Consumer complaint received 2022-03-16
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: IL
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: I do not know
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Threatened to sue you for very old debt

Complaint:
I miss a call from the phone number ( XXXX ) XXXX, and received a voice mail suggesting they had been attempting to send me correspondence, but that I had not responded. I have no received any correspondence from this company at my current or previous address ( that would have been forwarded to me ). It suggest I was past a " compliance period '' and that if I didn't respond they would escalate the matter without including a statement from me. Upon receiving the voicemail, I immediately called back, as this felt like a threat that I should be concerned about. Upon calling, I was transferred to a case manager who insisted I owed $ XXXX to Fifth Third Bank, who I have had not done business with or owed a debt to in over a decade. Any debts owed were discharged or paid in full. I have paperwork from Fifth Third that confirms this. 

The organization stated they were " XXXX, XXXX and XXXX, '' though the number they called for did not yield favorable search results, and appeared on my called ID as " Scam Likely. '' I informed the case manager that this felt like a recurring scam that happens every 12 - 18 months, where another debt collection agency calls me about owing Fifth Third bank. Over the past decade, I have learned that this is a " Ghost Debt '' collection scam, where they hope I make a small " Good Faith '' payment, which they always say will prevent them from having to take legal action, but in reality would then actually revive the debt in full, making me responsible for paying it. 

The case manager became irate, and told me that I could either cooperate or that he could call me employer. He also insinuated that I could get sued for not paying. After a less then XXXX minute conversation, he abruptly ended the call. 

I tried to reach back out, but was connect to a different case manager who was even less helpful and more rude. This person also disconnected abruptly after less than XXXX minutes. 

I tried to reach back out SEVERAL times, but each time the call was either immediately disconnected or put on an never-ending hold. I admit than on a few occasions, I disconnected the call because I thought they had disconnected the call already, but I was on hold. 

Because I felt like I was threated, it only made sense that I try to resolve the situation immediately. It became clear that they would no longer even attempt to help me resolve the situation, so I called repeatedly. As a XXXX and XXXX individual, it feels most appropriate to resolve any perceived threats immediately. On the majority of the calls, I tried asking for a fax number or mailing address so I could furnish proof, but they refused to provide any contact information. On several calls, the receptionist would pick up and say " please stop harassing our firm. '' I explained that I was only trying to resolve a matter that included a perceived threat, but the call was always abruptly disconnected. 

I attempted to contact this organization to resolve this matter over nearly 100 times, and the vast majority of those calls ended abruptly after a receptionist hung up the phone. 

I asked for me phone number to be remove from their system, but they stated " Why would we do that? '' When I attempted to reach out from other numbers ( hoping to get through to someone who could resolve the matter ), the number was blocked. 

I have attached copies of XXXX letters from Fifth Third Bank stating that now debt was owed. Each time this collection was attempted from different companies : XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation