Consumer complaint received 2022-04-05
Company: ARS National Services, Inc.
State: MN
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Communication tactics
Sub-issue: Frequent or repeated calls

Complaint:
On the morning of XX/XX/XXXX I received a debt collection call from an unknown VoIP number. I returned the call and was informed I was a contact for somebody they were attempting to collect from. I requested the agent identify the company he was calling from, but they could only tell me it was regarding a financial matter and asked me if I could relay their message to the target party. When I declined because I wasn't sure who I was talking to, they insisted I still relay their message anyways. I called them back from a separate number to protect my own identity from further abuse. I was connected with the same agent, who then attempted to verify me using the last four digits of the other parties social. I do not know the person they were trying to contact, despite this, they believed I was them because I " vaguely identified myself. '' Instead of asking me to verify myself and my identity, the agent released PII to me in the form of the last four of the target parties social in an attempt to verify my identity. After telling them that was not a lawful disclosure, they forwarded me to their supervisor, who skillfully avoided liability on his or their agents behalf. This is where they went wrong : instead of asking me to tell them my social, they disclosed somebody else 's social security number instead. This is a willful disclosure of PII and they apparently have no intention to report this accidental disclosure. In fact, upon contacting them via their webchat about this, they would still not accept any kind of liability and dodged my questions, talking over me or ignoring specific details. They instead told me they are not related to ARS debt collection at all upon realizing my intention, and I would have believed them about not being related, until I was told to " Try XXXX. '' so without leaving the chat, I searched XXXX for ARS national, their supposed business. The first result is ARS National, a debt recovery operation. A flat out lie on that agents part before. I informed them of my discovery on XXXX, and at that point they were ready to cooperate in helping me with repayment by asking me for my name. I declined. 

At the very least, they should be held accountable for willful and negligent disclosure of their clients PII. This is dangerous because that information could be used to further identity theft and fraud. They appear to be trained to immediately deny any liability or involvement when this happens. When I spoke to a supervisor at ARS and told them what happened, instead of listening and acknowledging that one of their agents is improperly identifying people by handing out their social security number instead of requesting it in a secure manner in accordance with the law, they still insisted I forward their message to somebody I have never met. I won't let this go until I know ARS national is held responsible for years of unlawful practices. I am fed up with these types of operations believing they are above the law. I owe nothing to them, why should my morning be spent dealing with a shady organization? Why should anybody deal with these, for lack of a better description, mafiosos?

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation