Consumer complaint received 2023-04-10
Company: Commercial Acceptance Company
State: PA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical debt
Issue: Communication tactics
Sub-issue: You told them to stop contacting you, but they keep trying

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX I was contacted from a phone number that was unrecognizable to me showing as XXXX. I answered the phone identifying as XXXX. The caller asked is this XXXX and I answered, yes. The caller then stated my date of birth of XX/XX/XXXX. I said, Hold on I am not verifying any information with you. The caller then states, I am not trying to verify any information I already have all of you information. I said, You know what I am not verifying any information or speaking to you further unless you can tell me who you are, where you are calling from, and what this call is in regard to. The caller then refused to verify any of that information, so I said, have a nice day! and hung up the phone. After I got off the phone, I looked up this number of XXXX online and it said it was a scam caller by the name of XXXX XXXX. This is reported online to happening to hundreds of other people. At this point I thought I was being scammed. I immediately downloaded XXXX XXXX and signed up for a 30-day free trial. The app immediately had a red warning stating that my personal information had been compromised to the dark web and to change all my username and passwords as a data breach had occurred from a website that had my information from years ago. 
Ultimately, I called the number back again and was put through to a voicemail stating I had reached the desk of XXXX XXXX and to leave a message. At this point I became extremely paranoid and scared that my identity was being stolen. Many scams had been recently reported that seemed very similar to what I was already experiencing. I became angry and confused and I felt helpless. The only thing I felt I had control to do was to keep calling back this number until they admitted who they were and why they were calling me. Upon calling back again a woman answered the phone who stated her name was, XXXX. At this point I assumed this was a man and a woman or couple from the dark web tying to steal my identity. I felt that I was not the only one they were scamming but possibly hundreds if not thousands of other people and this made me even more upset. I continued to call, call, and call. All the whole either the same man or woman would answer seeming completely deceptive only stating things like. You think this is all a game and you are about to find out. Or just stating my name in a creepy way. XXXX I felt as those these scam artists were very skilled, and I may be dealing with expert scam artists that would go to great lengths with trying to obtain my information to steal my identity or file income taxes under my name since I hadnt filed yet. 
Meanwhile 24-48 hours had past, and I continued to call them, and I continued to receive multiple calls from phone numbers from a XXXX or private number and none of which I answered. I then tried to call the scammers back but now it appeared they had blocked my number. I felt a sense of relief because I thought now just maybe they will leave me alone and not reach out to me for my private information again. At this point I know I must have made these scam artists very upset or angry to the point they would go to any length now to get what ever it was that they wanted. I received a call from XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX with a voicemail stating, XXXX XXXX XXXX Police Department Officer XXXX  asking me to give him a call as soon as possible. After listening to the message, I blocked the number. At this point I thought this was in fact not the police but XXXX XXXX impersonating the police. Now I was even more concerned and often complicated contacting the local authorities to report that I was a victim of harassment and a possible scam and now this guy is impersonating an officer. If you listen to the mans voice on the voicemail and the man who let me a voicemail stating, they were an officer they sounded too alike to reasonably decipher. I even listened to the message several times. 
We are now moving to XX/XX/XXXX. My father called me frantic and told me that the police had just contacted him and that they were trying to get a hold of me. My heart sank and now I was even more scared as I thought this scam artist was now contacting my family to obtain my private information. I expressed these same concerns to my father who then told me that it was legitimate and then told me why the police were looking for me. He told me the police said it was a debt collection agency that was attempting to contact me regarding a valid debt of XXXX XXXX At the time I couldnt even think of a debt that would have been sent to collections. I apologized to my father that this scam artist was contacting him and that that couldnt be the real police. Next my brother contacted me via XXXX messenger and told me I needed to call the police immediately or they were putting a warrant out for my arrest. He gave me the number to call and was really upset. 
In the meantime, I made an educated guess at the only reasonable debt that may have mistakenly gone to collections, and it would have been an ambulance bill. I contacted the ambulance billing company to inquire, and they confirmed it was sent to collections and it was sent to Commercial Acceptance in which they also provided a XXXX number to. The woman on the phone apologized and said it looks like it was sent in error to the collection agency. They were pulling back the debt and allowing me to pay it off in full off my HSA card. I found my original email and payment from several months ago and I thought they bill was taken care of. I paid on through my insurance carried website through a third-party payor with my HSA. For unknown reasons it was stuck in pending and the payment never processed. I ended up calling the ambulance billing department back on XX/XX/XXXX and paid the debt in full. 
XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I then called the officer and spoke with an XXXX XXXX. I explained everything that happened, and he advised me that the people contacting me were not scam artists but a debt collection agency. He told me to call and apologize and to work out the debt. I couldnt call them to work the debt out as they had blocked my number. And this was even more of a reason I thought it was a scam. I apologized to the officer that this was all a huge misunderstanding, but he seemed to not really want to hear much of anything I had to say. His mind was made up and he was charging me with a misdemeanor of harassment for excessively calling this business and then even accused me of having the business called via robot dialer over XXXX times. I told him this was not true and that I didnt even know what a robot dialer was. I did admit to calling excessively myself though and that I was upset, confused, and felt as though I was being scammed or my identity stolen. I didnt know how to explain why I reacted in the way I did but I did. He really didnt have any concerns about my claims. At this point I still even questioned whether this was real or a scam.

The officer then attempted to verify my address which I didnt feel comfortable doing. He told me he was sending me a citation or summary offense in the mail and that I would need to plead guilty or not guilty and that I would need to come to court several hours away. I feel that a full investigation on both sides never occurred as I feel the charges are wrongful, frivolous, and do not merit a misdemeanor. I never once swore, made threats, hurt anyone, put anyone in danger. Is all I did was call multiple times. I feel as though I need to file a complaint on this officer. 
I did call the debt collection agency at a XXXX number and spoke with XXXX. I apologized for my multiple calls and advised her I thought her, and XXXX XXXX were scam artists and that is why I acted the way I did. I advised her that if they were not deceptive and just told me who they were and what they were calling about then I would have never acted that way and that none of this would have happened. 
This so-called debt collection agency was highly deceptive and broke The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. They recorded me without my knowledge. They refused to tell me that the call was regarding collecting a debt and that any information would be used for the sole purpose of collecting said debt. They refused to identify who they were, where they were calling from, or what they were calling about. If I had known they were a debt collection agency none of this would have ever happened from my side. I never received a written notice of any debt or had any chance to dispute or validate the debt. It was abusive practice to cause harm or beyond a reasonable doubt the illusion that I was being scammed. I feel they were trying to scare me into giving them money or private information. The debt collection agency also told a law enforcement agency I owed an invalid debt and the police even shared this with my family. I feel that my privacy, security, and over all rights were violated by the police and the debt collection agency. I feel that they were working hand in hand together. I was never given any information at all. I feel that I need to contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the state attorney generals office to report this as well as obtain legal counsel criminally and civilly as now I feel as though my character has been attacked or defamed.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation