Consumer complaint received 2016-07-22
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: AZ
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card
Issue: Communication tactics
Sub-issue: Frequent or repeated calls

Complaint:
Several months ago, I fell behind with XXXX credit cards due to XXXX. About two months after, I started to get calls from Fifth Third Bank with different phone numbers being used ( one of the creditors ) with immediate following calls from XXXX XXXX XXXX from all over the country. These calls would come in several times a day from this place. I know from past experience after my XXXX was totaled by an uninsured motorist and being put on XXXX that when a creditor hires a collection agency to collect a debt on their behalf, you will get " validation notifications '' informing the debtor they have been hired by?? to collect a debt, name of company they are representing, total amount of debt due, which would be on the letterhead of the debt collector with name, address, and phone number. No such letter has ever been received from any debt collector that Fifth Third Bank has hired them to collect the debt that I owe ( and normally this occurs after some months have passed ). I started to do some research on these phone numbers coming in and have found that the calls being received from who I am led to believe are from Fifth Third Bank or Fifth 3rd Bank as seen on my call log, are coming from a number ( XXXX ). No messages are left by this number, but when I have tried to call this number back, it says that this number has been temporarily disconnect or temporarily busy. My return call does not even go into the back where you would get a greeting such as : You have reached Fifth Third Bank Collections Dept. ; our representatives are busy with other calls, please stay on the line and your call will be answered in the order it was received. This is not the way banks, companies, etc. handle incoming calls in today 's world -- you do not get a message that the number is temporarily disconnected/busy. I filed a complaint against this XXXX XXXX XXXX with the XXXX of XXXX XXXX when I found out they had contacted my XXXX year old Mother who has XXXX and upset her so bad that she thought she had to get an attorney -- my Sister had a hard time getting her settled down after my Sister had talked to me. They asked if she was XXXX XXXX and she said yes and did she have a daughter by the name of XXXX XXXX, what was said after this we do n't know as Mom could not remember ; but found out that a call had come in to her from XXXX of these numbers being used by XXXX XXXX XXXX. I now know that the calls that are identified as Fifth Third Bank or Fifth 3rd Bank ( my statements show the name as Fifth Third Bank, not Fifth 3rd Bank ) are not coming from Fifth Third Bank ; this debt collector is using unfair deceptive business practices and fraudulent collection tactics which I term as a phising expedition to obtain personal information from me. Since filing the complaint with the XXXX of XXXX XXXX, I am now getting calls from XXXX XXXX XXXX and the same numbers as before are coming in from all over the country. These are unscrupulous debt XXXX taking on the identity of Fifth Third Bank to collect a debt that they have not been hired to collect. I have also gotten in a letter, on hot pink paper, saying this was the IRS Negotiations Dept. ( no letterhead such as anything coming from the IRS ) saying they can do whatever at a cost of {$3100.00} with regards to the IRS. I got another letter in on XXXX paper ( no name of company, address, etc. appearing ) to call this number as they collect debts for XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX, etc. This was not a validation notification. This is a scam being perpetrated by this XXXX XXXX XXXX without the knowledge of Fifth Third Bank ( of this I am now sure ). Until such time that I receive legal validation notices, this is a scam that is to cease and desist!!

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief