and then sprayed them with phone calls. I have NEVER been a reference or contact for her, but for a business trying to recover money, this approach clearly pays off frequently enough for them to keep trying it. (The irony is, if they were more straightforward and less harassing - possibly offered a reward - I'd be happy to pass along the woman's contact info.)
Problem is, I work from a home office and don't want to be interrupted by their calls. My voicemail message clearly identifies me, so there's no excuse for them to keep calling looking for someone else. Now that I have VoIP (internet phone service, like Vonage), I just go online and block all calls from their number each time a new one of these bottom-dwellers comes around.