Consumer complaint received 2020-11-06
Company: FISERV INC.
State: OR
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
My bank account was hacked on XXXX XXXX. As a result, I froze my accounts and opened new ones. The new accounts were not secure, and as a result I closed my account XXXX XXXX. I have just turned XXXX, and have no credit cards, loans or outstanding debt of any kind. However, I have recently received fifteen letters from TRS Recovery Services, INC which detail fraudulent charges totaling {$710.00}. These charges are in the form of checks to XXXX, a company that doesn't accept checks, from the company XXXX, a company that doesn't give out checks but looks to see if they are valid. The earliest apparent charge came from XX/XX/XXXX, a date when my account had been hacked and frozen and in the process of being closed. In a conversation at XXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXX, a representative from TRS Recovery Services , INC informed me that the only verification process this debt collection agency requires of those seeking reimbursement for outstanding claims is a valid bank routing number and bank account number. This is exactly the information that the people who hacked my bank account possessed, and I feel certain that they used this information to create false claims against me - claims which TRS Recovery Services, INC took up and pursued, with little regard for the validity of the claim. I contacted XXXX and there is no record of an account in my name and no record of any outstanding debt owed. When I attempted to retrieve information from XXXX in a phone call at approximately XXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXX, I was first disconnected from the representative who was helping me and then subsequent calls were never answered. Both TRS Recovery Services, INC and XXXX require Name, Birth Date, Social Security Number or Military ID, Bank Account Number, Bank Routing Number and Address before processing reports of fraudulent claims, inquiries, or any other request for further information about debts they are attempting to collect. Clearly, such companies pose a threat to individuals willing to provide such sensitive information and, due to the fact that they issue debt collection notices ( a veritable flurry of them! ) from third party clients who only have to provide bank account numbers and routing numbers ( even of bank accounts that have been closed ) they are undoubtedly pawns for hackers. The webpages for TRS Recovery Services INC and XXXX are replicas of each other, right down to the same forms and same personal information requested. Anyone filling out one of their basic forms would be exposing themselves to probable identity fraud. These two companies ( TRS Recovery Services and XXXX ), if indeed they are two separate entities, should be investigated. I will not pay them a dime, and I hope they will stop sending me piles of debt collection notices. I have never received a bill of any type ( nor have I ever used the services ) from the company Lyft, which TRS and XXXX list as the originator of these charges. Far more likely, the hackers who compromised my bank account initiated the debt collection under the false name of XXXX and these two companies happily complied with their fraud. Imagine how many people, scared and intimidated by these official-looking letters, pay up and deliver sensitive information to these two companies!

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation